Draco looks heartbroken as he averts his gaze. Zion’s words stung like a burn. But, he was right. “Follow me…” he mutters as he begins leading out of the garden.

They were accompanied by the animals until they reached a high stone archway.

“Goodbye,” Zion whispers to the rabbit as he rubs its head once one last time. He follows Draco through the dark hallway, guided by Damian’s fire they found the exit into the woods.

The woods were dark and perfect for hiding.

“What are you thinking?” Damian asks as he sits beside Zion. It was obvious he was worrying about the prince and wanted to make sure he was feeling better since his outburst earlier.

“I don’t know…” Zion says as he leans against Damian with a slight blush on his cheeks.

“What do you mean?” Damian asks as he wraps his arm around Zion and pulls him even closer.

“I-I… I can’t explain it... How would you react if you found out everyone you trusted was lying to you about something really important?” Zion asks as he shuts his eyes tightly.

“I don’t know,” Damian mutters.

“Why did you come to the castle?” Zion asks curiously.

“Uhm... i-it doesn’t matter…” Damian mutters. In the castle, he had realized that Zion was way out of his league and even if he wasn’t they lived in two different worlds so he never had a chance, to begin with.

“It does matter. You wouldn’t have climbed all the way up to my window if it wasn’t,” Zion says as he takes Damian’s hand into his own “you can tell me.”

Draco was listening from across the fire. He was nervous that Damian would steal Zion away from him. He would be damned if he let that happen.

“I wanted to tell you how I... how I feel about you...” Damian mutters blushing as he rubs the back of his neck nervously. His heart was pounding in his chest and his mind was panic-stricken.

“What do you mean?” Zion asks. He was completely oblivious to Damian’s inner panic.

“I think we should go to sleep,” Draco says coldly before Damian can reply.

“Fine,” Zion says in the same cold tone. It was obvious he was still angry about earlier and it made Draco feel disgusted with himself.

“You know I’m sorry right?” Draco asks his voice filled with desperation as he pulls Zion into his chest.

“I guess...” Zion mutters as he lets Draco hold him tightly.

“Then you’ll understand that I don’t want you to hate me,” Draco says as he tries to keep his voice from cracking.

“I don’t hate you... I hate him...” Zion growls.

“Who?” Draco asks looking confused.

“My father. He’s a lying bastard!” Zion shouts as tears begin to form in his eyes. He buries his face into the crook of Draco’s neck needing the warm, comforting embrace.

“I-I know… I also know you won’t want to forgive me for lying but… well, I wanted a chance to show you that you can trust me no matter what.” Draco says as he strokes Zion’s hair.

“I believe you...” Zion whispers just loud enough for Draco to hear.

“R-really?” Draco asks looking at Zion with a cautious expression. The prince was sounding more and more like his usual self but Draco still felt the need to be careful.

“Yes, I know you didn’t mean to hurt me and I’m glad that you told me even if it was by accident,” Zion says as he looks up to meet Draco’s eyes.

“Thank you,” Draco says happily.

“Didn’t you say we should be getting to sleep?” Damian growls.

“Yeah, by what you say we need our energy,” Zion says as he backs up.

Draco sighs but nods. Zion was right, they would need all the strength they could muster to continue to the rendezvous.

In the morning…

Zion was up before either of his companions, he noticed their strange behavior the night before and used the advantage of quiet to think about the meaning behind it all.

“Draco was acting more possessive than usual and Damian seemed more aggressive after Draco interrupted him with whatever he was about to say to me,” Zion muses “I wonder why they’re both acting so strange.”

Rustling from a nearby bush makes Zion flinch. A small red wolf-like creature stumbled out of the bush. It was sniffing around and whimpering like it was scared of something.

“Hey, cutie,” Zion says as he holds his hand out for the animal to sniff. “You’re a Hellhound aren’t you? Where’s your mom?” he asks as he strokes its soft fur.

The Hellhound barks in response its ears flopping about making it look even more adorable.

“Do you want to stay with us for a while?” Zion asks as the Hellhound climbs into his lap. The Hellhound nods eagerly.

“Do you have a name?” Zion asks. The Hellhound whimpers in response. “Then what if I call you Grim?” he asks.

After a moment the Hellhound barks in agreement. The noise woke Damian up.

“What’s all that noise?” Damian asks groggily. He had slept close to the fire which was now just a few dying embers.

“A Hellhound puppy!” Zion says as he holds up the happy looking puppy.

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea to keep around...” Damian mutters. He loved the look of pure happiness on Zion’s face but Hellhounds were too dangerous to be kept as pets.

“But, he’s just a little puppy. He’ll die on his own... besides, I already named him.” Zion says with a sad look and tone.

“What did you name him?” Damian asks wearily.

“Grim! He likes it!” Zion says as he cuddles with the little puppy.

Damian sighs. Zion looked so happy and he was right Grim would die or be captured by humans if he was left alone.

“Let’s keep him! At least until he’s old enough to protect himself!” Zion says happily.

“Fine...”