Every piece of clothing from the prince’s closet drowned Andrew in fabric. He went through several outfits after breakfast, eventually deciding that he would just have better shoes for the time being. Elias had a pair that fit him, old ones stuffed in the back of the closet. They were in good shape and had support for his feet. A tremendous step up after running in slippers.

“Sorry to make you wait in your own room while I find things,” Elias said, watching Andrew take a few steps in the shoes. “I made a bit of a mess doing so, and I don’t think it’s proper for you to see my bedroom while it’s like this.”

Andrew shrugged and sat on the messy bed he had been staying in. “That’s fine. I rarely let people into my apartment, let alone my room, so I get it.” The shoes fit surprisingly well, and wearing socks with his slippers saved his feet from having to rub against the tough texture of leather.

“It must be hard being so far from home.” Elias sat next to him on the bed, close enough that their thighs were less than an inch apart. “I can’t imagine being stuck away from Aldoun. My mother would probably send an army out to find me.” He laughed and nudged Andrew with his shoulder. “Maybe talking about home will help you feel better? Or if not, we can talk about something else.”

“My home life? Honestly, there’s not much to talk about. I’m not sure if I even miss it.” Andrew stared down at his lap, idly rubbing his hands together. “I sit at home a lot just working or watching stuff. I, uh… My family probably doesn’t realize that I’m missing.” He fell back onto the bed so that he could stare up at the ceiling. “They might eventually. My boss might call around and ask why I haven’t sent in the article that’s due Friday to my editor. But no one is expecting to hear from me otherwise, and even then they might think I ran off or something.”

Elias laid back with him, though the prince had to turn on his side so that he didn’t squish his wings. “Oh, that’s… I’m sorry, Andrew. That must be hard.”

“Hard? No, it’s kind of nice. Most of the time, anyway.” He turned to face Elias, snorting when he saw how sad the prince looked for him. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the life I thought I would have, and maybe sometimes I get lonely, but it’s not the end of the world being by myself.” Andrew let out a loud sigh, his gaze drifting away from the prince and onto the small space between them on the bed.

There was no reason to make the conversation any deeper than it already was. Elias didn’t need to know more about his thoughts and feelings about life and how he lived his day-to-day life.

However, it wasn’t like he would be there for long. Elias didn’t know anyone he did, so nothing he said could make it back to them. And if it did, who would listen to someone so crazy that he created an entire fantasy land and acted like a dragon prince? That, and it didn’t seem like Elias was the type to spill someone’s secrets. The guy had been nothing but charming to him, and if he refused to break character, then there was no way a suave prince would do such a thing.

“As much as I’d like to get home and get back to my routine, I don’t mind the brief vacation. Finding things to write about celebrities can be exhausting, and not having a constant stream of information in front of my face is nice. I don’t think I would have considered taking a break on my own, so being here isn’t so bad.” Andrew looked back at Elias. “And no one here knows who I am, so I won’t get any kind of hate mail.”

The prince nodded slowly. “Even though I don’t fully relate, I think I get how you’re feeling. Everyone could use a break now and then.” Elias sat up suddenly, his wings flaring out behind him. “How about you and I do a bunch of relaxing things while you’re here? The mages are working on answers for you, and until then you’re my guest, and I would like to treat you to something nice.”

Andrew sat up as well, raising a brow. “Relaxing things? Like what? Just being your guest doesn’t mean you should spoil me or whatever. I don’t mind hanging out here and not worrying about work. That’s enough of a vacation for me.”

With an eye roll, Elias grabbed Andrew’s hand and tugged him out of the bed, ignoring the sound of protest he made. “I don’t think you’ll say no to this once I show you. Come on!”

Even though Andrew dug his heels into the ground, Elias easily pulled him out of the room and down the hall. His strength made it impossible for Andrew to stop him from taking him all the way through the castle and down a flight of stairs. They passed a few staff members on the way, each of them watching the excited prince drag Andrew far from where he could take a nap.

