The Princess's Escape

Chapter 8

POV: Bliss

I stood and walked towards Caenum's voice. When I got there, he was looking in the doorway of an old shack. It looked about ready to fall down, it was so old.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It's shelter," he responded simply.

I looked at him, slightly peeved, and said, "No. This is a pile of sticks and paste, which looks like it could fall down at any moment."

"Well," he said, sounding a bit annoyed himself, "It's either this or sleep outside. Princess's choice."

"Fine. Whatever. I'll sleep in the shack," I said, rolling my eyes.

I walked in, looking around to make sure that nothing was going to fall on me, with Caenum right behind. Inside it was dark and empty. There wasn't even a single chair in the entire - ridiculously tiny - place. It was literally only four walls, a door, and one small window.

Maybe I should just sleep outside, I thought. At least then I would have grass and leaves beneath me to cushion the ground. Which gave me an idea...

"What if we bring in some grass and leaves to make a couple of beds? Then we wouldn't have to sleep directly on top of the ground."

Caenum looked thoughtful before answering, "That could work. Of course, we would have to go through everything to make sure that there were no sticks in it, and there would be no guarantee that there wouldn't be any bugs in it... But, otherwise, I think that could work."

"Oo-kaay..." I said, a little overwhelmed by all the thinking-out-loud that just happened.

"So?" he said, questioningly, "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" He walked out the door, leaving me standing in the middle of the room, wondering how I managed to get myself into this crazy mess.

***

"Well," said Caenum after we had finished collecting enough "bedding", "I think that should do. And it's getting late, so you should head in."

"Me?" I said, confused. "What about you?"

He looked at me, his eyes gentle, and said, "It wouldn't be proper for a man to sleep in the same room as a princess if they're not married. I'll sleep outside, in front of the door."

I stared at him, somewhat shocked that he knew that. Shaking my head to clear it, I said, "I know that it is improper, but there's room for both of us in the shack. You could sleep in front of the door inside if you want. We could pile up some of the extra leaves and stuff in the middle of the room as a divider."

"No, no. That won't be necessary. I'm fine with sleeping outside, Alcragon and I do that all the time. Or... we used to..." he trailed off, presumably thinking about how Alcragon, his best friend for most of his life, was missing.

How do you lose a dragon, anyway? They're too big to lose, and it's not like he got lost. Now that I think about it, I don't remember Caenum saying anything about hearing him, either. Maybe I should ask. If he didn't hear Alcragon, then something is seriously wrong here. I randomly thought.

"Caenum, I know this is really random, and it might hurt to talk about it, but have you heard from Alcragon lately? Have you tried calling to him?"

He looked away as he said softly, "No, I haven't heard from him. I tried calling to him, but he didn't answer. He only ever does that when he's mad at me, but then he always comes back soon after. He's never been gone this long, before, so I'm a little worried about him."

I walked over to him, putting my hand on his shoulder. He didn't shrug it off, even though he must have been hurting. All in one day, he lost his best friend, got rejected by a princess - I flinch just remembering that, and then got lost in an unknown forest. He's had a rough day.

"Stay in the shed, I'll build a wall between us so that it's not so improper," I said, trying to comfort him. "In the morning we try to find Alcragon together."

Caenum turned around and looked at me, his soft brown eyes wet with unshed tears. Smiling, he asked, "Really? Do you mean that? You won't decide to run off without me in the morning?"

I cringed, sad that he would think that. He must have seen it because he quickly said, "Not that you would! You're not the kind of person who would do that. Right? I mean... No, you're not. You--"

I laughed at his silliness, and cut him off, saying, "Oh, stop! I'm not going to run off, don't worry. And I'm not mad at you, either.

"Let's go to sleep," I said, as I looked at the small portion of the sky that I could see and realized how late it was.

We went inside and set up the sleeping arrangements, the beds, and the wall, and went to sleep. Caenum was against the door, to prevent anyone from trying to get in, and I was against the opposite wall. I stared at the ceiling as I fell asleep, thinking about how hectic this day had been. And how I wouldn't change it for the world.

A/N* Soooo? What do you think about this chapter? Let me know in the comments!

What do you think about Caenum's chivalry of offering to sleep outside in the cold? And it's so sad that his best friend has been missing longer than he ever had before. Alcragon! Where are you? Why aren't you speaking to Caenum?

And what about Bliss? She offered to let Caenum sleep inside, even though it wasn't really proper for a princess.

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