Prince Charming

Note: Dang! I haven\'t updated in awhile...a long, long while...and I\'m sorry, really I am. I totally expected to have so, so much written and get super much done as soon as summer rolled around buuut.......things don\'t always work out as planned and...I had some set backs. Sorry, sorry...I hope too many people haven\'t abandoned me. I\'m alive, I promise! After my ordeal...I\'m kinda feeling better, so I hope to keep to a more steady schedule now...maybe even a more FREQUENT schedule...yeah. Hopefully. ^^ Good chance though...there really is. Hope the chapter\'s not too disappointing after all this time off!! Please review. o_o


Chapter Six

Face turned down in a mild frown of consideration, Drake sat silently assessed the sleeping figure before him, his russet brown eyes tossed with indecision as he eyed Teige’s peaceful features. With the first early morning rays of sunlight playing light tricks in his hair, the man’s usual midnight-black mop looked several shades of blue and even red in places, oddly cropped locks spread across the white pillow in a wavy fan. At its original length, he wouldn’t have looked a bit out of place laying beside Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, perhaps strewn out on the floor with a half-bitten apple still clutched in one hand between his delicate, feminine fingers, just waiting for his handsome prince to come along and-…

Drake’s frown deepened. It was this very petite figure that he’d agreed to carry along with him, to try and train to a point where he could hunt, fight, and protect himself. That thought alone made the larger man eye him doubtfully. After seeing Teige struggle to just hold his sword out in front of him, the idea of training him to wield one didn’t sound too appealing, but the minor nuisance couldn’t possibly get him into that much trouble in only three days, could he? Not totally convinced, the seasoned warrior still bore a scowl as he brought a not-so-gentle grip to the sleeping man’s shoulder.

“Come on, princess, I’ve already given you more beauty rest than I bargained for. We have to leave.” Teige woke with a fluttery inhale, like a butterfly stirred from it’s slumber, and a quiet whisper of breath escaped his lips before thick, dark lashes flitted open. As soon as the black veil lifted, revealing the endless, ocean blue depths beneath, Davinoff found himself trapped, a fly caught suddenly in an invisible spider’s web, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“Drake…?” The single drowsy inquiry snapped him from his daze and he pulled back from the other as if stricken, withdrawing his hands to himself and turning his gaze away instantly.

“Get up. We’re leaving.”

“Al…” He heard the younger man yawn behind him and listened to the shuffle of sheets as he sat up. “…ready? I barely got five hours of-“

“Now. Or make it on your own.” A resounding thud answered his statement, and he glanced back in spite of himself, his eyes traveling in mild amusement over Teige’s tangled form as he scrambled from beneath a thick pile of blankets to get situated. Eventually, he made it from a crumpled heap on the floor to a standing position, though a rather wobbly one, and Drake found himself, for the first time in far too long, fighting the urge to smile. Instead of letting on this reaction, however, he quickly turned his face to the door, reaching for a pack and quickly muttering beneath his breath. “You look ridiculous.”

Behind him and out of his sight, Teige pouted, resisting the temptation to huff and raise his nose like a lady. “Well you’re not exactly Mr. Fashion Sense either…and besides…” He stooped to gather a sheet about his waist, considering he wasn’t accustomed to wearing much of anything by the time he got to sleep with Cyprien around, and hadn’t really changed his habits much in light of the new circumstances. “…your idea of a wake up call isn’t exactly tea and cookies…”

“What did you expect?” Drake grumbled, slipping his pack on over his back and turning to face the other, still scrambling with the sheets around his waist as he searched for clothes. “True love’s first kiss?”

Teige paused, back on all fours in his search for clothes around or under the bed as he looked up again. “I’d rather kiss a bareback gorilla…” For one brief instant, Drake caught a glimpse of the other’s bare backside as Teige abandoned his grip on the sheets for a moment to reach out and snatch his tunic top, but the view quickly ended as the smaller man snapped up and covered himself again, slipping his shirt on while cross-legged on the floor, blankets in his lap. When Teige’s blue eyes lifted to find him staring, he instantly turned away, a little too fast for comfort, as the smaller man’s gaze somehow made him feel like a misbehaving child, caught doing something he definitely shouldn’t have been.

“That wasn’t an offer…” He mumbled beneath his breath, though unsettlingly uncertain even as he said it, and he listened as the man stood up behind him, the rustle of sheets and cloth telling him he’d gotten pants on at least. After a time, when he didn’t turn around, Teige’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“I assure you, you will find nothing new on me that you haven’t seen on naked men before.” The warrior spun, moving just in time to catch Teige’s gaze as he looked up from tying his belt, black locks loose about his features but expression serious and body fully-clothed. Drake’s gaze narrowed in a mixture of accusation and suspicion, but he took his time before answering.

