Outcast

10. Mesmerized

Here you guys go! What?! Another one? I know hard to believe. Haha. Well anyway! The song above reminds me of Riyah and the story currently and I just love the song. Song belongs to the artist not me. This will be a lyric chapter so lyrics will be in the middle of paragraphs. :) Depressing chapter. Riyah deserves better ( we need a Riyah protection squad) I recommend listening to the song while reading. 

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      Henry had left the cave when the sun started to set. Riyah watched him leave as he clopped away on his horse, which he had been informed had the oh so intimidating name of Hazelnut, waving until Henry was engulfed in the fog and the hoof sounds sinking into the snow could no longer be heard. Once the Prince had disappeared and Riyah was alone with his thoughts he made his way back to his bed of straw and sat. Riyah winced when he lowered down, every movement a struggle. Like small knife-like needles that pierced every muscle as he sunk down to sit, his fingers crunching in the prickly straw.

One name caught his mind again as he contemplated the day. Henry Lancaster. 

All dusty brown hair and pale blue eyes like pools of crystal reflected with moonlight and..  Riyah stopped his recollection of the boy midway. He sounded like a lovestruck teenage girl. He tried to imagine Henry as anything but what he was. Handsome. His brain twisted his image into one with messy hair with a face caked in dirt. Yet, he still looked like any prince you would hear in fairy tales. Attractive and noble. The blond cursed under his breath. 

What surprised Riyah the most was that the prince should be the one to hate him more than anyone. A monster in his kingdom. A pesky thorn in the side of his big plan to become the ruler of Winter Wind someday. So the constant question of why plagued Riyah's thoughts. Why hadn't he killed him? Why hadn't he used this opportunity while he's hurt to sever his dragon head and show it as a trophy to the village? That would have secured and instant ticket to being a renowned hero and powerful King. Any other person would have done that. Not that Riyah would have accepted that fate. Besides he was pretty sure that he would still be alive and swinging even if that were the case. What a grotesque thought.  

 The most aggravating thing about the whole situation being that despite how much Henry aggravated him and got on his last nerve, he still was the only one in the whole world to ever look at him as more than a monster. Even though Henry seeing him as a human terrified Riyah. That meant that the jaunts were friendly and the teasing in good spirits- that meant that he had a person he could rely on for more than merely handouts and hateful glares. Was that what a friend was? It was strange to him how Henry was the person who had gotten him stabbed yet was the one who saved and took care of him after. 

"How embarrassing.' Riyah hissed inwardly as his pale face heated up and he buried his face in his hands. 

Prince Henry, the future king, had almost killed him yet saved him and all Riyah did was lie helpless. Now that was what made his blood boil. He wasn't helpless in the slightest, at least in his uninjured state that was the case. He was a powerful shapeshifting beast who killed animals for food and sport. He could kill a human if he really set his mind to it. 

Riyah froze at his own thought process again. He was scaring himself. Friend? Murder? Those were horrendous ideas. He couldn't have friends. He didn't have friends. He was going to live forever so why not live it alone. So far he had relied on no one so why should he now? Besides when Henry would become King he would forget all about the small dragon boy tucked away in the mountains. So why bother breaking his own heart? Riyah's jaw set and his steely green gaze filled with stubborn determination. That's right, he was going to try and forget Henry and move on. He knew Henry would do the same eventually.  Kings are always the same. They find power then become corrupt. He tried to alter Henry's image in his mind again- comparing him to the overly sadistic father who ruled now. They looked hardly alike from what he had heard murmured in the village. Riyah envisioned Henry with a twisted smirk on a mighty throne, heeled foot outstretched for a commoner to kiss.