Enslaved

Chapter 9

Our whole cooking expedition was a success! Well except for the part where we were covered in food we were supposed to cook and also if we generously ignored the burning of our pudding due to over cooking. Lounging on the armless couch in my balcony, we both took in the sunset. The descending sun coloured the sky and everything in it, in violet and coral with streaks of yellow and orange. It complimented the castle garden, making the blossoms of red and white roses look like large droplets of water reflecting the light. They continued to shimmer until the sun was completely set, leaving a cool gentle breeze caressing what the sun had left in its wake.

I watched as the breeze ruffled the hair falling in front of Dorian's eyes, making him run his hand through them. With a sigh he leaned back and gave me a defeated look.

" Today was a waste. Even though I was never onboard with cooking, it still feels bad that I was an epic failure in it. " His eyes sought mine and held the same lostness in them that I saw last night.

" We were an epic failure in cooking, " I laughed, " but it was fun. I enjoyed it. "

That earned me his half smile, " Some fun it was, your face closely resembled the pudding we were supposed to make. "

" Yeah, maybe because your concentration was on making me look like a pudding, not make one. Perhaps, if you were equally concentrated in making it, it would have been a success. " I shrugged at him, my lips pulled in a grin.

" Perhaps. " He matched my grin, his eyes running over my face. An unknown brightness in them, something different, new and warm.

" The fun reminds me, the young prince would have really had enjoyed it, why wasn't he with us? " Dorian asked tilting his head in question.

" You are right, he would but kitchen is not a safe place for a child, a vampire child much less. He is learning to control his powers but hasn't mastered them yet. I would rather sacrifice a bit of his fun than have him flashing around the kitchen which was filled with sharp knives and fire. " My eyes followed the footpath of the garden which led to the fountain where I had created endless memories, " Also, then I could not have concentrated on helping you find your calling. " I pressed my lips together to stop the laughter from spilling out.

" Yeah yeah, my calling to be a chef mastered in desserts or main course or appetizers or to be a... what was that? Ah yes, bartender for all we knew. " Dorian couldn't stop his lips from twitching as he mocked me.

" A dashing one at that. " I winked, throwing Cara's words at him. 

" Oh God! " He broke out laughing making me join him in the process.

Even after we had stopped, we still had a small smile as we stared at each other. He had a one day old stubble giving him a rough edge, his dimple half hidden and his emerald eyes as radiant as ever. We had a two feet's distance between us, but my sharp eyes allowed me to see the tiny gold specs in his eyes. His iris wasn't plain green, it had a violet touch as it surrounded the pupil with specs of gold located where the violet blended into green. I was snapped out of my trance when he blinked, his thick lashed hiding his mesmerising eyes from me.

Looking away from me, he stared ahead. I wanted to protest and demand him to look at me so I could go back to enjoying the magic of his eyes. For his eyes were like the flames of fire and I was the willing moth, happily lured to them.

When he made no move to look at me, I set my eyes back at the fountain, hiding my disappointment. The air between us had tensed, only I had no idea how.

" Do you really think I will get my memories back Princess? " Dorian's voice was soft, almost as if he was afraid of my answer. And he should be. Memories are tricky things, once lost, they don't come back easy. But it didn't mean they wouldn't return. They just needed a trigger.