Nick held back a chuckle and nodded to the young prince, then disappeared into the kitchen. Angel got up from her seat and glanced at Dorian. "I'll be right back." She said with a soft smile, and followed Nick into the kitchen for a quick word. Seeing how she hadn't really had much time to spend with her dear friend since the arrival of the prince. "Hey." She greeted the young chef. Nick blinked and glanced at her from the large stove. "Something wrong?" He asked, sounding a little concerned.

Angel simply shook her head and walked over to him. "How is mother doing?" She asked quietly. Nick offered her a warm smile. "Don't worry, she's doing better." He answered calmly. "But she isn't leaving her room.." Angel murmured in a soft voice. Nick sighed quietly as he prepared lunch for the young royals, then glanced at her once more. "Helping me in the kitchen seems to always cheer you up, want to?" He asked curiously. Angel perked up, but almost immediately averted her dark jade eyes. "Maybe some other time." She murmured. Nick smiled and nodded to her. "Lunch should be ready shortly." He said to her.

Angel sweetly thanked him, then left the kitchen and joined Dorian in the dinning room, reclaiming her seat and waiting patiently for Nick.

Dorian looked up as Angel spoke. "Sure, take your time." He said and smiled, his eyes followed her as she followed Nick out into the kitchen. He kept staring, until Nieve made a sound, and his eyes tunred to her. She was looking at him with an intense stare. "What? You thinking I'm too curious?" He said and chuckled. The dog huffed, and returned to her food.

When Angel returned Dorian looked at her. "Welcome back." He said and smiled at her. "I'm guessing you had to discuss something to discuss with Nick?" He asked and looked at her.

Angel nodded to Dorian with a soft smile and rested her hands in her lap as they waited. "I'm concerned about mother.." She said in a quiet voice. "I might visit her after lunch, then we can have our chess game in the library." Angel spoke, smiling soon after. She had promised a game of chess after all, and most of her daily duties were finished. The evening duties didn't come 'til later.

Nick soon came out of the kitchen with a silver platter lined with slender ground beef patties cook to perfection, and anything they might want to build their burgers with, some fresh baked hamburger buns, a medium sized bowl of macaroni and cheese, two smaller bowls with fresh salad and of course, a drink for the two of them. Angel blinked a couple of times as Nick put the platter down on the table and handed them each a plate, and their drinks. "There we are, help yourselves to the build-your-burger tray." Nick spoke with a smile.

"Wow Nick, you haven't made burgers like this in a quite some time." She said, causing the chef to chuckle. "I figured we needed something different, and there's enough for everyone." He replied casually, then he bowed lightly and left the two to return to the kitchen to clean up.

Dorian nodded. "I understand, I have to admit I'm also worried for her." He said. "I had heard she was ill, but I didn't know how bat it was." He touched her hand gently to reassure her. "I'm sure she'll get better." He smiled, and let go of her as Nick came out. Nieve perked her head up as Nick entered. Her eyes followed him intently.

Dorian silently thanked for the food and let Angel have her private conversation with the man. Nieve on the other hand, moved up, as the man left towards the kitchen and bit into the man'd shirt making a growling sound. Once he stopped moving Nieve let go and say down looking up at him.

Dorian chuckled. It was fun to see Nieve act like that. "Seems like she knows who is feeding her now. She want seconds." He said and smiled. "Just give her some more carrots if you can spare some." He said. Nieve's tail started wagging, clearly understanding that she'll get food.

Angel lowered her head when Dorian spoke about her mother's illness. She nodded lightly, and managed a small smile. He meant well..but the princess knew that her mother wasn't going to get better. How could she get over her illness when no one really knew what it was? The only thing they knew was that it wasn't a virus, and it wasn't contagious- no one knew the cure though. "Thanks." She said softly, making her burger with lettuce and tomatoes and cheese, and putting a couple pieces of bacon on top of the tomatoes. That was the burger she wanted.

