Queen of Ashes │ Season 1 │The Journey

12 │The stew

Freya woke up to the sensation of peculiar emptiness. Not sure why, she felt like she was missing something... The air was filled with loneliness. Where was the warmth that seemed to accompany her while she slept? Where has this sense of belonging gone?

An odd sensation, indeed.

She looked around. She was alone and one look at the cave's entrance gave her an indication of what time it was—close to the sunset. Time for her to stand up and prepare for the departure.

When she walked outside, she immediately spotted the Prince kneeling near the fireplace and doing something. Wait... What was that?

He was preparing... food? Vampire was cooking?!

Goodness! A sight just waiting for some teasing comment... She decided to hold back, though. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to stop her chuckle in time, catching Leander's attention.

"What? Never saw a vampire cooking?" He said with a smirk encouraging banter.

She decided to take the bait. Smiling teasingly she walked closer. "Cannot say I did. But seeing your fast movement earlier I could imagine it having some perks in the kitchen." Leander chuckled in response. "What's on the menu?"

"Roe deer's stew. Made by one and only chief in the area." His amused gaze was enough to set some warm movement in the lower parts of her belly. Butterflies?

"Is it okay to try already?" Freya leaned into his collarbone, looking at the boiling kettle. The smell of the meal somehow managed to mix with Leander's leather and pine scent, making her dizzy from the need to just put her nose into his neck and inhale deeply. But that would be like seriously crazy, right?

"I was just going to wake you for that."

She remembered suddenly her request before falling asleep and decided to play offended. "I asked you to wake me when you arrive, not when the food will be ready."

He winked. "My apologies. One look at your sleeping pose told me not to attempt."

She laughed, surprised by his boldness. Then, she tapped him on the shoulder. "Maybe good for you, then. Who knows what this broody, not rested human would do to the vampire waking her so abruptly?"

"I have a feeling it'd be like playing with death."

She giggled just like a teenager. Gods, what was happening with her these days?

Not wanting to analyze her behavior, she took a spoon from Leander's hand, dug in the fumy stew, and scooped a little. When it landed in her mouth, she couldn't stop an involuntary moan.

"Oh my... Fuck... Oh, gods..." The delicious taste of meat cooked to perfection flooded her taste buds. She moaned with closed eyes. One second later, she realized she had done it all at loud.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry..." Then again, face red as an apple, she cursed her incorrigible mouth to speak like that in front of another royal. No lady should talk this way. And even though she wasn't a perfect lady in her eyes, nor she wanted to be one, she knew she was becoming a queen soon and surely that sort of behavior wasn't something that would make her a lot of friends at the new court. "Sorry."

Just then, not fully convinced if she was ready for that stormy look, she glanced at the Prince, pretty sure he was going to scold her for such a language. He hadn't, though. He was looking at her like she grew a second head. A few seconds passed, and then it was he who burst into laughter. Laughter so strong, his eyes lighted with tears.

"What?" She asked, utterly embarrassed.

With one touch of a hand he cleaned the tears from the corner of his eyes. "You're impossible."