AN: Down to the wire again guys! Okay so things are picking up. Sadly, Art is still an ass and will be for some time. So enjoy!
I just own the plot!
When Alfred woke next he felt as if he were dying. His body ached from the pain he had endured while he had tried, unsuccessfully, to remove the collar that restricted his magic. It would seem that the accursed band of leather was enchanted to prevent the wearer from being able to remove it much to Alfred's dismay and crushed any hope he had of escape. His less than restful slumber that followed his endeavors and the discomfort of lying on the hard, wooden floor of his cell only contributed to his misery.
He was weak from hunger and his throat was painfully dry. Sadly, thanks to the rocking of the ship, he was exceptionally nauseous and the mere thought of food had him forcing down bile. His head throbbed from dehydration and the pain seemed to concentrate behind his eyes causing him to squeeze them shut tightly.
Wrapped in a blanket of misery Alfred curled in on himself in hope of finding some comfort. He so entrenched in his gloom that he did not hear the soft footfalls that came down the stairs and moved toward his prison. When he heard the clatter of tumblers turning in the lock he cracked open his sore eyes to see the door swing open. He fully expected the captain to step through the opening having come back to torment him further, but he was instead surprised to see a young man step into his view. His simple attire fit snuggly to lithe frame and his feet were bare which would account for his near silent approach. What had most caught Alfred's attention though was the young man's mint colored hair, eyes, and rabbit ears. In his hands he carried a wooden tray that was ladened with a variety of foods, a small lantern, and a decanter of water with a wooden mug.
He had a buck toothed smile plastered on his face and a friendly light in his eyes. As soon as those light green eyes fell upon Alfred though they widened in distress. Rushing forward to Alfred's side he knelt down resting on his knees and taking care to set the tray aside before focusing on Alfred.
"Oh, dear. You look terrible," the bunny boy said with concern as his hands fretted uselessly over Alfred completely unsure of what to do. "Master Arthur will be most displeased if you were to die,"
Alfred was a little taken aback by that statement as he stared curiously at the rabbit man. He was not only intrigued by his odd appearance, but also as to why he was there.
"Who are you?" he asked his voice raspy due to his parched throat as he continued to stare quizzically at the flustered man.
The mint haired man paused in his floundering and focused his gaze upon Alfred's face.
"Oh, where are my manners?" the other male said with a sheepish grin taking one of Alfred's hands between his own. "I am Flying Mint Bunny, but you may call me Mint, Alfred,"
Alfred tensed apprehensively upon hearing his name fall from the lips of this strange man.
"How do you know my name?" he asked with suspicion in his voice.
"Oh, well, Master Arthur told me before he sent me to care for you," Mint said with another friendly grin as he released Alfred's hand.
Alfred swallowed around the lump of dread in his throat at the mention of 'Master Arthur' again. He had a fairly good idea of who this man was causing his chest to contract apprehensively but could not stop himself from asking.
"Master Arthur wouldn't happen to be the captain of this ship, would he?"
"Why yes he is. Captain Arthur Kirkland, master of the Ailateh seas and wizard supreme," Mint preened proudly with an adoring gleam in his eyes.
Alfred blanched at the other man's words and felt even more sick then he had before. Things had been bad enough when he was simply the captive of some random pirate. Now though things were infinitely worse because he was the captive of THE Arthur Kirkland.
Arthur Kirkland who was the most wanted man in all of Ailateh. Arthur Kirkland, the most blood-thirsty, heartless, merciless monster to ever sail the seas. Arthur Kirkland, who had razzed a town to ash because the local merchants did not have the tea he liked. Arthur Kirkland, who used his magic to maim and torture those who stood against him with a joyous smile on his face.
Alfred suddenly felt extremely cold and his body began to tremble uncontrollably in sheer terror. His stomach rolled causing a wave of nausea that made him feel that he would most certainly vomit and his complexion turned rather green.
Mint noticed Alfred's abrupt change of color and the quaking of form which sent the rabbit man into another panic.
