Cinder-knight (bxb)

third wheeling

"So, what's your name?"

"Pase, Pase Dandelon."

"Your age?"

"Seventeen."

"Ah, cool. We're only a year apart. Though I kinda expected you to be younger, like twelve or something."

Eric eavesdropped on the conversation going on in front of him, with his arms clenched into tight fists as he led the mare and the gelding in the direction where the green wizard was taking them towards. He didn't trust that kid a bit, yet knowing that he couldn't disagree with his prince's decisions, he desperately held in the need to strangle the mage on spot.

Chirps of chaffinches rocked in the knight's ears as thin trees swung along to the forest's melody, crickets also joined with their chimes to embellish it to far beyond its zenith. Like gargoyles created by nature, the dens of woody trees took forms of exoticism, exquisite yet creepy, and the sight of them around his frame made the knight more and more uncomfortable.

While the prince and the kid continued talking, Eric saw how a snag of a tree root had perked up in front of where his highness stood, and as he realised the prince wasn't looking where he was going and was prone to fall down because of it, he let go of the mare's harness and tried to grab the prince's shoulder.

But then happened the inevitable. Because the gelding was far more heavier than Eric and the said knight hadn't let go of his harness, his feet lost balance and he toppled on the ground in the most embarrassing position ever. It seemed that Eric had fallen head over heels for his prince, pun intended.

With his chin throbbing against the gravel of the forest bed, Eric peered up to at least warn his prince, "Your majest-" the words died down in his tongue as the prince casually avoided the snag without even having to look down.

Darn it.

"Oh," prince charming halted his chitter-chatter with Pase and looked behind, "Why are you lying on the ground, ginger?"

While dying internally, the knight stood up and cracked an awkward smile. His hand went to the nape of his neck, and he kept it there while feigning a silly expression. "I'm fine, my prince." he winced once he realised how weird that sounded.

Prince Charming nodded and looked forward again. Eric on the other hand let out a guttural sigh, and plodded back to the two horses who remained rigid till the knight had grasped their tackles again. Well, except Avianthan, who was a bit tense at Pase's presence.

Yet when he thought everything was going to fall back to place, he saw the mage glancing his way and raking his eyes over his messed up frame before smirking. That was enough for Eric to feel his face contort into anger.

'This b***h-'

--------

Ivory tulips shivered in the wind, bending at its gallantry as the wizard took the prince, knight and the two horses through spirals of trees and at last, to the front of a cave that was trimmed with old curtains and used clothes.

"I welcome you to my humble abode." Pase grinned, waving his wand to unfetter a stream of glitters that danced in the air. The movement made Avianthan suddenly jolt up and stride towards him, but Eric who now made sure to never let go of her tether, pulled her back with a brutal force.

Looking at it with a small fazed frown, the prince let out a hum, "She doesn't seem to like you for some reason." he uttered, making Pase shake his head with a smile.

"I think I know the reason," he told, slowly moving his hand towards Avianthan's muzzle as Eric shot him a glare. But before he could touch her, the mare opened her mouth and hissed like a fuming snake, "I see she's sensitive to dark magic, like really sensitive. And since I use dark magic, it's obvious she's not going to like me."

Wait what?

The revelation made Eric fight off a smirk of a proud father, or something like that, but then he thought back to the times where the mare had caused hassle at the castle. That incident with the parade now made sense, since it was the exact same time when the evil witch had appeared to kidnap princess Mary. So he was certain that the reason Avianthan went crazy was because she sensed dark magic, and not because she was a cantankerous piece of s**t.

Maybe that too.

But even if it's the case, Eric couldn't help but wonder, perhaps they might be able to use the horse to hunt witches down? It would be amazing, yet when the prince wasn't ready to kill even a single wizard like Pase, how could it be anywhere near practical?

He grimnanced, looking up once he heard Prince Charming say something, "That's quite interesting, but first, shouldn't you be introducing us to your.. Uhm.. House?"

"Ah yes yes," Pase tramped into the cavern, sliding the curtain off so that the rest could see the interior of his house, comprised of.. Well, nothing. Nothing except the remnants of firewood he had used to make a hearth; which didn't seem very successful now that the prince and the knight had looked at it.

"Come in," Pase signalled with his hand and ran inside, Henry followed, but Eric wasn't given the chance to do the same as Avianthan pulled him back, giving him an expression that screamed, 'I don't trust that wench.'

"I don't either," the knight sighed, "But my prince is there, and I'm his knight. I'm supposed to be next to him, whether he likes it or not."

Avianthan whinnied sadly.

"But on the side not, you get to be alone with your guy," Eric winked, then motioned his eyes towards the hale wiry gelding next to the mare and did some gesticulations. He had never thought he would get so low to the point where he'll start to pretend like horses could actually understand him, and also play match-maker among literal animals, but whatever.

After hitching the two horses to a tree trunk and waving goodbye at them, Eric scuttled into the cave. A whit of heat coiled in his body as he saw the Prince and the wizard kneeling over the rough ground, a map laying between them while they continued to talk and joke about something Eric wasn't aware of.

Even when the knight had seated himself next to his prince, sneering quietly at Pase about how he shouldn't be letting Henry sit on the floor, they continued laughing, the prince out of them having his hand pressed against his mouth as a simple etiquette.

"My prince?"

Henry snapped out of it, turning to look at his knight as the laughter died down precipitously, "Oh ginger, I didn't see you coming. Pase and I were just talking about the witches in the area, uhm... Right Pase?"

The green mage nodded, uncurling the rolled edges of the map lain down and flattening it against the cavern bed, "So as I was saying, this area is-"

"But I thought you two were laughing?" Eric cut him off, his eyes squinted a little and there it was, the discomfort that dribbled everywhere; whether it was the space between the prince and him, or the space between the wizard and him, it seeped among cracks, through gaps, also into his own body as the knight found himself frowning slightly.

He couldn't help but wonder, were the two making fun of him till now? Did they think Eric was ruining whatever fun thing that was going between them? Or were they just not comfortable around the knight?

In all honesty, Eric wouldn't give a s**t if that wizard boy didn't like him. But his prince didn't look happy to have him there either, so he kept on pondering, shouldn't it be him and the Prince against the mage, not the other way around?

It was like a billion constrictions were molesting his body, deforming it, puncturing it in the place it hurt the most; his chest, as the Prince coughed awkwardly.

"It's no big deal," he smiled, blinding Eric with his charm, "Just a lame joke about why a chicken would cross the road. So, Pase let's continue with your explanation now, shall we?"