King and Lionheart [Dreamnotfound AU]

Chapter 2: The Other Prince

Dream couldn't keep the smile off his face as he raced Spirit towards Duresh. The real King Caelur had hired him, and he was cute.

The way those heterochromatic eyes locked on him when he said the name Dream, his little slips of exasperation when Dream made jokes, the way he knocked the thin gold crown off-centre when he tried to brush that chocolatey brown hair out of his eyes, oh, Dream was in deep already. He was going to make sure this correspondence and, by extension, his time serving King Gorgeous lasted as long as possible.

He stopped at a hidden hideaway and changed clothes, leaving the mask too, before riding right up the summer castle just after dawn broke. The guards let him pass and thankfully didn't shout out his entrance. He left Spirit in the stables and let himself into the dining hall, which was empty.

It was hard to stop giggling and tuck in to breakfast, but he managed it before someone else walked in.

"Help yourself to my breakfast, why don't you?" His favourite advisor was rubbing sleep from his eyes as he took the seat next to Dream. "I heard you were back."

Dream felt no guilt. "They'll make you another one, I was hungry."

"You're always hungry, little prince." His advisor snatched the coffee and took a long sip. "Mmmm, that's better."

Dream scowled at being called "little." "I thought royal servants were supposed to get up early."

"We both know I'm not a morning person." A6d took another draught of coffee. "And you're back earlier than normal, you're not hurt, are you?"

"No, no, I just started missing home."

A6d scoffed. He knew how Dream felt about home, but Dream couldn't tell him the real reason, at least not yet. The most he knew was Dream typically explored on his own for a week or two before returning. The advisor pretended he was at the castle in the meantime, which was why he was Dream's favourite. He worried though, and was secretly relieved every time Dream came back safe. He was more a father than Dream's real father, despite being only about a decade older than the prince.

"Thanks, Janice," A6d said to the man who brought him a fresh plate of food. Then to Dream he asked, "You want to go all the way back?"

"Yep, when can we get the carriage going?" Dream licked bacon grease off his fingers.

"Likely very soon." His advisor didn't chide him for lack of manners. They both knew Dream would be behaving very differently once they got to the winter castle.

"What's your plan?"

"Less than a day, drop something off, pick something up."

"Your wish is my command," a6d said sarcastically. A bit of egg dropped off his fork on the way to his mouth. "Shit."

Dream guffawed.

They were in the carriage before long, and Dream had several books for the half-a-day trek.

"What is it?" A6d asked, startling him.

"Hm? What's what?" Dream blinked.

"You've been staring at the same page for half an hour. What's on your mind?"

Dream cursed how observant he was and tried not to blush. Times like this he missed his mask, it made it so much easier to be impassive.

"It's nothing, just lost in thought." Thoughts of a gorgeous brunette.

"About?" A6d was surely reading his blush judging by the way the corners of his mouth lifted up.

"Nothing. Uh, stealing."