Cold Blood Beast

18

Lia

I wrap my father up in a blanket as the air turned colder. I look up as Everest lets out a deep sigh, and with a questioning look, he speaks.

"We'll have to stay the night out here. You're both too weak to keep going." He says before gesturing to my pale father and me rubbing my sore neck with tired eyes.

"We're not weak." My father and I mumble at the same time. We look at each other quickly, impressed yet annoyed with each other's twinning remark.

"Prince-" My father goes to address his nonsense and to stand but coughs into his arm. His eyelids droop and his body shakes again so I sit him down.

"Maybe we should stay here for now," I whisper, agreeing with Everest.

"I'll start a fire." He says so I give him a nod and he leaves to get firewood. I watch as his wings slowly start to disappear along with his body before I look over at my father.

"You should try to sleep. Your body needs its energy back." I say standing up. I help him lay down in the empty wagon. I cover him in all the blankets we brought leaving none for myself.

I help him with some sips of water and he eventually closes his eyes, breathing deeply and surely falling asleep rather quickly.

I look up at the starry sky. A crescent moon cast a soft glow on the grassy forest floor.

Looking back at my father when he coughs, I sigh and take off my coat. I drape the fur over him and kiss his cheek. He continues to shiver and cough. I stand up and rub my arms trying to warm up again. The sun already set and blue darkness fell upon the sky.

A crunching of leaves comes in from the distance and I squint, focusing on the dark abyss where Everest eventually stumbles out of.

He meets my eyes and within seconds he lifts his wings and flies in front of me, his arms full of wood.

I have to stand on my tip-toes to grab them from his arms. He has large biceps and strongly defined forearms that kept me staring at them for a few seconds longer than needed to.

He lets me take the sticks as he creates a small dip in the dirt with his shoe. Placing the sticks carefully, one on top of another he rubs them together creating a small thread of smoke.

The pile of sticks erupts into a cozy warm fire. "Oooh!" I hum impressed. I've made fires plenty of times but not this big. I usually make them small since I cook food for only one person.

"Warm up." He commands while tilting his head back to look upon the night sky full of stars. I roll my eyes but cuddle up beside the warm fire.

I feel his presence as he sits next to me on the ground. He lets out a deep breath, the condensation coming from his mouth and into the cold air. I tuck my knees up to my chest as the harsh air slaps against my back, throwing my hair around.

Suddenly the air is blocked. I look over my shoulder and see Everest's large black wing draped over my shoulders.

Whipping my head around I look at his strong side profile. His sharp jaw was coated in black stubble, his curly soft-looking hair falling over his eyes from the wind. His golden eyes reflected the flame in front of us. His eyelashes brush the top of his prominent cheekbones every time he blinks.

I feel my heart strike against my ribs brutally. I lace my hands together over my knees feeling it harder and harder to look away. He's pretty.

Of course, I've noticed but my feelings needed to be buried. He's a prince- a future king.

He looks at me, the reflection of the flames that were once in his eyes disappear. A soft honey gold color glows against the side of his face.

I feel my lips part going to say something but nothing comes out. I go to apologize for staring but truthfully I wasn't sorry, as long as I was keeping my comments to myself I was fine. Right..?