Queen of Ashes │ Season 1 │The Journey

8 │Short terms

If eyes could talk, they would probably tell her, that the Prince was stunned by this woman. In his long life, he never met anyone who would arouse so many emotions in him, even more—a human person. He thought nothing could surprise him in this cruel world, yet, this innocent but somehow exceptionally strong redhead was true proof that there were surely a few more things in life, he wasn't prepared for.

"How should I call you then?" He asked without taking his eyes off her.

"My name is Freya, so you can call me as such," she rasped.

"Freya," he repeated tenderly, causing her name to vibrate slightly against his lips. That made her shiver, which had not gone unnoticed by the Prince. He smiled. "You should call me Leander, then."

A slight smile appeared on the woman's face, signaling the end of her panic attack. "All right," she replied shortly. "Thank you, Leander," she added if only to test how his name would taste on her tongue.

It tasted like sunrise.

"You have nothing to thank me for, Princess." He cleared his throat. "In fact, that would be me in a need to give you my expressions of gratitude." He smiled.

Freya chuckled. "And why on earth would that be?"

Leander looked lost in thought for a while, but even though his mind was clearly busy with thinking, his eyes roamed around her amused face. Finally, he replied, "For not turning out how I imagined you would be."

"Do I want to know what did you imagine?" She asked laughing.

"Surely not someone drowning naked in a lake." He winked.

Freya blushed, her cheeks burning. "Please, don't remind me. I want you to erase the memory immediately." She stated with as much authority as she could possibly gather at the moment.

It was Leander laughing now. "Cannot promise anything, it's quite a remarkable memory."

"Oh gods..." She hid her head in her hands. "What a disaster..."

She felt a strong pull of a hand shortly after. Leander lifted her head, so now she was yet again looking at his handsome face. "I wasn't peeking. You don't need to feel embarrassed. I just did what needed to be done at that moment, and it means rescuing you."

If Freya was in any different circumstances, she'd surely kiss him from the happiness of him saying that. But she had to play a serious person from now on, and that meant no kissing newly met vampires. Besides, he could always say that only for her to feel better. He seemed genuine, but who the hell knew what was inside that too-stunning head?

"Thank you for that." She smiled at him eventually. "Have to admit, you're also nothing I'd expect if I knew about vampires before."

"Too little bloody?" He teased.

"You could say that..." She chuckled. "Although Qadir is a little bit closer to the image my mind would surely depict. At least for his attitude."

"This little piece of sunshine? But why..." Leander winked and they both couldn't contain their laughs at the thought.

"All right... Let's finally get some rest before Qadir returns and ruins our mood with his winning," Freya said wiping tears from her face.

"That's a fair point, this man knows how to rile people up." The vampire took his coat, wrapped it in a roll, and laid it on a vacant piece of floor, making a pillow out of it. With little hesitation, he laid down and rested his head on the makeshift pillow with one hand raised behind his neck.

Freya, on the other hand, sat down on the bed, which creaked slightly under her weight, and with the last of her strength untied her boots. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so tired.

"Lee?" Being on the verge of sleep, she decided to ask the last question that bothered her.

"Oh, we're on short terms now, aren't we?" His voice was mirthful but she could catch signs of weariness as well.

"Come on, it's shorter this way and I'm running out of time when my body simply cut off my last energy reserves," she was already talking with her eyes closed. "I have a very important question to ask."

"Ask then, Frey."

"Frey?"

"Straight to the point, Princess," he rushed her.

Freya couldn't name the reason but she was grinning from ear to ear at the moment. "Why the lack of beer was so significant given your species' circumstances?"

"What sort of question is that?" She could hear him snort.

"Very important, as I said."

Leander laughed this time and that was a very pleasant sound for Freya's ears. "I'm not sure if the answer to this very important question would be satisfactory to you, ma'am."

"Try me."

A pause. Then a soft creaking of the floor as the man changed his position. He was now directed toward the woman on the bed.

"There is simply nothing better than a cold beer after an overnight journey," he said with a wink.

"Even blood?"

They were looking at each other. The room was slightly lit by the light creeping in through the curtain, which induced somehow cozy atmosphere. They both looked relaxed, as this—talking to each other—was something natural to them, like they knew each other not for days but for years at least.

"Well... Maybe apart from that, obviously."

"Obviously..." Freya pointed out and with that last statement, sleep took her over.

Prince Leander joined her shortly after but before that, his thoughtswere focused on a certain young woman with whom conversation came mostnaturally in the world and the feeling that accompanied it. As if he had comehome, after a very long and distant journey, during which he managed to losethe remnants of his humanity—just waiting for this very moment to return.