Bound By Chains (MxM)

Chapter Forty-Seven

It was intriguing, watching Drakell whittle away at the small bone he managed to pick from the chicken—crimson gaze locked in concentration as he dragged the bone back and forth on the stone floor, sharpening it's edge like a razor. He seemed almost...sure of what he was doing, and it made me wonder if he had done such a thing before. Of course, with me being the curious man I was, I voiced this out loud, causing the draconic prince to glance at me for a brief moment, before going back to what he was doing.

"This is my first time using a chicken bone," he spoke slowly, lifting the chicken bone to gauge where it was currently at before returning it to the stone floor, "but I have used other objects in the past. I was...an annoying little brat as a child and teenager, and often found myself in a bit of trouble on the daily. My father thought a good solution to "teach me a lesson", was to lock me in my rooms until it was dinner time. I may have been rambunctious as a child, but I wasn't stupid. I learned how to use the objects around me as make-shift keys, and in my time of solitude in my room, I learned how to whittle down said objects until they were thin enough—and still strong enough—to lockpick with." He sighed and stopped what he was doing, long enough to glance at me. "My father wasn't exactly happy when I learned of this...but I'm his son. He could threaten to take my things away, or lock me in the dungeons, or whatever, but he would never follow through with them." He then chuckled and returned to the chicken bone. "I finally began settling down once I hit my twenties, and I honestly didn't think I would ever have to do this again...well, until now."

My brows were raised with amusement, and as I laid on the bed staring at him, I couldn't help but ask, "What exactly did you do to start that whole thing off? If I'm allowed to ask, that is."

"Well, ah...I may or may not have accidentally set fire to the kitchens, while trying to make banana bread. It's my favorite little treat, and as a kid, I thought it would be easy to make. Suffice to say, I was...wrong."

"Wow, seriously?"

Drakell nodded his head and held up his progress, seemingly deeming it worthy enough as he stood up and made his way over to the door of his cell—peeking out into the hallway. "Yeah. It's partially why I tend to stay far away from the kitchens now. Mom wants me to learn how to cook for once I...well, whenever I marry, but I keep a wide berth away from anything that can ignite."

I shook my head in amusement as I made my way to my own door, watching as the other man sighed and pushed his arm through the bars. "Does...Davian know how to cook?" He wondered quietly as he began his process of picking the lock.

I lowered my eyes and thought back on it. Did Davian know how to cook? Now that I actually thought about it, what did I know about Davian? That he was sweet, kind, and deserved a hell of a lot better than what the gods dished out to him? I knew he didn't know what fireflies were, and that he didn't eat raw meat...and there was that time I watched him sneak a sip of wine, only to spit it out in disgust. But...what else did I know about him? It was like a bucket of ice-cold water was dumped on me. I...I didn't know that much about Davian. I didn't know that much, but I loved him more than anything in this world. I knew that I wanted to hold him in my arms and tell him everything was going to be alright. I knew I wanted to protect him from all the bad in this world and let him live the life he dreamed of. I would learn everything there was to know about him, and if he knew how to cook or not.

After a few moments mulling over this new revelation, I finally sighed and shrugged my shoulders, keeping my gaze remained on the floor outside of my cell. "I...don't know, to be honest. There's still so much I need to learn from him. It's honestly kind of sad, really, that I'm so in love with this man...but don't know all that much about him."

I glanced up and caught Drakell's gaze, but instead of seeing question or worry, all I saw was relation. "I know what you mean," he spoke—softly at first. "But, you know, I was a teenager then. Now that I'm older I realized that, back then, all I cared about was getting laid." He chuckled and shook his head, before he sobered up and glanced at me. "That's not the case for you, though. I may not be good at reading myself, but I am good at reading other people, and I can tell that you really do love my brother. And he loves you as well." He gave me a small smile. "Look, you may not know much about him now, but you will. Trust me, I'm gonna help the both of you get out of here, and once we are out of the reach of Alton and his cronies, you can take all the time you need learning all about him, ok?"

A warmth filled my chest at that, and I couldn't help but smile back as I nodded my head—glad that there was someone who could see how much Davian meant to me. And who didn't judge us or try to tear us apart. He was supportive, and honestly, that meant a hell of a lot to me.

Drakell made a sound that resembled a quiet cheer as something clicked, before the cell door squeaked open. My heart went into overdrive as Drakell slowly opened his door wider, peeking his dark head out to look down the hallway. Our breaths were quiet, and my nerves were sparking as the dragon prince stepped out of his cell—practically tiptoeing to mine before he began to pick the lock, brows pinched with concentration. He was nimble with his work, fingers flicking the bone around effortlessly until a sharp click sounded, and my door swung open.

"Now, I don't know how useful I will be if we run into anyone," I whispered in a rush as I finally stepped out of that damned cell, my blood buzzing with adrenaline.

Drakell glanced at my injured arm and leg, before meeting my gaze. "It's fine. I'll take them on."

I glanced at his toned arms and...yeah, he could probably take on a few people at a time. Then again, that might have been my wishful thinking talking. I really hope we didn't run into anyone.

We didn't take much more time, standing around and chatting before we were on the move—our breaths quick and silent as we maneuvered through the dungeon halls. Every time we heard an extra pair of footsteps, we would rush behind a crate, or a corner, or whatever cover we could find and hold our breaths until we were sure the individual was gone.

So far, so good. Our journey thus far seemed to be falling in our favor, but I didn't know if I should feel relief that it was going so well...or worry. Surely Alton posted more guards than this in the dungeons, right? Or was Alton so cocky that he didn't think the dungeon needed to be closely watched? Besides, my luck so far hadn't exactly been good, especially when it came to Davian and I living the life we wanted. So, I was worried that there would be a moment where we eventually were caught, be it in the dungeons, or right as we made it to the gates.

I glanced at Drakell, and I could see the sweat that trickled down his flushed, pale skin, and just from that, I could tell that he, too, was just as nervous as I was. After about ten minutes wandering the halls of the dungeons, he held his hand back and peeked around a corner. After a second, he glanced back at me and nodded, before moving towards the exit that was now within our reach. We were close. So close to escaping this place, and I mentally counted down the minutes until I saw Davian's sweet, beautiful face once again.

I think I manifested something negative, when I was worrying about the lack of guards in our journey. Of course, I would end up having something go wrong, because why wouldn't it? Because as soon as we opened our door to freedom...we ended up face to face with none other than the magical sun dragon, who stared back at us with wide, amber-colored eyes.

A/N: Oh no, not the sun dragon! Yall knew this wasn't going to be easy for our heroes lmao, but who knows...that sun dragon seems to be partial to Drakelllllll. *Wink*

Anywho, hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Don't be shy to tell me what you think! I love reading your feedback! :)