"Oh dear, are you feeling ill? Do you need a blanket? Curse my lack of forethought for not bringing one," Mint asked as he fretted over Alfred again and his ears drooped in dismay.
"Water...Please…" Alfred rasped out as he fought to keep down the rising bile in his throat.
"Oh, yes. Of course," Mint said as he reached out and quickly poured a small amount of water from the decanter into the wooden mug. Setting the decanter back down he then worked his arms around Alfred and gently lifted the blonde up into a sitting position. He then shifted his position so that the dragon could lean against him. Once he had his charge in a stable position, Mint picked up the mug and brought it to Alfred's lips.
"Here drink this, but do so slowly," he instructed as he slowly tipped the container upward.
Alfred sipped at the offered liquid gratefully as it soothed his burning throat and forced back the rising vomit. He drank until the cup was empty and Mint pulled it away from his lips.
"Thank you," Alfred said his words very subdued as he pulled away from Mint to once more lie upon the floor.
"Feeling better?" Mint asked as he set the cup aside, his green eyes observing Alfred with concern.
Alfred simply shook his head negatively in response and curled into a tight ball.
Mint pursed his lips and reached toward Alfred's head. The dragon jumped when he felt the other man's hand upon him, but relaxed when he soothingly began to stroke Alfred's hair.
"May I get you anything?" the bunny boy asked his voice full of gentle concern.
Contemplative silence filled the room for a moment as an idea formed in Alfred's mind. If he could get Mint to remove his collar then he could try and escape. He had a feeling that he would not be able to sway the other man to consciously help him so he'd have to trick him. He would then have to overpower the other man, but he felt even in his weakened state that would not be a problem once he could use his magic again. With renewed hope Alfred glanced up at the other man.
"Could you maybe remove this collar? It's chafing my skin and becoming painful," he said as he reached up and ran his fingers along the collar around his neck.
Mint frowned and gave his charge an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, Alfred, but I can't do that,"
That was not the answer Alfred was wanting to hear. His heart sank as the glimmer of hope that had sparked to life within him began to fade.
"Why not?" Alfred asked with desperation evident in his voice and his eyes took on a slightly crazed look.
"Master Arthur is the only one who can remove the enchantment on the collar," Mint stated in explanation. "and besides I could never do anything that would upset my master,"
Alfred turned an upset glare upon Mint before lowering his gaze again. He knew that none of this was Mint's fault and that he was only doing as he had been told. Still he couldn't help the feeling of hurt and disappointment that filled him.
"Then there really is no hope," he muttered with a defeated sigh and weakly batted the other man's hand away from his hair.
Mint's face morphed into a mask of confusion as he retracted his hand.
"Alfred…"
"I'm feeling really tired. I'm going to sleep now," Alfred said as he wrapped his arms tightly around himself and shut his eyes.
Mint did not understand the dismissive behavior from Alfred and he really wanted to press him to eat something. He could tell though that the dragon wanted to be left alone. He rose to his feet, leaving the tray of food and water where he had set it.
"I'll be back with a blanket in a bit," Mint said as he walked toward the cell door. He exited and closed the door seeing Alfred flinch as the lock clicked into place. "If you can, please try and eat something while I'm gone,"
Alfred didn't respond and simply curled in on himself a little more tightly as he heard quiet footsteps retreat from the room. Once he was certain that he was alone and only then did he let the sorrowful tears that he had been fighting to hold at bay flow. In that moment he decided that he would not accept this as his fate. He would not wait and see what the monstrous pirate had in store for him. He would escape or die trying.
Arthur was extremely irritated as he once again found himself pouring over yet another useless tome from his library. For the last three days he had been in the library combing through shelf after shelf in search of the knowledge he needed only to continually come up empty handed.
His eyes ached from trying to read the tiny script in the leather bound book in front of him and the lighting was less than adequate which only exacerbated the situation. He growled angrily as he slammed the book shut and shoved it away from him; irritated that he only found information he already knew. He rubbed at his face with both hands wearily before slumping back in his chair and closed his eyes to help ward off the headache he could feel the beginnings of.
