Solace' P.O.V
Before I pushed further into the unknown, I detoured into the thick of the woods. I tied my horse securely to a low-hanging branch, the animal's quiet huffing the only sound until the world went silent. Then, I heard it—the snap of dried leaves to the south. Heavy footsteps. Ragged breathing.
I ducked behind the broad trunk of a centuries-old tree, my hand hovering over my hilt. I was ready to strike, ready to end whatever threat had tracked me this far, but as the figure stumbled into the clearing, and I froze.
It wasn't a beast. It was a man I recognized far too well.
I stepped out from the shadows, watching him heave for air. I didn't reach for my sword; instead, I offered him my water. "You're Highness," I said, my voice cutting through his panic. "What are you doing in this nowhere?" it is not a sight that someone may run away from the kingdom but seeing the Prince. The actual prince of the kingdom, my, it is such a sight.
Before he could even answer, a shout tore through the trees. Alerting us quickly to hide from the trees, "SEARCH THOROUGHLY! THE PRINCE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO MAKE IT THAT FAR!"
I looked at Alaric—the Crown Prince of Aevum—dressed in nothing but hunting gear and sweat. A soft, mocking laugh escaped me. "Ah," I whispered. "A Prince fugitive."
"And a prodigy on the run," he shot back, his eyes narrowing. Clearly offended to what I just said to him.
But our banter was cut short. A knight's armour glinted nearby—we had been spotted. Suddenly, Alaric's hand clamped around my elbow. "Run! We must go!"
He pulled so hard I nearly stumbled, but he caught me, steadying me with a strength that felt... strange. It was a sensation I had never felt before, a warmth that made my skin prickle with an alarm I couldn't name. But it wasn't the time to romanticize nor have a sweet romantic moment because as I remember we are being chased.
"My apologize," I muttered as I quickly got up back on my feet. Looking behind us I saw that they are already nearing towards us. And as we raced toward my horse, I looked down at where his hand met my arm. I wanted to pull away—I loathed being touched—but there was no time for pride.
He reached the stallion first and, before I could protest, he hoisted me up as if I weighed nothing, leaping on behind me. I was about to yell at him for the sheer audacity of it—Prince or not—but the heat of being in his arms silenced me. It was a foreign, unsettling world.
Prince Alaric P.O.V
My heart hammered against my ribs, not from the run, but from the sight of the woman now sitting before me. The Legion was closing in, and the sound of hooves thundering toward us is getting closer. Among them, a man I'd seen in the courtyard—Evander—strode forward on his horse. Closely reaching us.
I unsheathed my sword, the steel singing as I prepared to take his head, but Solace's hand went to my wrist. A signal.
"Sheath back that sword," she commanded. I looked at her, stunned. Was she mad? He would bring the whole army down on us.
"Why must you stop me? He will inform—He won't," she cut me off, her gaze fixed on the man. "He's not from the Legion." Her tone is fixed and full of finality as if she had met this man to critic that he won't lure the whole pack of wolf to us.
The man, Evander, slowed his horse to a halt. To my utter bewilderment, he didn't look at me with the eyes of a captor. He looked at her. Then, he bowed.
"You're Majesty," he murmured.
I bristled, my pride stinging even in the middle of a forest. "No need to bow," I snapped, assuming the gesture was for the Crown Prince of Aevum.
Evander's eyes flicked to me, cold and hollow. "With due respect, I am not acknowledging you, Your Highness."
The words hit me like a physical blow. Majesty? He had called Solace a Majesty. I looked at her—the girl who lived in a hut and hunted bears—and saw the same confusion mirrored in her eyes.
"I would like to explain further," Evander said, "but we must take haste before they arrive." He turned as the Captain of the Legion broke through the brush.
"You traitor!" the Captain roared, pointing a finger at Evander. Evander only snickered, his hand steady on his blade.
"I was never one of you," Evander declared, his voice ringing with a terrifying certainty. "I have sworn my loyalty to the Kingdom of Thera."
I felt the blood drain from my face. Thera? That was a ghost story. A legend used to put children to sleep. It had been gone for centuries, a kingdom of dust and myth.
The Captain laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. "Evander, you've lost your mind. Thera is long gone. You have no Majesties to serve. You are a skilled warrior; you have a future with us."
I watched Evander. He didn't flinch. He didn't move. He stood his ground between us and the Empire, like a man guarding a throne that everyone else believed was empty.