Will of a Prince

Jacob slowly sat out of his bed and pulled off his bandages, praying that his eye was finally in a good enough state to allow him to run around. He grabbed his mirror and looked into it deeply. Next to his own face, the words he was all too familiar with appeared.

"YES!"

Maria and Zoey were busy feeding Sheeby some meat. Zoey seemed absolutely thrilled to have something like a dragon for a friend, and Sheeby adored the attention it was receiving.

"You’re such a good dragon! Can you sit? I will give you another piece if you sit!"

Sheeby obeyed Zoey’s command and sat as high as it could.

"Good Dragon! you’re such a good dragon!"

Zoey smothered the small little dragon as much as she could, but it didn’t seem to mind at all. Maria walked over to Jacob and studied his eye carefully.

"It looks a lot better. I think you should be okay to finally get up and walk around."

Jacob’s heart floated in his chest. He was elated to finally be able to walk around and do whatever he wanted.

"However..."

He hesitated.

"Lidia and Slimo told us to cover up our eyes. They said it would be wise if we didn’t draw any unwanted attention to ourselves."

Jacob stared at the eyepatch in Maria’s hand dubiously.

’Unwanted attention?! This will possibly make us stick out more!!’

He decided not to argue and put on the eyepatch as fast as he could. Maria looked back at Zoey who was now trying to wrestle Sheeby on the ground, possibly because it ate something it shouldn’t have.

"Zoey, do you mind looking after Sheeby while we go for a little walk? I’m not sure the public will be very welcoming to her presence."

Zoey seemed elated to be asked such a request.

"You don’t have to tell me twice! I think Jacob really did kill me and I’m in heaven!"

Hearing those words stung Jacob’s heart slightly. He still felt extremely guilty about what he had done, but it also made him feel better to see Zoey taking it so lightly.

"I have a place that I want to take you, if you are willing to come with me."

"Sure! I would love to go anywhere with you! As long as I don’t have to lay in a bed for a little while."

Maria chuckled and grabbed his hand.

"Enki is serving this new recipe he made. He says it’s his best seller yet! I want you to come with me to try it!"

"That sounds wonderful! I’d love to give it a try!"

"He says the ingredients are so extraordinarily rare that this will be the last day he’s serving it. Don’t worry about rushing though! I made sure he set an extra stockpile for us to try!"

"Thank you, Maria. I truly appreciate it."

As Maria guided Jacob through the kingdom, his heart felt much more at peace than usual. He didn’t have to worry about monsters or cults or wars at the moment. He was simply enjoying the beautiful day with the woman he loved. He breathed in the fresh air through his nose slowly, enjoying every bit of it with a smile.

’This is what I’ve been looking forward to. It’s too bad the weather is getting a little colder. I may have to start putting on some extra layers under my armor!’

The smells of the town were mouth-watering. All manner of sweet shops, butcheries, and fine dining restaurants were booming with customers at their doors. There were a few clothing shops that Maria had passed without so much as glance, but the thing that caught her attention was the blacksmiths. Lucy and Bart were both working around an anvil with a stubby older gentleman with a long grey beard. He looked so old that Jacob couldn’t believe him to remotely be their teacher. Lucy and Bart both waved at Maria and Jacob as they passed by.

As they got closer to Enki’s food place, Jacob looked up at the sign and almost felt like slapping himself.

"Suber Food? Really?"

Maria laughed slightly.

"I had the same reaction when I first saw the name. I knew it was Enki’s work immediately!"

"We really need to teach him to come up with better names for things. I bet he names most of his charms like that without telling us too."

Jacob and Maria walked into the crowded restaurant. Encouraging music was being played through the place as people dove into their meals. Every single person had the same exact dish: a large bowl of golden soup that shimmered in the lights of the place. Not only that, but they were also devouring it at an astonishing pace, as if the food was so good, they couldn’t help but gorge themselves.

"Wow! It looks like this new soup of his is a hit! I wonder what he’s putting in it?"

"I don’t know if I trust this, Maria. Enki is an enchanter. He probably spiked all those dishes."

Maria whispered over to him softly.

"He already spikes the plates."

Jacob slapped his face.

’Of course...’

The busser at the head of the restaurant walked up them and bowed.

