"Thevaris…My name is Thevaris. May I ask for yours…?"
"Thevaris…It's a unique name. Mine is…Llewellyn…" he said with a hint of hesitation.
I paused for a moment. I could've sworn I had heard of this name before. Where is it from exactly…
"Llewellyn…? Prince Llewellyn?! Y- you're…" My eyes widened in realisation.
"So you do know me," Llewellyn scoffed.
"O- of course, your highness…" I bowed in courtesy.
"There is no need for formalities…I am no longer a prince of the land of dragons," he exhaled.
"No longer…? How come?"
"Why do you think I'm here on the land of my nemesis?"
"That's… Well then, what happened to you? Did someone curse you and send you here?"
"You are catching on rather quickly," he let out a low chuckle.
"But…Why would someone do that to you…?"
Llewellyn let out a sigh, he seemed to be not in the mood to recall what had occurred. After a long pause of reluctance, he finally answered, "I am not a rightful prince. I'm a mudblood."
"A mud blood…? So, you're not…the king's…"
"My true father is a mere human, not the almighty king of dragons. You could hopefully guess what happened after he found out about it."
"The king cursed you because you weren't his child by blood? That's cruel!"
"You think so? I think it's a reasonable thing to do."
I paused in utter shock from his words. "You don't actually think that, do you?"
"If a son you had been raising for centuries turned out to be not even yours, won't you get mad?" he said disappointedly.
"I won't!" I exclaimed which made Llewellyn's eyes widened in surprise, "It's not about the blood relation. It's about emotional and spiritual connection, I- I believe… If he really cared and loved you, whether you are his child by blood or not doesn't matter… I-...My mother…She adopted me. But she treated me better than what my own blood could've done. W- well…I did get somewhat upset when I found out she wasn't my blood related mother…but i didn't wish any harm upon her… She's still my mother after all…"
Llewellyn didn't say anything for some time, just simply staring into my eyes before he looked up at the sky. I couldn't read his facial expression due to my eyes being unfamiliar with the appearance of a dragon but it almost seemed like he was smiling faintly.
"Llewellyn…?"
"You are an interesting one… I didn't know the perspective of elves would be much easier to swallow than my own. It's a shame, truly…"
"The war is far behind the past. I don't think it's wise to keep this hostility against each other. Well… I can't really say so, because the elders still hate dragons."
"It's reasonable. Our kind did cause many casualties and deaths. Don't you think it's unwise to have let me live? I doubt those 'elders' might see this fitting."
"W- well… Letting you die is the same as indirectly killing you. And killing someone is a sin as a priest."
Llewellyn broke out into laughter at my words.
"What's so funny?" I pouted in mild embarrassment.
"You saved me so you could sleep better at night? You saved me because you wish to maintain your purity? You are a little rascal, you know that?"
"That's not…" I sighed at his remark. "It's like you are complaining I saved your life."
"I am most grateful to live another day. But I must say… How on the earth did you decipher such a curse by yourself? You seem like a fairly immature priest."
"W-well… It's not entirely just my skills…"
"Oh? Who else is involved?"
"I wouldn't say it's another elf but… I was able to undo the curse because of a grimoire given to me by his radiance, the high priest of Sun."
"Is that so… Still…I'm impressed. You might have a gift in dealing with curses."
"Well…I'm a priest…That's what we do."
"Fair enough…"
I remember talking with him without anything holding me back for the whole day. It was the first time in a long while I spoke so freely. It's a shame I didn't feel much comfortable talking like this with my own kind. Throughout the conversation, I managed to pick out some things that led to his punishment which turned out to be utterly stupid of a reason to curse someone and dump them in the land of their enemies. I felt my blood boil after every piece of information Llewellyn decided to reveal to me. It must have been weighing on him for quite some time.
For days onward, I continued to visit him and spend my time with him for the entirety of a day, talking endlessly. Every night, I was looking forward to being blessed with light again so I could visit him. I suppose good things don't last forever. As much as I enjoyed his company, I was also worried that the other elves might discover him hiding in the forest. I expressed my concerns but Llewellyn never left the forest. And I was so attached to his company that I brushed it off.
Before that one day, he told me he had something he wished to tell me but I failed to visit him due to a task given to me by the elders which required me to be away from Huavlin for a couple days. Which I assumed was the reason why Llewellyn decided to spread his healed wings to look for me. Coincidentally, another priest was ordered to check on the area at that time to ensure the curse wasn't reoccurring. And I assumed that it was how they knew a dragon was present in the realms of light elves.
When I heard the news, it was too late.
Mages, knights, paladins and priests, all have been gathered to fend off the dragon or even to eliminate him. When I arrived at the scene Llewellyn was cornered but no casualty yet except the wounds the elves had given him. I rushed to the scene with everything I had to reach the very front of the crowd to yell at him to fly away. But words never left my mouth. The elders were near me after all… I couldn't reveal that I was acquainted with a dragon. So I stood there until Llewellyn noticed me.
I supposed he was able to read my hesitation through my eyes.
My first ever betrayal…
I was supposed to stop them–he didn't harm them because of me. Yet all I did was watch quietly as they injured him. He looked at me with a helpless expression, those eyes telling me to stand up for him, yet I was too afraid. I let one of the knights escort me back to safety, My gaze never left his as he did.
He was enraged to say the least, and I couldn't blame him for what he did afterwards. The forest was consumed by his fiery breath along with my kins, right before my eyes.
It's my fault…It's all my fault. I made him kill, I watched them die when I could have done the easiest thing and tell them Llewellyn was not our enemy. Is it too late to regret now? Curses can be undone but the blaze can't.
I watched as the mages incanted. Lances of ice pointed at my dearest. I watched as they pierced through one of the wings that I put so much effort into healing. It's gone. It's all gone. My purity and his trust… all gone in a blink of an eye.
I yelled out to stop the madness but it was overpowered by his screams of pain mixed with fury.
I don't want to lose him, I can't.
I did not remember what had happened afterwards. It's too painful to recall. But I heard he managed to escape at the very last second. I didn't know how he did but I'm glad he survived.
After a few decades, I heard of his name again.
King of Outcasts is what they called him. It made me have mixed feelings in my chest that I could hardly describe. But a part of me felt guilty to even be happy that he lived. How does he feel about me now, I wondered.
He probably wants me dead.
Oh, his wings, his beautiful wings, all ruined because of me. I betrayed his trust…Do I even deserve to call myself a priest. I couldn't even say anything about the missing and murdered elves because of this guilt that I had. Only if I had stayed true to myself.
Regret, regret, regret.
It was all I could feel everyday. In the end I never knew what he wanted to tell me that day. But I didn't want to know now. It will only make me even more miserable than I am already.
Shortly after he became a king of his own nation, I was chosen to be the pseudo high priest of the Sun by the king, lying to everyone. Every second of my life seemed unbearable and all I wanted to do was die at his hands. Maybe then my guilt won't follow me to my next life.
I couldn't say I hated being cursed by him. I deserve such treatment after all. And this gave me an excuse to go out of my comfort to find him and… apologise…
Though it won't make much difference now…It's too late. Even if I die at his hands, it would only stain his hands and the past would be the same. No one would be sad if I died. But at least it could make a certain someone happy.
Thus I will put my life at risk to be able to see your face again, Llewellyn…