The Dragon King

Chapter Nineteen

Meadowpeak

Levi stuffed some fruit into a satchel that he found lying at the foot of the bed. He threw the food in the bag rather harshly as he shook in anger. At least he hoped it was his anger and not his wound acting up.

"Levi, I don't know if we should take any of this stuff," Elyssa's soft voice was hard to hear from behind him.

He huffed as he flung around to face her. "She's throwing us out, Elyssa. What do you want me to do? We have no previsions. No food, no water, and now we don't even know where going to go. Mother is probably miles away from here."

"Yeah, but couldn't we just buy food and a satchel at one of the villages Maleficent was talking about?"

He threw his arms out to the side. "With what money?" She lowered her head. He picked up a flask and tossed it toward her. "Fill this up. I saw a pump not far from here down the corridor."

Elyssa gave him a slow nod before disappearing out the door.

He sighed heavily as he placed the satchel down on the ground, and plopped onto a stool. What were they supposed to do now? Rumplestiltskin had lied, and his magic didn't work. Was he sending them on a wild goose chase? If his mother hadn't confessed, he would've thought Rumple was lying about his big brother, and him being a dragon too.

He rubbed a hand through his hair. He shouldn't have gotten angry at Elyssa, but he felt overwhelmed. Without a dragon master, how would he ever learn to control his dragon? He knew Elyssa wouldn't teach him. Not after her promise.

He sat up straight, and puffed out his chest. He was going to have to learn on his own. Maybe that's what Elyssa had done. He wouldn't know since she had already discovered her dragon side when they had met, and he never had a need to ask.

He turned toward the door with his brow furrowed. Speaking of Elyssa, why wasn't she back yet? The pump wasn't that far, and it would take seconds to fill up that flask.

As if she had heard his thoughts, Elyssa stepped through the threshold carrying the flask.

Levi placed a hand on his thigh. "Took you long enough."

Elyssa gave him a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that. While I was at the pump, this servant girl came up behind me. At first I was afraid she was going to call a guard, but instead she just told me how amazed she was hearing about how far we'd traveled."

He cocked his head. "I never mentioned anything about how far we traveled, and neither did you."

She shrugged. "Well, you are a prince. Surely, they must know you."

He snickered. "Yeah, and I'm surprised they're not turning us over then either."

Elyssa waved him off. "Anyways. She was a nice girl. Said she's lived in this castle her whole life." Her voice grew soft. "That would be awful. To never know what the outside world was like."

Levi shrugged. "It's not so bad. I've had the taste of both. Lived my first twelve years in the castle unable to leave the grounds." He looked down at his shoes. "Until Snow decided we were the enemies."

Elyssa thrust her hands on her hips. "Snow decided that a long time again when she decided to start torching you and tried to kill you." She narrowed her eyes. "I'd like to kill her myself if I could."

He stood to his feet and placed the satchel strap over his shoulder. "Come on. We need to get out of here before they throw us out." He placed a hand around her as they both exited the chamber.

He felt Elyssa shudder as they stepped foot outside into the green grass. He looked over at her as she glanced around the oncoming forest.

"I have this bad feeling that someone's just out there. Waiting for us." She squeezed the flask as her shoulders tensed. "Like Cinderella has another arrow just ready to release."