8 Dreams or duty

Xaddrin prepared dinner, he mixed his food with the magical plant. He could feel his freedom in every bite of food that he took. Every bite he took was another step to his success that he took.

Zhakhil sat next to him, in between the dragon and the knight. He was lost in the thoughts of his future. He had only ever thought of travelling the world.

And he was in no way ready to face his step mother. He was not well trained on matters of royal politics nor did he have experience in the world.

"I want to live," he uttered drawing Adran and Xaddrin to look at him. "To see the works before we go to Neladia," he spoke.

The dragon glimmered at his wish. He had that very thought, he wanted to show the prince his home and let him learn the world from his eyes.

He had seen all that there was to see in the world and hence he was the best person to guide the prince. 'I will teach you to be strong my prince,' he spoke.

"That is a great wish but you can't," Adran let out. He was faced with glares from the dragon and the prince. Both were shocked by his words and were not in any way pleased by it.

Their eyes raised questions to why he was saying that the prince couldn't see the world.

"The prince has to go home and save the kingdom from his stepmother's terror. As his servant, you must go where he goes," he explained to them.

Xaddrin released the breath that he was holding. He had thought that the reason behind the knights refusal was important. But it turned out to be a useless reason.

He didn't see why the prince should risk his life to save people who never bothered to save him in all those years.

"Not everything that is inherited should be claimed," he uttered coldly.

His words were straight to the point he wanted to make. Not everything that we inherit are to be claimed. If the prince doesn't want the throne then he can live it to whoever wants it.

There was no point sacrificing the life he wanted for strangers who won't care.

A smile spread across Zhakhil's lips. His dragon understood him, he stood up for him and dreams and that was more than he could have hoped for.

He was surprised by his support, he was the one that Zhakhil had expected to turn down his request. He was really fortunate that he was in love with a considerate dragon.

"But it us your duty to rule over your people," Adran disagreed.

True that he could decline the throne but the queen and her children were causing chaos in the kingdom and the people needed their prince to save them.

"One gets only one life. Why waste it living for other people when you can live for yourself?" Xaddrin asked Adran.

The knight pondered over the dragon's words. He wanted to give him a response but he couldn't. He had lived for others all his life, all the decisions that he had made in his life were made for others.

He had never taken a decision for himself. He had dreams and desires that he wanted to fulfill but his duty always came first.

"My heart says go for it~

my heart screams go for it~

but my mind says, go after the duty is over"

Xaddrin sang from his favourite song. The words of the song sounded familiar yet distant to the knight. He could relate to the song.

He had longed for things in his journey from childhood to manhood but he let his duty come first.

"The thing about duty is that it never ends," Xaddrin began to say. "If you let go of your dreams for duty, then you might as well let them die," he added.

Zhakhil was awed by the dragon's wisdom. The male knew so much. He had rendered the knight speechless in minutes and proved himself right.

Listening to his dragon he understood to follow his dreams. His duty can come later, after all duty doesn't end but once he lets his dreams die then he can't have them back.

"We can travel to Athelia," he suggested to them.

The knight frowned as Zhakhil's eyes spackled with joy at the thought of finally leaving the tower. The adventure that might await him in the unknown.

The possibility of his love blooming and the dragon learning to reciprocate the his feelings. So much could happen and it excited him.

Adran had never never heard of a place called Athelia. In all his travels and journey around the world he had never come across such a name. But he didn't mention it to them, the prince had been spelled in the castle and a dragon was keeping him from leaving.

It was a given that he would not know the places around the world.

"I would love that," Zhakhil let out happily. All of his clothes were clean, he could easily pack them all before they departed.

"How about you? What are you going to choose, dreams or duty?" the dragon asked the knight.

Adran was conflicted. The conditions back home were not very good that is why he braced himself to face the dragon to get the prince back home.

But truth also was that he had been selected to come face the dragon. And if he was being honest, for the kingdom to send one person to save the prince. It didn't seem like they expected him to return.

No matter the amount of courage or bravery, at the end of the day he was facing a dragon. A magical creature that can breath out fire and if it was that easy to defeat such a creature. Then the prince would have been saved years before.

"Dreams," he let out.

His decision made him nervous and excited at the same time but he couldn't completely forget his duty.

"But we have to go back to Neladia soon after," he said.

"You both should get some rest after dinner. The journey ahead is long," he added. They continued eating their food. All excited for the journey that was to take place the next day.