Kingdoms and crowns - oxo - romance

"fake" He said quietly.

Fiel paused, then half-turned so he could look at Lukas properly. Something about the way he'd spoken suggested he didn't just mean pretending to smile and acting like nothing ever bothered him.
"I'm glad to be able to give you a rest from that," he said slowly, a bit unsure how to respond. "It hurts when you're not allowed to show the world who you really are."

Lukas nodded, "you are the only person who I have been able to show who I really am since …" He said quietly, looking at the floor.

Fiel folded his wings with a rustle. "I will always be there to talk to if you need me," he said earnestly. "If this is even part of the real you, then I like that person. You don't have to hide anything from me, all right?"

Lukas smiled still looking at the floor, "thank you"

"Of course." Fiel relaxed and gestured to his wings. "And thank-you for helping me with this just now. I can't tell you how much better it feels to have my feathers in order." He glanced out the window at the afternoon sunlight. "It looks like we have a bit more time before dark. Is there anything else you need or want to do on our last day here?"

Lukas thought for a minute before he nodded, “just one thing” he said subconsciously grabbing the stone that hung around his neck with one hand.

Fiel tilted his head. "Yes? What is it?"

“I want to talk to my brother, one more time.” He said softly. He knew it could seem odd to others that he talked to a rock, but it was something he had done since he was a child. The rock was a traditional thing used to remember the dead. Most people didn’t talk to them though.

Fiel nodded in understanding. "All right. Take as much time as you need. Do you want to be alone while you do that?"

Lukas thought for a moment, “actually, if you want, you can come with me” he smiled gently.

Fiel blinked, honored that Lukas would offer. To him, this felt like a sign of trust. "If you want me to, I would like that, yes," he said humbly.

Lukas smiled and led the way to the garden, there he sat in front of his brothers rock.

Fiel followed and sat nearby, staying respectfully silent. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he wanted to be a good friend to Lukas and keep him company in this moment.

Lukas started talking under his breath, barely audible. Explaining that he was leaving and such.

Fiel half-listened, almost feeling like he was eavesdropping even though Lukas was the only one talking. He hoped that the stone pendant Lukas had bought would help him adjust to being away from home. There was so much he wanted to see and do there, to show Lukas, but it wouldn't go very well if Lukas was too homesick. More than that, he hated to see Lukas unhappy in any situation.

After a few minutes Lukas smiled and turned to Fiel with the bright look upon his face, “ok, I am done now”, he had hoped he had done it right, there was a special way to connect the two rocks and he had read about it plenty of times so he could only hope he did it right.

Fiel returned Lukas's smile. "Thank-you for letting me sit with you. How do you feel? You look…..much happier."

Lukas sighed happily, “much better, it usually makes me feel better to do this”

"I'm glad," Fiel replied. "I hope your new stone pendant does you just as much good while we're traveling. Would you like to go have a little supper next?" He felt silly, always asking about food, but he couldn't help it. He just needed to eat a lot to function properly.

"are you hungry?" Lukas asked with a slight laugh.

"Always," Fiel admitted with a slight blush. "I hope I don't seem greedy. It's just the way Tarilonans are, it's the trade-off we get for being able to fly."

"it makes sense, I mean, personally I dont eat much…unless its cake" He said smiling, "but if you want food, i could go for some cake'

Fiel laughed. "All right, that sounds good to me. Some cake will help me feel up to the task of flying us both across the ocean tomorrow."

"cake is always a good thing" He smiled, standing up.

Fiel did the same. Taking a last breath of the sweet garden air, he followed Lukas indoors.

Lukas led them to the kitchen and sat down at the table after asking for a piece of cake.

Fiel collected a bit more food, with permission from the cooks, and joined Lukas at the table. "Tell me, Lukas, have you ever been on a snowy mountain? Or somewhere very high up and cold?"

Lukas thought for a moment and shook his head, "no, the coldest place I have been wasn't snowy, probably because I went there in the summer. But it was still rather cold"

"Well, it's summer back home at the moment, so it won't be that cold, luckily. But it will still be damp and windy, and there will be frequent storms. Our castle is also at a high altitude in the mountains. So you will probably feel a bit odd there until you get used to it. I'll make sure our servants prepare a warm room for you that has a real roof and shuttered windows." He smiled apologetically. "Most of our rooms do not have those things normally."