Astien looked down at the floor. "What if… Cormac, what I he doesn't love me anymore?"
"What's everything? Is Astien not his name? Is he actually a woman? Is he actually a dragon? Is everything that you and I are experiencing now but a simple story being told betwixt two people for the sake of amusement?"
"I doubt that," Cormac said. "If anything he's just angry."
"That's not what I meant," Marius sighed. He got up. "I'm going for a walk. And maybe a drink. Stay out of trouble." He stepped out of the carriage and headed into town.
"I honestly think he might not love me anymore. I don't lnow what I'd do if… if that's how it is now."
Delas hopped out of the carriage and followed Marius. "Hey, wait up! You still didn't tell me what happened!"
"Just...Give him time and try to talk to him," Cormac suggested.
"I told you it's nothing you need to be concerned about," Marius said flatly. "If you want to know so badly then find Astien and ask him." He turned and walked into a bar.
"The people at the castle gave us the same room. I guess I'll be talking to him later tonight." Astien sighed and drank what remained of the ice cream in his cup.
Delas decided that there was no way Marius wasn't coming out if that bar drunk, so he waited in front for Marius to come back out.
"You'll work things out. I'm sure of it," Cormac said. "Do you want more ice cream?"
"Yes please." Once they had finished their ice cream, Astien decided to head back to the castle. "I'm going to go lay down. Hopefully if Marius comes in, he'll at least talk to me."
Cormac nodded. "If I see him, I'll try to send him your way."
Marius stumbled out of the bar a few hours later. He made his way back to the carriage and immediately fell asleep on the bottom bunk.
Astien made his way to the castle and plopped down on the bed. The room he and Marius were in was beautiful and large. It was suppose to be romantic, but things were going so horribly instead. Astien sighed and laid back on the bed. At least tomorrow he would begin working, and he could lose himself in that.
Delas followed Marius. He tried, incredibly unsuccessfully, to pull the larger man out of the bottom bunk. "No noooo, we're staying at the castle, remember?"
"If you need to talk I'm down the hall," Cormac said. "Unless you want me to stay."
"I'm staying here," Marius slurred. "It's comfy."
"Please stay. I need to talk to someone."
"How is this more comfy than a castle? Come on, they have mints on pillows! Friggin mints on pillows! And the blankets and pillows and mattresses are soft as hell! Come on, cormac and Astien are probably worried about us!"
Cormac nodded and sat on the bed.
"Then you go," Marius muttered. "I'm staying here."
"I don't like lying about Aiden, in fact I hate myself for it. But when there are people who think he's dangerous, and they try to… to… I-I mean what am I supposed to do? If I didn't hide it, the wrong people would find out about him, and they'd come after me!"
Delas struggled some more. "I can't leave you here, you could do something stupid cuz you're drunk!"
"I understand that you want to protect Aiden, but you could have told Marius sooner. He's crazy about you, Astien. I mean, Wyn hid the pregnancy scare from me because she didn't want me to freak out, but we did work things out after she told me. I know it's not the same situation, but you could have just told Marius the truth..." Cormac sighed.
"I'm tired," Marius grumbled. "Let me sleep."
"Telling someone you're pregnant is one thing. Telling someone you're pregnant with an entity that has the potential to burn an entire realm is another. How exactly would you have gone about saying it?"
Delas huffed. "Fine." He climbed into the top bunk. "I could be sleeping in a castle right now, but no. I have to keep an eye on you instead. I hope you're happy. Good night."
"Well, for one I wouldn't have stolen a story from a friend. And you could have just gotten away with 'Aiden's father isn't around' and left it at that."
Marius grumbled something before falling asleep.
"I didn't intentionally steal their story, I panicked and I just said the first thing I could think of!" Astien started crying. "I hate lying. I'm a terrible person, lying to everyone I meet like this."
Cormac rubbed Astien's back.
Astien cried until there was nothing left in him. "You should get to bed. I imagine you have to wake up early for training."
"I'll sleep here for the night," Cormac said.