Adorable, Really

Elswyth glanced over at the prince. He had been asleep for over an hour now. Usually it would have made her a bit irritated that her charge was peacefully slumbering while she was hard at work. But she could not bring herself to actually be upset at Heron.

She had noticed how drained his face had been after performing that little ritual that had gotten him a familiar. It seemed to be quite a strain. And he had after all been doing this without anyone teaching him. So she cut him a bit of slack – at least for today.

His familiar had moved to wrap itself around his neck, which honestly was a bit unnerving. She did not actually think that he was in any danger from his own familiar but a snake wrapping around his neck set off alarm bells in her head. If it was not his familiar she would have yanked it off.

She snuck another glance at him. Heron looked so innocent slumbering peacefully like that. Well, actually, he always looked a little on the innocent side. A bit disarmingly so. Despite the fact that he was actually more cunning than most people would have supposed a sheltered young prince to be. But something about how defenseless the young man looked while sleeping tugged at her heartstrings.

His brown hair had just the slightest curl to it as it lay against his cheek. He really was a bit too pale, probably from staying indoors way too much. Well, hopefully that would be fixed quick enough. After all, he would probably be spending more time outdoors now.

Despite him being too pale, and looking almost sickly, he was still rather attractive. Or maybe it was that his sickly look just roused a person's desire to protect. Elswyth frowned, a bit uncomfortable with this line of thought. It made her feel suddenly very self-conscious.

She really did not want to be thinking of her charge as a man. That would just complicate things. Distract her. It was better not to let her thoughts go down that line.

Yes, Heron was attractive. And honestly, pretty nice as well. But he was also a prince, and from a different kingdom even. So no matter how likeable this particular prince was, friendship was the most she really wanted from him. Even the fact that she really did want to be friends with this man was a bit surprising to herself.

She did not usually like nobility.

Heron though seemed different, and she was willing to give him a chance. Besides it was kinda fun to tease him.

She grinned to herself and leaned back. Well, anyway. It seemed like this would be a pretty interesting job.

About then, Heron moved. Stretching a little he looked at her, a bit of befuddlement on his face as he tried to get his bearings after his nap.

She smiled at him, "Had a nice nap, my lord?"

"Sorry…" He stifled a yawn, "I didn't mean to fall asleep…"

"It's fine. Your body is a bit weak, after all." She meant it to be teasing but the prince did not argue at all. Just gave a wry sort of smile before looking away.

It was just a bit cute how dispirited he seemed at the way she had worded it.

Clearing her throat, Elswyth sat up straighter, and looked ahead, "Besides. I may not know much about wizards but I could tell getting a familiar took more out of you than I was expecting."

"The bonding process is supposed to be taxing mentally and physically. But afterwards, the benefits are worth it." His eyes sparkled as he talked about it. It was quite apparent that the fellow was quite passionate about his chosen path.

Again, something about the action struck her as a little bit cute. This guy really messed with her more than she was comfortable with.

She comforted herself by telling herself that it was just that he was different than the men she was used to. She was far more used to men being more rough.

"I see. Well, rest up while you can then." She faced forward doing her best to ignore this ridiculously handsome teenager.

Heron was fairly quiet, having gone back to reading his books. Elswyth found herself sneaking another look at him. That focused look on his face was becoming rather familiar to her. And yet, it still caught her attention everytime. That way he had of just losing himself while reading was actually pretty cute. Almost adorable even.

It took considerable effort for her to turn away and just focus on the road. The silence though was blissful. She actually felt pretty happy at the moment just sitting here with this rather nice member of royalty as they sat surrounded by nature.