Blue Blood

Humility

When I wake up in the morning, Rody is gone. I panic for a second before seeing a note written on a rock near my head.

"Went out for food. Will be back soon. Xoxo -Rody."

I smile at the silly note then quickly frown at myself for falling for him more.

It takes a few minutes of excruciating pain but I'm able to get into a sitting position and glance around the cave. It's pretty shallow. The back of the cave is right behind me and the opening is only about 10-12 yards away. The embers of the fire are barely hanging on so I do my best to bring back the flame.

I like the prince. Stop thinking about him! . . . I can't believe I'm in love. Rrrrgggg stop! Does he like me back?

I hit my head with the base of my palm to try and stop thinking about it but I can't.

Will this ruin our friendship? Will he hate me if I say something? What if he likes me back?

My heart aches at the last thought. No. No one likes me, I'm unlikeable, no. No one truly wants to be with a man of my station, that was a silly thought and I'm an idiot.

Even still, the question still swims through my head. I imagine a woodpecker coming up and pecking the thought out of my brain and feeding it to its chicks. Such a bitter taste. My stomach starts to grumble at the thought of food and I groan.

Why would he even want to be with me? Oh here we go again. I mean really, he's a prince, a freaking prince! Beautiful Women line up to be with him everyday, what chance would I have? I'm just a lowly knight and MALE, I have no chance so stop thinking about it, just stop!

No mater how much I scream at myself, the thoughts won't leave. I look to the rock with the note on it and debate smashing my head in with it. It would be over quick, he wouldn't miss me much anyway.

"Oh, you're awake." I jolt at the sudden voice and see Roman carrying a couple rabbits.

I rub the back of my head and try not to make eye contact, it would just make things worse.

He sets out the rabbit I front of me and hands me a knife. "Pretty good right?"

I smile at him and start dressing the meat.

"How did you get these?"

"I used a bow and arrow and waited."

"Wow, that's some aim." I look at the arrow holes on the rabbit and see that each perfectly hits through the heart.

"It's nothing really." He shrugs off.

That's odd. Usually he would be boasting about what a great shot he is and how awesome it is that he got us food.

I finish dressing them and start cooking them. Rody watches the fire dance and a light smile coats his face. I tell myself to look away but I can't. He notices me staring.

"What?"

I try to bite my tongue but it's too slippery.

"You're so amazing."

A shocked expression crosses his face and he smiles. Alright that's enough talking now-

"You've always been amazing and I'm just so grateful to be in your presence. I am truly, truly the luckiest man in the world."

'You've said too much now you idiot!' I scold myself.

He smiles and looks at his hands.

"No, really I'm not. I'm just like everyone else, if anything you're the amazing one. I'm only human."

From the entrance of the cave comes a whizzing sound then a loud pop and a flash of bright light. We both gasp at it and realize we completed the first task.

"Woah! Wait, so which one was that for?" He asks a bit excited. That's the Rody I know and lo-like, y-yes the one I like, not anything else just like. I think about it for a second then think about what we were just talking about.

"I think you accomplished humility."

He smiles brightly and looks up as if saying thanks. I smile and shake my head. Then I realize that I almost burnt the rabbits and quickly pull them out of the fire.

We let them cool then start digging in, Rody dancing in his seat. One labor done, 3 more to go. How hard can that be?

I finish first and still feel hungry but I don't say anything. I reach for my bag behind me and try to hide a wince.

It must not have worked though because Rody is staring at me or more accurately . . . W-wait is he staring at my chest?

I look down to where he's looking and see nothing. When I look back at Rody, he's looking the other way. My mind starts flooding with more of those thoughts and I silently push them away.

I take a deep breath and brace myself to stand. I groan and growl pushing myself up until I'm on my feet. As soon as I am, I start to fall forward but an arm catches me before I can fall. I turn my head to thank him and our noses almost touch. We both move away quickly, blushing.

"You should try to take it slow, okay?" Rody suggests and I nod my head.

It takes me twice as long to get dressed and I stop when I get to my back armor. The fairy must have used some armor piercing magic to get through this because normal knives wouldn't. Royalty are the only ones to have magic resistant armor because it's so rare and expensive. It's not impervious, however. If a spell is strong enough, it could still do some damage.

I run my fingers over the cut in the armor and think back to what happened. It was a moment of pure instinct but somehow I was still able to keep him safe. I had never been so panicked and yet something told me to take those knives to the back for him. If I could go back I would still do the same thing.

I take out a repair kit and start hammering it back together. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have it. It takes awhile and Rody watches fascinated all the while. I smile at him and he sends one back which makes my heart skip. I suppose he's never used one before. If there was ever a bitch in his armor I always fixed it for him.

Once it's done, he helps me put it on and we set up to go.

I tie everything down tight on Edima while she happily eats grass. I smile and rest my head on her back, listening to her breathing. She lifts her head and puts her fat mouth in my hair. I laugh and push her head away gently. Rody laughs too. He must have been watching.

I blush a little and check the map. Next stop: the Maston border and probably a lot more danger. On our side of the border, it's usually warm and sunny. It's only ever snowed once or twice here, but in Maston it's quite the opposite. Maston is famous for its rain, snow and cold. Seasons aren't a thing there, the weather changes from minute to minute. One second it will be a nice day and the next there's an inch of snow on the ground. In Auril, it doesn't change much but in Maston? We're gonna have a few problems.