“There is nothing wrong with not desiring to view another man clotheless.”

Teige shrugged, turning to grab his boots and sitting back on the bed. “No…but does it make it better to view him when his back is turned and cannot glimpse you than when he can see your eyes making the inspection?”

Drake’s jaw clenched as he was struck with childish temptation to accuse the other of the same acts the night before; however, making that claim would mean admitting that Teige spoke the truth about his own actions, and at the moment he didn’t care to make that admittance. So, at a lack of anything but strong curse words to say, he turned away again, moving to the door and opening it. When Teige came up ready beside him, he stepped to the side, their eyes locking as he muttered grumpily.

“You first, Lady Paige.”

“Teige.” Teige stepped through the door, unable to keep back a smirk as he heard the wooden barrier close behind them with a rather loud thud. Somehow, the fact that it didn’t break off its hinges entirely mildly surprised him.

The checked out of the inn with little hassle, Teige silently skipping through another meal with only a few nibbles of biscuit and some water. Apparently, Drake had a destination in mind, because they rode steadily through the main bulk of morning until the direct noon sun overhead made riding a torturous heat-bath. At that point, he paused them briefly under the shade of some nearby trees, declaring ‘lunch’ as he dismounted, and ending his conversation there. Considering that word alone was the only vocal exclamation the hunter had made all day, Teige decided to take it positively and attempt to strike up conversation.

“I noticed you didn’t kill me yesterday after all…” He began, coming up to stand in front of the other who had already taken a seat in the grass at the trees base. When Drake didn’t reply, only opening his sack and rummaging for a moment before snatching a piece of stale looking bread, Teige took a breath and plopped down beside him, about three feet away, with his elbows resting on his raised knees and hands dangling between his legs. God, he loved the freedom of pants. “I wanted to thank you for that.”

“Hmph.” Drake broke off a piece of his bread and thrust it out to him. “Eat.”

Rolling his eyes, Teige took the offering, eying it as one might inspect a strange new specimen, an alien virus perhaps, instead of the plain crumbly piece of starch it was. Instead of eating, he resorted back to talking. “Do you want me to ‘sit’ and ‘play dead’ too? Or do you always do the caveman, troll king, thing?”

The redhead’s gaze flicked his way. “I could kill you today.”

“Strong silent type. Got it.” Teige promptly began prodding lazily at his travel biscuit, wondering how many ants the thing could feed, sure to keep his mouth firmly closed through the duration of his musings. After a time, Davinoff stood, and the smaller man looked up to find the other’s gaze already trained on the forest ahead.

“You should have eaten.” Teige said nothing, and Drake turned his gaze briefly back to the sitting figure. “Because your training as a bodyguard begins today.”

Surprised, Teige’s eyebrows rose, but he gave no objection and stood, dusting off his clothes and coming to stand beside the other. “Alright…sounds terrific. What’s my first lesson?”

“Pay attention.” Before he had even an instant to react, Teige let out a muffled screech as his legs suddenly ceased to support him, and the ground came rapidly plummeting to hit him. Seconds later, he found himself blinking and coughing in the dust, squinting up with a grimace to Drake’s still form. For a moment, he felt perfectly sure he saw a hint of amusement in the other’s usually stony gaze, but then it faded and the warrior glanced back up to the forest. “If you don’t…you’ll soon become very familiar with the ground and the various worms that inhabit it.”

“Worm…” Teige suddenly got a strikingly vivid image of a rotting corpse, slimy serpentine bodies clamoring in and out of dead sockets as they devoured the decomposing flesh. His face paled as his stomach gave a sickening jolt, and he was suddenly very glad he hadn’t eaten more than a few crumbs. On seeing his reaction, Drake apparently decided he needed no further explanation and gave a silent nod toward the horse.

“Lesson two. Mount the horse.”

Teige winced, standing and eyeing the enormous black steed warily. “Two lessons in one day?”

“Woman, we’ve barely gotten started.”

After five hours of self-inflicted falls (accidentally of course), bucks (because Stallion absolutely refused to be kneed in the gut by an inexperienced rider), and other near-death experiences (in Teige’s opinion) of a variety of sorts while simply trying to manage the task of scrambling on to the beast, Drake finally decided the smaller man’s mounting skills had risen to a satisfactory level, at least for the day. So, with Teige aching in every nameable place on his body and the sun just beginning to dip lower on the horizon, Drake continued their progress into the forest in search of a suitable camping area.

