Dycen Sil Veruun, the next in line to be the royal guard captain of the Gladena Empire, woke from his restless dreams an hour or so before the break of dawn, his ice blue eyes slid open, pupils dilating to acclimate to the darkness of the room. After a moment to orient himself, he quietly threw his legs over the side of the bed, pushing himself into a sitting postion as he did. Cerulean orbs scanned the room to make sure everything was as it should be, before finalling settling on the sleeping form of his princess, wrapped tightly in her blankets. “Sorry we couldn't get separate rooms princess, but at least your sleeping well enough.” His melodic, tenor voice was pitched low, so as to not wake the sleeping woman. A smirk curled the edges of his lips as he pushed himself to his feet and moved to look out the second story window of their room, the surrounding streets bathed in the darkness of twilight.<br/><br/><a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F316940892522367424%2F&amp;hash=007f3ed06a80945776afb2a9bde41c49" href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/316940892522367424/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Dycen</a>stood just over six feet in height, his lean, muscular body and ritualistic tattoos giving him a rather intimidating look, even among his own people. The ashen colored tattoos that covered his face and body we considered normal in his homeland, a mark of pride and growth, yet he had discovered that most outside of Gladena lands, found the marks off putting, if not foreboding. Stretching the aches of a restless night from his tense muslce, the young man ran his hands through his snow white hair, brushing the shaggy locks behind his pointed ears, a mark left to him from his mother's race. Those ears had been a bane to him since birth. They had marked him of mixed blood, that he wasn't a pure dragonborn, like his father. Even with all the hardship they caused him as a youth, he viewed them now as a point of pride, now that he had shown his true value and had guaranteed his position as the next captain of the royal guard, the highest point a knight in the kingdom could reach.<br/><br/>Turning from the window, the young soldier moved to open the trunk at the foot of his bed, revealing his set of ebony leather<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F316940892523266537%2F&amp;hash=f280936ba66bb8244279959398d3af60" href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/316940892523266537/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">armor</a>, the thick hide easy to move in while still offering fair protection to his vitals, though he had a set of black steel and gold etched pauldrons, guantlets and greaves to give him a little extra protection, without restricting his movements at all. Sitting atop his armor were twin blades, each one just over four feet in length, and slender, with a slight curve to the ends of the blades. The handles were wrapped in a rough, black leather, one pommel topped with a sigil of the moon, the other a sigil of the sun. This masterfully crafted set of armor and twin blades had been his father's gift to him for passing the various tests to become a royal guard.<br/><br/>Strapping himself into his armor took a little longer than normal, as he was trying to be quiet for the sake of the princess. Once he had managed to get everything situated, he gave one last glance to the sleeping woman and departed quietly from the room, eager to speak with the innkeep about potential news about the onset of the war, a war that he should've been a part of. As much as he hadn't trusted anyone else to protect the princess, Dycen still felt that he belonged on the front lines, fighting for his homeland, much as his father and fellow knights were. Instead, he had been sent off alone with the princess to keep her safe and away from the conflict, at all costs.<br/><br/>As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Dycen pulled the tailored hood over his head and slipped the built in mask over his lower face, obscuring the marks of both his elven and dragonborn heritage. It had been decided that the two of them would likely be pursured, and as such, they would need to hide their identities as much as possible. It had been relatively easy to keep the princess shrouded, deflecting questions about who she was, and a simple lie of a heavily scarred face kept others from prodding about why he always wore a mask. It had worked so far, and would hopefully work for much of their journey, at least while they were still so close to the border.<br/><br/>“You're up early lad. Did you not sleep well?” The kind, middle aged innkeep stood behind the counter, polishing several glasses, her bright amber eyes sizing Dycen up, much as she had done the past two mornings. “I'm guessing you're down here to get some breakfast for your girlfriend huh?” A playful wink accompanied her teasing words. She had taken his initial story as nonsense and decided that the two of them were running from their parents, who didn't want them to be together. Dycen had wanted to correct her, but it had ended up causing fewer questions and caused the innkeep to help hide them here. He wasn't exactly sure how the princess had felt about it, but thankfully she hadn't spoken up either.<br/><br/>The young half breed shrugged his shoulders as he walked up to the counter, taking a seat in one of the stools, elbow propped on the counter top. “I'm always up early... but no, I didn't sleep well.” He quickly raised a hand to forestall any response from the innkeep about the comfort of her beds. “This place is quite comfortable, I'm just on edge.” Digging into one of the pouches on his belt, Dycen pulled out a few gold coins and laid them on the counter, his glacial gaze watching the innkeep. “I would actually like some breakfast. This should cover our tab up till now, plus another day or two. We shouldn't be here longer than that.” With a nod towards the kitchen, he kept speaking. “I'd like to get the food up to her before she wakes, so I'll take whatever it is you have ready.”<br/><br/>The innkeep's amber orbs widened considerably at the gold coins on the counter, her hand quickly grabbing them off the counter, as though he might take them back. “Aye lad, that'll cover your stay. Don't you worry about a thing. You can relax here, I've told no one about you two and I have no intention of helping her family keep you two apart.” A wide, knowing smile split her plump lips. “Love should never be hindered.” A melodic laugh sounded from her as she walked back to the kitchens to retrieve their breakfast.<br/><br/>Dycen only had to wait a few minutes for the innkeep to return, a large plate held in her arms, covered in white linen to hold in the heat. He could smell the fresh baked loaves, the cheese and the freshly seared sausage beneath the linen. Thankfully, the food here had turned out to be nearly as good as what was cooked in the castle. “Thank you, it smells delicious.” Dycen took the tray from her, but remained at the counter for a moment longer. “Any news on that war I heard rumors of?”<br/><br/>The innkeep's warm smile faltered at his question, a worried look crossing her normally pretty face. “Nothing much lad. I've heard rumors of an assassination, though it's not clear if it's the queen, king or princess. Some say it was all staged to fuel the push for a war. You know how the dragonborn are, always throwing their power around.” She shook her head, a soft click of her tongue signaling her displeasure for the people she spoke of. “I'll never understand why they think they are so much better than everyone else. Like they have a right to anything they lay eyes on. It's a good thing you two aren't headed into that kingdom. You'd likely never leave again.”<br/><br/>The young warrior bowed his head at her answer, hiding the hateful look in his eyes at her words. “We are trying to stay as far away from that war as possible. Thank you for the news and the food.” Without waiting for a response, Dycen turned and walked away from her, his teeth grinding audibly, clearly showing his irritation at the woman. He had always known that other kingdoms feared his people, but he hadn't realized how openly most in this town spoke of their hatred towards them. It had taken every ounce of willpower he had to keep from beating sense into the first man to speak as much to him.<br/><br/>Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he made his way back to the shared room and pushed the door open to allow himself back in. Dycen caught the door with his heel and pushed it closed, his arms busy holding the tray. He wasn't concerned with waking the sleeping princess up now, as the smell of the food would likely rouse her from slumber without his help. “Breakfast is ready princess. Time to join the living.” A soft chuckle followed his words, showing the tease for what it was. “We should discuss our next destination over breakfast. We've spent too much time here already.” After setting the tray on the table, the young soldier pulled the linen from the plate and took a seat to wait for the princess to rouse herself from her bed.