16 Choosing to fight

Zhakhil sneaked out of his room in the middle of the night and went in search of his dragon. He creeped around making sure to not make a sound that would awaken the knight.

The knight was right, he had to fight for his love. And even though the chances of the weird man turning out to be his dragon were low, he still had hope and followed his heart.

The sun was yet to rise to the sky. That gave him time to find his dragon and convince him to forgive him before Adran woke up.

Reaching the room, he leaned his ear to the door and listened. He heard sweet voices and laughter coming from the room.

"You can do this," he cheered himself on.

He turned the door knob, to his surprise the door wasn't licked. He pushed the door open and entered the room, his eyes met with a horror inside the room.

His eyes stilled by the bed watching a sight that he was entirely not prepared for. "It is rude to barge into people's rooms uninvited," Xaddrin spoke coldly.

He untangled himself from the man he was with and sat up staring at the prince. Zhakhil's heart pounded in his chest. The hope he had in his heart shattered into pieces.

"Are you going to stand there and watch or leave?" Xaddrin inquired. He looked unfazed by the fact that he had been caught with someone in his bed. He didn't seem bothered that the prince was standing before him, hurt by his action.

"Hello, I'm Zhakhil," he introduced himself to the man with his dragon. "What might I call you?" He asked nervously.

He had two options in that moment. Ran away with his broken heart and never see his dragon again. Or suck it up and bear with it. The choice of never seeing the dragon again outweighed the choice of having to see him with another man.

"I'm Iggi of the two rivers," the man introduced himself.

"I have read of a person with a name like that in books. The great evil demigod that resides in the mountain of two rivers," he said recalling from the tales he had read in the tower.

"I pray that one day, I grow worthy of becoming a legend such as he," the man replied.

The prince replied him only with a weak smile. He was caught in a weird situation and knew not what to say next.

"Please, have a seat," Iggi offered.

Zhakhil braved himself and took a seat. He was not comfortable with Xaddrin glaring daggers at him.

"We have to leave soon if we are to reach your home," Iggi let out. He got up from the bed, the blanket fell from him bringing his body to light.

His chest and back had drawings that looked like a mad. Mountains, rivers and forests marked with great detail. The prince could spot Neladia in his back.

"Cute markings," he spoke to ease the tension in the room.

"Is your friend coming with us?" Iggi inquired of the dragon. Zhakhil turned his head to Xaddrin. His fingers were crossed. He hoped for the latter to agree and and let him go along.

He was lost without him and he didn't mind Iggi being there. He would find a way to confess his feelings and get the dragon to belong to him and him alone. But to do that he had to be with the dragon.

"He is not my friend and I could care less what he does," Xaddrin uttered.

The prince pressed his lips together. It hurt to here his dragon speak of him like that. He saw his whole world breaking right before his eyes.

Every word the man said hurt him so much but he put up a brave face and acted unaffected. A few tears threatened to break his resolve and flow down his cheek.

"Are you sure. He seems to be more than a friend," Iggi spoke.

Xaddrin threw Iggi his clothes and got out of the room. He didn't want to say anything to Iggi's statement. Every word he let out hurt his beloved prince and that in turn hurt him.

He had not expected for Zhakhil to be at the inn and worse was his nerve to stay there like everything was normal. And now the prince might join them in the trip and that was the last thing he wanted.

Just one more day and he would have been gone forever but to his surprise, the prince turned up in his room so early in the morning.

"Why can't he just let me go?"