He found it utterly unbelievable that within the vast and ancient archive that he possessed there was almost no information on dragons to be discovered. Oh he had learned many things. In all of his research he had gained knowledge about dragon physiology, their anatomy, and any number of folk tales. He was probably the foremost authority on dragons after all he had read. The only thing he could not find was any explanation for what was going on between Alfred and himself.
With a fatigued sigh he sat up and pushed his chair back. He stood and stretched his stiff body before turning to face the rows upon rows of bookshelves. He really was beginning to grow tired of looking at them. He had only ventured up to the ship when he was absolutely needed. Which had not been often thanks to the exceptionally good sailing conditions they had found themselves in.
On the few occasions he had been up on the ship he had made it a point not to go anywhere near the brig. He had resolved to not go near the dragon in hopes that distance would diminish the spell between them. Yet as the days passed he found, to his great dismay, that the longer he was parted from Alfred it only seemed to strengthen the pull he felt toward the other male. In quiet moments as he sought out another book his mind would wander and he found himself thinking about how Alfred was doing.
Mint had been very dutiful in his care for Alfred and Arthur found that he was looking forward to the daily updates on how the dragon was doing. When he had been informed that Alfred was faring poorer and poorer each day due to seasickness it had made Arthur's chest contract and ache. Which only added to Arthur's anger and frustration.
That was not the worst of it though. To Arthur's great dismay and embarrassment he had even begun to have erotic dreams of Alfred naked and writhing beneath him. Those too blue eyes so full of lust and need for him. For the first time in an incredibly long time Arthur had woken to find his sheets coated in the proof of his lust.
Arthur shook his head to chase away thoughts of those embarrassing discoveries as he began to walk toward a shelf he had not been through quite yet. He had taken a mere handful of steps when he heard the heavy wooden door of the library creak open. He stopped and turned to face the door. A small smile appeared on his face as Mint quickly scurried into the room. The bunny boy looked about quickly and smiled when he saw Arthur. He then moved quickly across the room until he was standing directly in front of his master having artfully maneuvered around the various piles of books.
"Master, we have laid anchor in the cavern stronghold and the crew has begun off loading our bounty," Mint reported his eyes gleaming while hi nose and ears twitched excitedly.
"Very good, Mint," Arthur praised as he reached up and gently patted the other man between his ears. "Inform the crew that I will be up shortly,"
"Yes, Master," the long eared man responded with a very pleased smile. The smile quickly faded, however, and Mint worried his lower lip with his bucked teeth.
"What's wrong?" the pirate asked as he withdrew his hand and eyed his familiar with concern.
"Master, I am worried about Alfred. He has not fared well these last three days and I don't believe he will have the strength to leave the ship upon his own," Mint said as he turned anxious eyes up to meet his master's own eyes and his ears drooped.
Arthur felt his stomach twist uncomfortably as he thought of Alfred languishing away in the brig. Unable to eat and barely conscious due to his seasickness. That defiant light having faded from his eyes. He suddenly felt compelled to rush to the dragon's side and ease the suffering he knew the other man was enduring. Arthur was pulled up short as he registered that he wanted to take Alfred's pain upon himself and that realization disturbed him immensely.
Arthur stepped back from Mint and gave his head a good hard shake. The frustration from his continued inability to discover the source of these foreign emotions was fraying his last nerve and his patience had reached it's limit. A fierce rage welled up inside him as he stormed past Mint toward the door. He knew there was one source he had yet to utilize and it was high time he got some answers.
AN: Okay so next chapter is going to be interesting. See you then!
On a side note, I will continue to write these stories to completion, however, I am working very hard on an original work that I am hoping to have published. I vow to you my beloved readers that I will not abandon you or my works, but as always I ask for patience. For a writer is nothing with out their readers. I adore you all and will see you next chapter!