"Two today I assume?"

"Actually, we’re here to see Enki. We are good friends of his. My name is Jacob. Nice to meet you!"

Jacob reached his hand out to the gentlemen who grabbed it and shook it softly. However, as he was doing that, Maria grabbed the cracked silver bell behind his stand and rang it obnoxiously.

"ENKI!! ME AND JACOB ARE HERE!! ENKIIII"

She ended up shaking the bell so hard that it snapped completely in half. Not only that, but it also appeared to completely evaporate once it touched the ground. The busser got on his knees and picked at the dust particles on the ground as tears streamed down his face.

"My special bell!!"

He slammed his fist on the ground mourning its true loss.

"You must be related to that woman who was here the other day! You’re both just as insufferable! Get out of my restaurant!"

Enki walked up being the busser and bowed his head to Maria and Jacob.

"Oh! Maria and Jacob! I’m very glad to see you two here! Please come in! I have some special seating reserved for you two in the back!"

The busser stared up at Enki, his eyes completely lifeless. Enki stared down at him oddly.

"Get the hell up. Are you seriously crying over a bell?"

Enki led Maria and Jacob to the back where there was a nice table set up for them with a candle lit in the middle. The setting was strangely romantic for being in the back of a restaurant.

"Don’t worry about that busser. He is a real piece of work sometimes. Please just sit down and enjoy each other’s company. The soup will be out in a moment."

Jacob pulled out Maria’s seat, allowing her to sit down first. Maria happily let herself be pushed towards the table by him before he also took a seat. They stared at each other for a few moments in silence. Maria was looking at Jacob longingly.

"I don’t think I got to say sorry for what I did. I promise I won’t command you to do anything again. That was very selfish of me."

Maria shrugged her shoulders.

"It’s okay. I think I got my payback. You were supposed to be moving around three days ago and I didn’t tell you."

Jacob felt like falling on the floor.

’She’s devilishly smart when she wants to be, huh?’

"I think we can call it even then!"

Just then, Enki brought two large helpings of his famous soup.

"These are the last two bowls left, so enjoy them while you can! I call it, Radiant Soup!"

Jacob stared into the bowl excitedly. He hadn’t eaten anything in a while, and he knew this dish was about to taste incredible. Its swirling yellow color, its deep texture, and the scent all drove him mad. Maria moved her hair out of her face.

"I think we can take the eyepatches off for this. No one can see us back here anyway."

Jacob smiled and ripped his off.

"You don’t have to tell me twi- huh?"

Jacob stared back down at his bowl. There were strange words that started appearing next to it. He had to reread everything three times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. He looked up at Maria to see what the reaction was. She was also staring down at the bowl frozen, unable to decide what move to make. The words read:

Name: Radiant Soup!

Description: It’s dragon piss.

[Dragon Piss]: It’s piss. Literally just piss.

[Warning]: Are you sure you want to drink urine?

They both looked at Enki, completely unaware of how to handle this news to him. Jacob could see Maria was about to snap, so he had to step in quickly to deescalate the situation.

"Okay, very funny Enki. It’s been a while and your jokes truly know no bounds! But we aren’t in the mood for jokes. Where’s the soup?"

Enki raised an eyebrow.

"Hm? What do you mean? It’s right in front of you!"

Jacob’s worst fears had come true. Enki truly had no idea what he was serving all of these customers. Maria couldn’t contain herself anymore and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"YOU ALMOST MADE ME DRINK PISS! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

She was screaming so loud that everyone in the restaurant began looking towards the back to eavesdrop as best as they could.

"What? I would never make you drink that! How could you accuse me of such a thing!"

"BECUASE THIS IS PISS! YOU ARE SERVING ALL OF THESE CUSTOMERS URINE IN A BOWL YOU SICK FREAK!!"

Maria grabbed her bowl and splashed it all over Enki’s face, soaking him in the dragon urine. Customers in the other room began gagging and running out of the restaurant as fast as they could.

"T-That can’t be! This was a gift from the heavens themselves! I collected it with my bare hands!"

Jacob splashed his bowl of urine in Enki’s face.

"That gift from the heavens was really a gift from a dragon’s bladder."

Enki dropped to his knees completely defeated.

"I’m ruined."

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