Sons of Hellfire: Book 1 [Wattys 2016]

Aeric - 5

Aeric turned when the door opened, watching as the prince walked out with a sullen expression. He quirked a brow, pushing himself off of the side of the house that he had been leaning against.

"What did Vajeel tell you?"

He asked merely because he knew of his guardian's strange ways of going about things. She spoke without any hesitation to utter the truth and though it was all out of the goodness of her heart, it had taken awhile during Aeric's childhood to realize that that was just how she was. And judging by Lucien's petulant expression, she had probably done the same to him.

"She welcomed me into your home with open arms," he said turning his head away. Aeric was tempted to follow his gaze but he was still curious as to what Vajeel could have said that was so bad she had tamed the sharp-tongued dragon prince.

"And?"

Lucien gave him a dry look. "She politely reminded me that no one takes my word seriously, so you shouldn't be worried if I were to go to my mother about you and your magic."

Aeric snickered. He had been amused by Lucien's wit and smart mouth ever since they met and though the other boy looked as if he would give anything to get out of Aeric's company, Aeric would do the exact same to stay. Also, that sounded like such a Vajeel thing to say after welcoming someone into their home.

"She's like that; she's not afraid to say anything."

"Neither would I, if I were a witch."

"Are you afraid," he asked, "of our magic?"

Lucien looked back at the door before glancing up at him. Aeric had watched Lucien enough to realize that he had extremely powerful eye contact. It was unnerving since those grey eyes were so unnatural, yet Aeric would gladly spend the rest of the day studying them. Instead, he stared at his hair - black as the night and thrown into a quick and loose yet accurate braid. Long hair was not usually a common thing to see in Artus, but then again, Lucien wasn't either.

"Are you not afraid of me?"

Aeric didn't answer immediately, pondering his answer. He had never felt even an ounce of fear when he ran into Lucien. When the prince set his pack on fire, he didn't feel compelled to run or shoot him down as an enemy. He didn't feel intimidated when the other boy got into his face, trying to strike terror in him. Lucien - Luce, since 'Lucien' was such a mouthful - was just as interesting as a new creature found in the woods, but with much more depth to him. He was a person - a person he was told children's stories about - and now he had the honour of finally meeting him.

"Not really, no," Aeric said, watching as surprise flitted across Luce's face for a split second.

"Huh. Well, it's your life at risk, not mine." He spoke nonchalantly, turning away and taking a few steps forward. "So what are you showing me?"

Aeric smiled behind his back, amused once more. "Do you want to see our garden? It's where we grow a majority of our plants and herbs that we use for making things such as coriander cakes and Soldier's Cure. There's also food but that's not as exciting."

"Whatever you think will hold my interest."

"Oh," Aeric said as he walked past Luce to lead the way. "I'm sure something will."

They rounded the large tree, walking to the back where a large garden became visible. Aeric saw out of the corner of his vision how Luce's eyes widened as he took in the wondrous sight.

Aeric's garden was something he took extreme proud in. Yes, Vajeel tended to it too, whenever Aeric was out, but he planted all of the seeds and he was the one that took care of them daily. It was a large square plot of soil that stretched to the very tip of the farthest mushrooms that made of the ring. In straight rows held up by wooden stakes were a variety of plants, both magical and not. Even in the daylight, some plants glowed and twinkled brightly. They came in plentiful colours - some unnatural for normal plants. There were squat flowers with massive petals and thin rod-like plants with blue bulbs at their tips. There were also things Luce had seen before such as squash and tomato plants, but they paled in comparison to the silvery, dusty looking roses and plump, pumpkin-shaped blue fruits that were dotted with red.