Upon arrival, he slipped off effortlessly to the forest floor, not sending even a spare glance back to the other as he spoke. “Get off. We’re setting up tents.”

Teige fought the urge to groan, plopping his head dully in the thick mane before him and settling with a muffled whine. Luckily, the horse’s annoyed whinny covered most of it. “We didn’t set up tents last night…”

“We were in an inn.”

“Before that.” Teige followed the other’s example in dismounting, but winced and pressed his palm to the small of his back as he landed, the impact jarring several rather uncomfortable points in his spine.

“It was windy, dark, and pouring rain. I didn’t think it proper to force a lady into performing manual labor, especially not under the circumstances, and wanted to assure that she could rest well and recover from her obvious emotional trauma.” Teige helped him set up tents. Once finished, Drake inspected the set-up thoroughly to assure that it wouldn’t fall on them in the night, then finally nodded his approval. “An hour till sundown. We have food, but I’d rather not use it. Collect as much firewood as you can, nothing wet, and don’t stray far from the camp. If it’s dark and you’re not here, I’m not coming after you.”

With that said, he turned away from the other, completely cutting his presence from his conscious as he shifted all focus onto the task at hand: acquiring dinner. Fluidly, he bow, quiver, and about half a set of arrows along with it. Mentally, he made a note that he’d need more, what he had likely plenty for a few nights, but not satisfactory for long. Then, he packed two extra daggers into his belt and left promptly. Perhaps he could find something, perhaps not, but just the chance to walk alone again for once and clear his mind made the trip completely worthwhile.

As he walked, his footsteps surprisingly quiet for a man of his stature, his mind drifted, and he found himself palming one of his most familiar daggers absently, taking it from its small sheath at his side and flipping it back and forth in his hand. How had he gotten himself into this? Caring for an unskilled, whiny shrimp about the size of a toothpick whose only assets happened to be a round ass, pretty face and argumentative style that time and again put him into odd situations against his better judgment. It had to be his voice, his frustratingly fluid brook-over-pebbles voice that seeped into his conscious every time and cast a cruel spell on his common sense, dispelling it completely.

Out of nowhere, Davinoff let the knife fly, its silver blade slicing the air like nothing and landing thickly with a sound thud in nearest trunk to his right. Glancing up, he noted it had landed just off-center, veering slightly to the side of his intended destination, and he yanked it free with a mild frown. Flipping the weapon to his left, he threw the weapon again, this time in the opposite direction, and he felt a mild tug of a smile as it hit dead center in a tree twice as far as the first had been. So much for ambidextrous. Just as he went to retrieve the weapon though, his eyes caught a flicker of movement in the trees, and he froze on the spot.

Two spotted brown ears, just visible above a tuft of green at the base of a tree not twenty feet from him. Slowly, barely visible, his hand moved down, gripping firmly around the base of a second dagger. The rabbit, just peeking a curious whiskered nose out from the grass at that moment, was easily within range of his throwing arm and the perfect main course for a full meal. Then, just as he raised the blade, prepared to let it fly, a single flickering note of sound made it through the trees, and the instant it reached his ears, his body stilled, as if on command, to listen.

For a moment, he could do only that, paused in place like a statue, arm raised but unmoving as more of the trickling melody came to him. It wrapped itself around him, as powerful as any spell, and he realized then that he was listening to Teige’s voice. Singing. Unlike the hauntingly beautiful tunes that came down from the tower, riddled with pain, loss, and despair, these notes held hope. Not the full, blossoming hope of a love-stuck maiden, or the wild, heart pounding hope of a warrior before battle, but a soft, tentative hope, like a new bud showing delicate petals for the first time after a frosty winter, still wary but yearning for the freedom to break free and prove itself to the world.

By the time Davinoff succeeded in dragging his conscious far enough off of the song to focus on the rabbit, his furry prey had disappeared completely. Heaving a sigh, he flipped the dagger back into its sheath, and strode over to retrieve his other; yet, the majority of his focus never once turned off the sound of that music, now silent, and the effect it had clearly had on him. He still had ample time to search again for another target, but for some reason he had no real desire to do so…

A piercing scream cut through the wood, and his head shot up. Some distance away, but from the direction of the camp, the sound came again, this time more a cry than a scream, less high-pitched but equally desperate. Swearing beneath his breath, Drake drew his sword. “Damn woman.”

