Claimed by the vampire prince

Chapter 463: Chapter 463: Happy birthday to me

The group made several stops along the way, and at each one, they laid out traps in hopes that one of the beasts they were tracking would get caught in them.

The information they had all been given suggested that the beast they were tracking had moved further east. However, there had also been reports of violent rampages in the south, which led them to suspect that there was more than one creature lurking within the wilds.

By the time the sky began to darken, streaks of fading gold and bruised purple stretching across the horizon, they decided to halt for the night and make camp. They would need their strength for whatever awaited them come morning. The members of the group, worn down from hours of travel and the labor of setting traps, were in desperate need of rest.

They dismounted from their horses with quiet groans of relief as they moved about. Supplies were unhauled and distributed with little conversation, each man falling into his own routine. It did not take long before tents were erected, simple but sturdy enough to withstand the chill of the night. A fire was kindled, its flames crackling softly as it grew.

Darkness settled over them swiftly, swallowing the last remnants of daylight. With nothing more to be done, Ragnar took a seat near one of the fires. The warmth licked at his skin, chasing away the evening chill as he settled into a familiar task. A chunk of wood rested in one hand, his carving knife in the other, and with slow movements, he began to whittle away at the surface. Small curls of wood fell to the ground at his feet, gathering like pale shavings of snow.

It had been a long while since he had last worked on one of his carvings. The rhythm of the task came back to him easily as his hands moved with quiet precision. He found himself shaping the wood into something small, something simple, delicate enough for a child to hold.

The thought of what he wanted to make came unbidden, but once it did, it refused to leave.

His mind drifted to the image of his own child, tiny fingers wrapped clumsily around one of his carved figurines, eyes wide with wonder. The image was so vivid it made his chest tighten with a feeling he could not quite put into words. His child was still in the womb and yet the anticipation burned brightly within him.

It would be some time before the child could hold anything at all.

Still, that did nothing to lessen the genuine excitement that stirred within him.

The scent of wood smoke drifted lazily through the camp, mingling with the cool night air. Ragnar’s head remained bent, his focus fixed on the task in his hands, when the soft sound of approaching footsteps reached him.

He glanced up.

One of the hunters stood before him, a plated meal held carefully in his hands, which he extended toward Ragnar in offering. The firelight illuminated his features.

Gadiel.

Ragnar remembered Dougol introducing him earlier that day.

"It is an honor to have you here with us," Gadiel said, offering a polite smile. He gestured slightly toward the plate in his hands. "I saw you sitting by yourself and thought to offer you some of my dinner."

By all appearances, it was a simple act of kindness.

But Ragnar had not been raised to accept such gestures without question.

Growing up within the palace had taught him many things, caution was one of them. The queen’s hatred had ensured that he learned early how to be watchful of his surroundings, how to expect danger even in the most ordinary moments. Kindness, especially when it came without reason, was often a ruse.

The betrayal and the knife to the back that he had been trying to prevent might turn out to not be a knife at all and could end up being the very thing that was slowly killing his father. Poison.

Perhaps it was nothing. Perhaps this was simply what it appeared to be, a man offering food to another at the end of a long, exhausting day. But there was a possibility that Ragnar was simply being Paranoid over nothing but he also didn’t want to take unnecessary risks

All he wanted was to see this mission through and return home, to his wife, to the life that waited for him beyond the dangers of the hunt.

He lifted his gaze to the man before him and offered a friendly smile.

"Thank you for your generosity," he said calmly, "but I cannot possibly take all of it for myself. Please, join me."

The shift in Gadiel’s expression was slight, so minute that most would have missed it entirely. Just the faintest flicker in his smile.

But Ragnar saw it.

"But, Your Highness," Gadiel began, his tone respectful, "I cannot share a meal with you. You are royalty. It would be beneath you."

Ragnar tilted his head slightly, studying him.

"What good is my title here in the woods, while we hunt fae beasts?" he asked evenly. "Any one of us could die on this mission, regardless of rank or birth. So, for now, I would prefer it if you set such thoughts aside.Here, we are simply men. Hunters."

He gestured toward the plate, more insistent. "Sit and have the first bite. It is your food, after all."

Gadiel did not move. He did not sit, nor did he take a bite like he was told. The hesitation stretched just a fraction too long.

Ragnar’s eyes remained fixed on him, darkening with each passing second.

"What seems to be the matter?" Ragnar asked. His gaze dipped briefly to the plate before returning to the man’s face. "Is there something wrong with the food?"

"Of course not, Your Highness," Gadiel replied quickly, his voice filled with conviction—conviction strong enough that another might have accepted it without question.

But Ragnar did not. "Then eat it," he said.

It was a command.

Gadiel did not protest. He knew better than to draw further attention to himself. Slowly, under Ragnar’s unrelenting gaze, he lifted the spoon and scooped a portion of the food onto it. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

The moment stretched thin.

He raised the spoon toward his lips and then, suddenly aforce struck him from behind.

The impact sent him stumbling forward, the plate jerking violently from his grasp before it crashed to the ground. The food scattered across the dirt, lost to the night in an instant.

"My apologies," Dougol said, his gaze flickering briefly between the two men. He barely spared a glance for the spilled food scattered across the ground. "I didn’t mean to ruin your dinner." freewebnσvel.cѳm

"It’s alright," Gadiel replied without hesitation, accepting the apology as though it required no further thought.

Ragnar, however, only hummed under his breath. "A shame that such a decent meal had to go to waste," he said. "I advise that you lot be more careful with your rations. There is no telling how long we will be out here hunting those things."

With that, he pushed himself to his feet from where he had been seated and turned toward his tent. His attention lingered behind just long enough to catch the strange look Dougol and Gadiel exchanged when they thought he wasn’t watching.

He said nothing of it.