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AVERY WAS FINE. Not good. Not bad. Fine.
No sleepless nights plagued his psyche where snakes would coil around his bloodied hands and squeeze until painted in pasty white. No demons would pick apart at his flesh and scratch at the dried liquid crusted against short nails. No sobs would want to echo from his chapped lips when steel and azure connect at dinner. No none of that happens every time the sun sets and darkness coats the landscape of Lucria. He's doing fine. And Cristan seemed to be doing fine too.
The burden of taking someone's life didn't seem to even touch a fine hair on his brothers head. Charming smiles were still dished out to the maids and leisurely daytime activities continued with Balthin. He still greeted their mother with a kiss on the cheek. Agitation boiled in Avery's lungs, whirlwinds sprung up through his vocal cords and burst from puckered lips when he saw nonchalance ooze from his pores.
Blond curls lay suspended in a crown of thorns on silk bedsheets as light seeped through half open windows. Ferns and ivy seeped from wood and enriched the otherwise bland room. Squinting at the burning crimson of the sun, Avery heaved a sigh.
He just wanted something, anything, to take his mind off of gurgled chokes and molten liquid. Suddenly, a loud 'boom' echoed throughout the otherwise tranquil kingdom. Body shaking and eyes widening in shock; looks like he was in luck.
Securing his boots, Avery jogged as quick as he could without putting too much pressure on his leg as possible. Twirling and dancing and ducking beneath bannisters and stairwells as he went to leave through the kitchen's back door. Winding throughout increasingly dense foliage, fog and fire wafted through the air causing his nose to twitch and eyes to water. Avery nears a city of smoke, but before he can even break through the barricade of trees, he hears the sound of rough coughs reverberating throughout the air.
Keen eyes seek out the source and a icy shot of dread electrocutes his veins. A bounty hunter — a Mandalorian, to be specific. As fear nestled itself into the pit of his empty stomach, Avery broke through the wall of trees and neared the opposing man.
Vermillion copper reflected sunspots from light, phosphenes illuminated as they danced around the dazed bounty hunter. Shining melted scorched and marred with scrapes and abrasions. A large rickety ship cast a shadow of the clearing, ghosts and demons lurking in the dark. As Avery got closer he could see the man pull himself up into a wobbly sitting position, groans reverberating from his arid throat.
A deep black visor was suddenly looking in his direction, hunched body and gangly limbs clutching his pride, Avery's pale eyes widened in fear. Biting his lip in uncertainty, he continued to near the male — very aware of the piercing gaze through the beskar helmet.
"Excuse me! Are you okay? Is your ship... dead?" Avery stammered his way through the series of questions, throat tightening as the Mandalorian didn't look away.
Avery could still feel his burning gaze, it made him feel invaded, like judgement we crawling under his skin and stamping all over his brain.
"I'm fine," came the short reply. Confusion burst into the forefront of his mind as Dyn watched the boy hunched infront of him. Features and clothes of a prince held with posture of a peasant, it was almost nonsensical. Judging by the apprehensive look on the boys face, he was scared. But genuine concern had riddled his voice when he spoke. As he squinted through the helmet and the sun stopped obscuring his full vision, Dyn Jarren realised that his job just got hell of a lot easier.
Avery Delour, Prince of Lucria stood right in front of him.
It'd be in his best to just place a bullet straight into his skull right where he stood, but hearing the churning and creaking of his severely damaged ship behind him, he knew that wasn't an option.
Getting to his feet, Dyn stared back at his broken ship. A deep sigh rumbled from his throat, lazily regarding the boy behind him with a quick glance, he spoke out to the boy.
"My ship is destroyed. Is there any way that I can get some lodging while I take time to repair it?" A flicker of hope burst into a flame as the boy's gaze switched to welcoming and spoke of a chorus of 'yes', 'of course' and 'follow me'.
Dyn Jarren knew he'd hit the jackpot.
『 AUTHOR'S NOTE 』 i thought i should mention that both avery and cristan's accent are very kind of southern british,, think standard english. ALSO! if you're looking for full blown romance, this book isn't for you. i am aiming for more of a platonic take, in this book at least, but that doesn't mean there won't be elements of romance. this is just how i pictured the story going :)) <3