Nick chuckled at Nieve's behavior, and nodded to Dorian. He was happy that the large wolf recognized him as the one feeding her. "Don't worry, I'll get you more carrots." He said to wolf in a gentle voice, then disappeared into the kitchen for a moment. Only to return with some more carrots in a bowl, and slowly put the bowl down on the floor near the table.

Dorian gave Angel a smile, but recognized that he hadn't been able to reassure her properly. He turned to making his own burger, and tried thinking of something to say to lighten up the mood.

Nieve followed Nick over to kitchen door, as he walked away, and sat there waiting for the door to open again, once Nick returned, she followed him as he walked back to the table with her food. She licked his hand, as he placed the bowl down on the floor, before turning her attention to the carrots.

Dorian looked at it for a bit. It was nice to see Nieve get along with more people. Angel had also been mostly accepted by the wolf, so Dorian was happy about that. He turned back to Angel and let the question he had wanted to ask slip. "How long have your mother been ill?" He asked.

Angel was very much enjoying her hamburger that Nick had smoked to perfection, as expected of the castle cook. She couldn't keep her face from hiding the smile that came to her lips as she watched Nieve interact with Nick. She even giggled when Nieve got a bowl of carrots. Angel swallowed some of her drink to wash everything down, then she glanced at Dorian as he asked the dreadful question, about how long her mother had been sick.

Just thinking about it always seemed to dampen her mood. Angel breathed slowly and lowered her burger to her plate, her dark jade eyes lowered from Dorian's gaze. "She's been like this since the time my step-father took her hand in marriage. In the beginning, no one could see her illness- she seemed fine, but I knew. Nick knew too, we could see it." She pressed her thin lips together and shook her head lightly. That wasn't exactly what he asked.. "To answer; she's been sick for just under half of my life." She spoke in a softened tone, and though thinking about just how long her mother had been ill, concerned and depressed the princess, she continued to eat the food prepared for them.

Dorian nodded and thought it over. This illness sounded very strange. How could a simple illness prolong for this long? And without anyone's knowledge, too. he took a bite of his own burger. "Oh, this is very tasty." He said in surprise and delight. This, indeed, was a very good burger. Nick seemed to be talented in the kitchen.

He looked over at Angel. "Are you sure that this is an illness?" He asked. They probably had have people looking at Summer, to find out what was wrong, still, in the back of his mind, he couldn't quite shake the idea that was starting to form in his head.

Curse or poison?

Angel was glad to hear that her fiance was enjoying the burger. She hoped he remembered his word, about telling Nick just how much he liked his cooking, so far. Once again having to think about her mother's condition, Angel slowly shook her head at his question. Just a simple illness? Of course not. Not unless she had cancer or something- but that wasn't the case. She waited until she finished her burger though, before answering him. So she wouldn't react unreasonably.

"No, it wouldn't be possible for a natural illness to hide and drain her like this one.. Well, maybe- I'm not certain.." Angel was still young when her mother first fell ill. Possibly around her twelfth birthday? She blamed her step-father though. The man was vile, and she didn't believe he ever loved his queen. Angel sank in her seat slightly, just to show her mood dropping. "My step-father had a very dark heart who only sought power, and began the destruction of our kingdom. He's the very reason why dragons here are so few and scare.." Angel spoke in a calm voice

Shaking her head lightly, and sitting up in her chair, she glanced at Dorian. "When you're finished, we'll go to the library and play some chess, if you want to." She said to him with a small smile.

Dorian gave her a sad look he could see he had made her think of unpleasant things, and he knew he had made her talk about things she didn't want to talk about. "I'm sorry I have caused you to think about unpleasant thing, my lady." He said as he finished his food, and took her hand. As he stood up to prepare going to the library, he spotted Nick, who still seemed to entertain Nieve. "Thank you, Nick, for another fantastic meal."

He said with a smile. "If this is the food I have to get used to, I'm a lucky man indeed." He smiled and turned his attention to Angel. "Shall we go, my lady?" He asked and offered his hand to her.