How Many Times I'd Live For You

Chapter Three

The horse Abir had snagged was surprisingly affectionate towards Fiore. The Prince wasn't exactly an animal lover but wasn't an animal hater either. He'd spend so many hours riding horses it would be idiotic for him to dislike the creatures. However, he was still too proud as a Prince to become fond of them.

This strange horse seemed to look past his grumpy expression, nuzzling its nose right up against Fiore's dirtied clothes. The man grimaced out of habit but knew there was nothing left to get soiled by the creature's nose.

"She likes you. How surprising."

Fiore turned away from the mare with a snort, completely ignoring how the horse was still nuzzling his chest. "How is it surprising? And how do you know it's female?"

Abir chuckled, heaving the now securely tied man up onto the empty saddle. "Magic," he grinned teasingly, earning an exaggerated eye roll from Fiore.

"Sure," he huffed without another word, not really knowing a good comeback to Abir's short stab. Seriously... He still calls me Prince but then acts like that?

Abir stayed silent as well, but didn't wipe the satisfied smirk off his lips.. Much to Fiore's annoyance.

Fiore walked with the reins of their new mare in hand, following Abir to an unknown destination. The tied up man let out small sounds every now and then in his unconscious state, but wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. Abir must have seriously knocked him out... as expected from a Beast.

Fiore had never feared Abir, only held a grudge against his cool-headedness. However, the merciless and swift fight he'd seen earlier was nothing short of terrifying. He held the saber as if it weighed nothing, slicing through his opponents before they could even breathe their last breath. Looking back, Fiore couldn't even remember the details of Abir's attack, only recalling watching a dark shadow send blood flying in his wake.

His eyes flashed down to the sheathed saber on Abir's hip, wondering silently to himself. He'd never actually seen Abir practice with the sword. Every time he was training under Abir's guard, the man just watched silently. Since he was actually thinking about it no, Fiore couldn't recall even seeing Abir unsheathe his blade once, not even to clean it.

"It's called Shadowbringer."

Fiore snapped out of his thoughts, eyes flashing up to meet Abirs. "Shadowbringer?" He repeated comically, not quite in his own head yet.

Abir only hummed in amusement, a soft smile pulling at his cheeks. "Yep. It's my saber's name. You were gawking so I thought you'd like to know," he hummed proudly, knowing very well the reaction he was soon to get.

Fiore, as expected, huffed and averted his gaze, his hands tightening on the mare's reins. "I was not gawking. Just zoning out. It's bold of you to think I'm interested in your blade." He retorted with an air of haughtiness that he couldn't quite help. It was a bad habit of his to speak in a prissy manner, but he couldn't help it! He's spoken this way ever since he was a child, and although he'd learned to control his tone, it tended to slip out when his guard dropped.

"Oh? So were you looking at something else then?" Abir wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, Fiore turned to him just in time to see. He immediately gagged, choking on the air at such an audacious statement!

"Shut up! You're so shameless! Have some damn dignity." Fiore mumbled crossly, covering his face with his free hand. He's never been the victim of such teasing... Sure the women who tried for his hand had all tried to seduce him in countless ways.. But Abir was just different. Weirdly different.

"Saying profanities? Fiore, you know better than that," Abir shook his head gently, looking as if he was doing his best to hold back a bout of laughter.