Review Replies

Corenn: YEAAAHHHH !!! CYPRIEN CYPRIEN CYPRIEEEEEEENNNN ! *jump on Cyprien and hugs him*
Cyprien : O__o
Corenn *dark voice* There\'s no escape. Submit or... or don\'t submit !
Anyway, I looooooved this chapter (like all the others. Or more, cause CYPRIEN IS ALIVE !!! HE\'S THERE ! Look in the sky ! Is it a plane ? Is it a rocket ? No, its... SUPERCYPRIEN !
I feel like if the review was turning a bit strangly >___> Good luck for the continuation... And ANOTHER HUG ! *hug Moonstar*
... Hit me XD

xD Glad to see you\'re enthusiastic! I\'m happy that the return of Cyprien wasn\'t taken negetively, cause I mean, I really feel I did NOT do him justice with the quick and simple, no blood, no gore, no fight death at the beginning...he deserved more...and tada! *ahem* Anyway...he should make an interesting plot device, if nothing else. xD More hugs! Thankies bunches! I appologize for not updating so long...o_O ^^;

Dee: Your story just keeps getting better with more exciting twists and turns that leave me glued to the computer screen begging for more. Now I know why my eye sight is so bad, from reading fics all day lol. Ok lemme guess because to me it sounds like Teige is a Vampire OOooooo (gasp) is it true is it true. *Shakes you* Also I cannot believe Cyprien is still alive, that was a complete shocker. Now though I view Cyprien alot differently, it looks like he really does care for Teige although I am torn between Cyprien and Davinoff now. Please don\'t make Davinoff a bad guy. *Begs on knees* *Pleads* Can\'t wait for more. See you soon

Thanks! I\'m glad I\'ve succeeded so far in keeping the plot engaging; I\'d hate to bore people. It seems like several people are on to Teige...what EXACTLY he is, I cannot say for the time being, but you\'re on the right track. o_O Cyprien will be an interesting character to work with, though I can promise you know that Davinoff will NEVER be evil.....mean, cruel, and seemingly heartless perhaps AT TIMES...but he\'s the white knight here...sort of...so we can\'t make him bad, no no. xD Hope you haven\'t abandoned it after my lousy pacing skills and withdrawl! T_T

MakaiKitty: Cyprien\'s still alive? Well, I didn\'t see that coming. Things are about to get *very* interesting, no? Good chapter, and I can\'t wait to see what happens next!

Yup, yup. The vampire\'s great return! I\'m glad it wasn\'t obvious...I kind of worried...and then I also worried that it would just come off as dumb...but people seemed to take it well, so I\'m happy. Oh yes, the drama...I\'m looking forward to it with pleasure. xD Glad you\'re still enjoying it, I read your update with Danne and Tamal!! XD I plan on reviewing either tonight after I post this or tomorrow...very interesting yourself, if not a tad violent.......mucho violent actually...but ah well...anyway. I look forward to whatever\'s next on your list!

Falcon Bertille: Oooh! So many intriguing things happening in this chapter. I loved all the little hints you placed -- Teige\'s adversion to food, his attraction to the night. Seems like he may have a bit of vampire in him now, which is certainly an interesting twist. And Cyprien actually has a heart! Who would have thought it? It certainly opens the door to a very delicious love triangle. I wonder if Teige would go back to him if he asked? I wonder a lot of things, actually, and can\'t wait for the next update!

Oh, and nice description of Drake undressing. Yummy!

Love,
Falcon

^^ My favoritest author, yay! Looking back, I almost worry I placed too MANY hints...but oh well...the hints get more spars for awhile...then wham. But yeah. I think you\'re pretty much the closest of all so far, and it makes me happy that people are seeing Cyprien a little differently. He\'s not the \'good guy\'...but he wasn\'t supposed to be all \'evil\' to begin with...many complications...but in the end I liked him too much to settle with the very unglorious death he recieved at the beginning.

As for Teige going back to him...Teige can be a very confused little person at times. He cried when he was with him, cried when he thought he died...but I\'m pretty positive now that he\'s used to his freedom...not much could drag him back. Still, Cyprien\'s sure gonna try. As for Drake and the yumminess...I hope to have muches more of that in larger quantities in the...mmm....reasonably far but not TOTALLY distant future. xD I\'m an impatient person, as I\'ve explained. Anyway! I think I have you to thank, at least in part, for getting this story back on the ball. I plan to stay steady now and hope you continue enjoying what I put out!