Later that night the city streets within the safety zone were lit up with lanterns and candles as music played loud. Centered in a wide street upon what was once a wide road a large bonfire could be seen casting shadows all around that seemed to dance under the moon's light. The band that played their instruments sat together on logs by the fire. A beautiful young girl sang melodies in a language unknown to Gunner but the tune was one that could easily make even the hardest of hearts waver. It was a festive night that Prince Clyde had his men put together in order to ease the hearts of the people from the scare of the wyvern they had gone through earlier in the day.
"Are you still angry with me?" Prince Clyde asked as he slowly sat down beside Gunner on a wide piece of tree that had been chopped down. It was hard to consider the part of the tree a branch because it was like sitting on a fallen tree's trunk from the size compared to a normal tree but it was simply part of a branch that had been hauled in from outside the safety zone by his men.
"What do you think?" Gunner scoffed slightly at the sudden question. He was aware that Prince Clyde simply wanted to know that he was calmed down from their spat earlier however he was not willing to cave in and let himself become controlled by another who would not even be honest with him.
Prince Clyde's hand reached out slowly while Gunner's head was turned away. Though the man could not see it the prince's hand reached out as he slowly went to grasp his hand in his own. Wavering in his own action to take that hand his fingertips barely lingered just above the man's hand shaking faintly from how nervous he felt. He could feel his own pulse racing in his chest as his eyes could not tear away from their hands. It was not until a voice suddenly called out to Gunner that his focus was pulled away and his hand quickly retreated back into his own lap.
"My sweet hound~ Come with me~" Apollo called out as he pranced his way over to where they sat and quickly took hold of Gunner by the arm. Pulling him to his feet the man was pulled away from Clyde's side as he could not find the words to reject the idea of Apollo dragging him off to dance to the festivity. The demon Apollo was not nervous in the least regardless of how well he danced in front of Gunner and the other people, he did not even care in the least what role in the dance he took.
Prince Clyde could only let himself watch from where he sat as he held his emotions tight within his chest. Though he wanted to stand up and stop Apollo from dancing with Gunner he could still not stop himself from enjoying the sight of Gunner's smiling face dancing among the crowd. Light of the bon fire danced across the streets illuminating everything. It felt as though Gunner's figure shined like a star from the sky in his eyes. The sounds of the man laughing and enjoying himself was the very thing he wanted to protect and he could see it in front of him.
Just wait for me a little longer.. Prince Clyde made the wish in his heart as his hand reached up and tousled his own green hair with his hand. Tracing his fingertips against his black iron crown carefully so as to not knock it from his head.
Rising to his feet he began to make steps towards Gunner as his eyes carefully surveyed the crowd while they watched his every movement with curiosity. Many of those who knew who he was did not know the internal struggle he was fighting with himself to push the courage to the surface and take action. As the prince who was in charge of Abaron everything he did would draw attention from the crowd no matter where they were. He took Gunner's waist and pulled the man in close to him causing the musicians to change the music to something slower at the sight of their prince wanting to dance with Gunner.
"What are you doing?" Gunner could only instinctively ask because he was still not use to Prince Clyde acting so openly with him. If they were back at the mansion the prince would have yelled at him to calm down if he had tried to be so open in front of others.
"You're my hound, remember? How can I just watch as you dance with another? Just be quiet and let me lead." Prince Clyde's voice shook a bit from the nerves making his voice come out as nothing more then a whisper but it was still stern with him in order to make Gunner calm down. He was already nervous himself and knew if Gunner began to freak out he would probably do the same. The thought of dancing in front of others was something he wasn't use to even though his family had forced him to take lessons as a royal.
"You're a very possessive prince." Gunner whispered right back to him as he wrapped his arms around the prince. He knew that Prince Clyde had to keep his air of dominance and could only submit to the role that would publicly allow him to remain the role model the populace needed the prince to be. As he felt slightly humiliated himself at taking the lesser position they danced to the slow festive tunes.
Only when it comes to you. I can lose anything and everything in life but never you. Prince Clyde thought to himself as he gazed into those red eyes up close to him.
No matter how angered the man was with him he would still never give the prince the cold shoulder and that was something that Clyde knew well about Gunner. He was never like that with just anyone because Gunner was a man who could hold a grudge to the bitter end. When it came to Clyde he could never push the prince away no matter what spat they had with each other. Even when it came to his own blood relatives Gunner had held grudges against them even after death. There was something about the prince that would never allow him to remain stubborn and angry.
Just as Gunner was considering forgiving the prince for their small spat earlier in the day he could hear the shouts of General Tao calling out to Prince Clyde in a hurry.
"Prince Clyde! The hell hounds have broke through the southern gate!" General Tao shouted in a panic causing the crowd of people to go silent before panicked voices began to flood the street.