She finally found Alek in a tavern not far from where the Leviathan was docked. A coxswain from the airship had tipped her off, saying that he had seen the prince duck in there earlier in the evening. Deryn pushed through the door and peered around the smoke filled room, trying to locate her friend.
"Deryn!" a voice called from a corner table. She panicked for about a second, but realized that no other Leviathan crewmembers were present, and most of the people in the tavern would assume that Alek was calling her Darren, which was a perfectly acceptable boy's name. She walked toward the table, a scowl fixed on her face.
"Deryn you must try this! It is called bourbon, made in a place called Kentucky. It tastes much better than brandy," Alek said, holding a short glass containing an amber liquid. His eyelids were drooping and his speech slurred just a bit.
Deryn raised an eyebrow. "Just how many of those have you had?" she asked skeptically.
"Only a couple," Alek answered. Deryn glanced at the table and noticed five empty glasses.
"Right," she glared at him. "I think you're done Alek. Let's go back to the ship." She slapped some money down on the table. "And you owe me."
Alek drained the glass and staggered to his feet. Deryn quickly pulled his arm over her shoulders before he ended up face down on the wood floor. "Come on you." Deryn had to use a good bit of her strength to drag the prince out of the tavern, and on to the streets of New York City. It was late and no one else was out. As they headed toward the wharf, Alek began to ramble drunkenly.
"Deryn, you are always there to get me out of trouble," he proclaimed, throwing his other arm around her.
"Aye, but when Volger finds out about this, there's not going to be much I can do. You're on your own Alek." It was getting a bit harder to walk under his weight.
Alek suddenly stopped and grabbed Deryn by the shoulders. "Deryn you should be my empress!"
"Excuse me?" Deryn's eyes widened in shock.
"You should be my empress."
"You're barking drunk!"
"I'm serious! You'd be good at it. Together we will rule the world!"
Yep, he's gone, she thought. Deryn decided to play along. After all, it was more than likely that Alek wouldn't remember any of this in the morning. "Aye, I'll be your barking empress of the world. Shall we start by confiscating all the bourbon?"
"Yes! The bourbon!" And with that he pulled Deryn close and kissed her hard on the mouth. Deryn inhaled, tasting the sweet bourbon still lingering on his lips. It really wasn't that bad. She began to lose track of what was going on around her, when reality snapped her back. She quickly stepped away from Alek, glancing about to make sure no one had seen them. Satisfied, Deryn turned to the inebriated prince.
"Come on Alek," she said supporting his weight again. "Let's get you to bed."
Ha! Drunk Alek is a bit cracked. Anyway, I'm a Kentucky girl and bourbon and sweet tea are the way to go! I do hope you all like this one, I've been wanting to do drunk Alek for a while. I sort of wrote a second part to this, but I think it's dead corny, so I don't know if I will post it (unless you want me to. Just saying).
Anyway, let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy!