Eventually, they went through a set of wooden doors that opened onto a small courtyard. Tall, well-kept hedges surrounded the sides, covering any windows that might have been behind them. In the middle, multiple pools of steaming water sat in a square. The largest was in the middle, the fog on the surface too thick to see the full picture of its aquamarine depths. Patches of grass and large stones separated the pools and added to the natural look, even though Andrew knew all of it had been meticulously carved and placed.

“These are kept nice by the staff, but they’re hardly used these days.” Elias began stripping, his shawl and shirt coming off in seconds flat. He tossed them onto a large rock that had a seat chiseled into it, and then began undoing his pants. “I haven’t soaked in one for a long time, so I think we could both use it.”

Nudity on a screen never bothered Andrew, but suddenly seeing the prince strip right in front of him had his face burning and his gaze sticking to the ground.

“Do you just- I mean, you just go in there naked?” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I think I might just soak my feet, in that case.” Andrew heard Elias lowering himself into the water and looked up when he figured it was safe.

The lower half of the prince couldn’t be seen under the steam, but his torso was out, and Andrew couldn’t stop himself from taking a peek. Where he thought he would see makeup and wires for the wings, Andrew could only see red, freckle-like scales and evenly tanned flesh. Other than the scales, he was free of any kind of blemish or bump. Save for one scar that went down the side of his neck to between his pecks.

Defined muscles flexed as Elias got comfortable, and the way the wings moved…

No, they weren’t real. Andrew couldn’t let himself think that anything in that place was anything more than an elaborate illusion. He had only been there for a couple of days. That wasn’t enough time for him to justify losing his mind. The thick patch of scales on Elias’ back had to be covering something.

“Andrew? I apologize. Is this not something people do where you’re from? I should have asked.”

Andrew blinked, turning away for a moment to hide his red face. “Oh, no, I mean- This is something people do, but I just wasn’t prepared to see so much of you so suddenly. It’s fine, really. I’ll sit on the edge and soak my feet. They could use it.” He took his jacket and shoes off, setting them and his socks near Elias’ things.

The second his bare feet touched a patch of the grass, Andrew shivered. A gentle buzzing sensation traveled up his legs, stopping in his gut and swirling around like startled butterflies. It had been a while since he had been out in nature just to enjoy it.

“If you don’t want to fully get in, that’s fine,” Elias hummed. “Also, I didn’t mean to stop our conversation earlier. I just figured this might be a more comfortable place to speak, and somewhere you could relax. If you’d like to carry on, then I’ll be more than happy to. But if not, we can also sit in silence and simply enjoy ourselves.”

“I don’t mind sitting in silence, though I wish you had speakers or something for music.” Just dipping his toes into the water had Andrew grimacing. A bath soon would be a good idea. He almost felt bad about getting into the nice pool while covered in sweat and grime. Not enough to stop his feet from sinking into it. “Even if it were some medieval crap, it’d be nice to have something playing.”

Elias tilted his head, reminding Andrew of a confused puppy. “We have musicians if that’s something you’d like to see? Though, it would have to wait until tomorrow, as most of them are still likely traveling or recovering from the festivities in town.”

“No,” Andrew sighed, “that’s not what I mean. But it’s fine. We can just sit and relax in silence. You’re not terrible company, so I don’t mind it.”

After seeing Elias nod in reply, Andrew did his best to stare off at a hedge and zone out. The warmth of the water made it easy, though he couldn’t escape the questions buzzing around in his head. The most prominent one was why, when he glanced at Elias, he couldn’t see anything that would prove Aldoun to be a made-up place.

Was he so rich that he had an insane doctor perform a surgery that would make it look authentic? And even then, how could he move the large wings so effortlessly? And his long horns hadn’t budged from the last time he saw them, so it didn’t seem like he took them on and off. Something so intrusive would at least have to be taken off to sleep comfortably. Or bathe.

Whatever Elias had done to build the illusion, Andrew grew more and more impressed with every passing second that he stared at the shiny scales that littered his body.