Chapter 4> The Stranger

~Theron's POV~

I had a long day with my father trying to set me up on dates with different girls. One after another, young women from powerful families came to the palace just to meet me. Some arrived with their parents, while others came carrying their families' expectations on their shoulders.

My father called them potential matches.

I called them exhausting.

I had no interest in any of them. They were beautiful, well-mannered, and came from families that would benefit from an alliance with the royal family. My father saw nothing wrong with it, but I hadn't found my one, and I wasn't going to marry someone simply because she was suitable for the crown.

"You can't keep rejecting every girl who comes through those doors," my father had told me earlier.

I didn't know what to say to that.

What was I supposed to tell him? That I didn't want a marriage arranged around politics? That I wanted to meet someone who actually made me want to stay?

He wouldn't understand.

By the time the last family left, I was already tired of hearing about marriage. I left the hall, wanting nothing more than to find somewhere quiet, but Voss stopped me.

Voss had been my childhood friend for as long as I could remember. Now he was my personal guard and adviser, but he was also one of the few people in the palace who spoke to me without treating me like a prince first.

"None of the ladies caught your heart?" he asked. I shook my head. "I wish someone did," I replied. Voss gave me a look that said he knew me too well.

"Were you at least nice to them?"

"Yes. I was honest and polite."

He laughed. "Your father is going to lose his patience with you."

"He's already lost it."

Voss shook his head, amused. "You know, Theron, you could make this easier for yourself. Just pick one of the girls and get it done with." I stared at him.Marriage wasn't that easy. "Easier said than done."

"Theron, it is also for your own good."

"I don't want that kind of good."

He sighed, but there was a smile on his face.

Voss had always been like this. Even when we were children, he was the only person who could tell me when I was being stubborn without worrying about offending me.

He was my guard now, but that wasn't why I trusted him.

I trusted him because he was my friend first. "I need some air," I said.

"The Quiet Vale?" He knew me too well.

I stopped and looked at him.

"Don't."He raised both hands. "I wasn't going to ask to come."

"Good."

Voss rolled his eyes. "I've known you since we were children, and you still won't let me see this mysterious place of yours."

He was right. I had never taken him there.

"Because it's mine."

"You've said that every time."

"And I'll keep saying it." I replied.

The Quiet Vale had always been my escape. It was the only place where I didn't have to be the prince, the king's son, or the future ruler,I didn't take anyone there,the servant, guards or even Voss.

It was the one place in the kingdom that belonged entirely to me, Voss sighed. "Fine. Go disappear into your secret forest." He said. I could see the disappointment on his face.

"I will."

"And try not to get yourself killed."

I smiled faintly. "I'll try."

I left him behind and headed toward the stables.

All I wanted was silence, I needed the Quiet Vale tonight. I had discovered the place years ago, and it had become my favourite place to escape whenever the palace became too suffocating.

I rode through the forest alone, leaving the noise of the palace behind. For the first time that day, I could finally breathe.

I reached the Quiet Vale not long after leaving the palace.

The moment I stepped into the clearing, the familiar peace settled over me. The sound of the flowing spring, the gentle rustling of the trees, and the cool air were enough to make the tension in my shoulders disappear.

This was why I came here.

There were no servants asking for my attention, no nobles trying to impress me, and no one reminding me of my responsibilities.

Just silence.

I walked toward my favourite spot beside the spring and sat beneath the old tree where I had spent countless hours over the years. I pulled one of the books I had left there long ago from beneath the small wooden box and opened it.

For a while, everything was peaceful.

Until I heard footsteps.

I frowned and lowered my book.

Someone was coming through the trees.

I peeked around the trunk and saw a young girl stumbling into the clearing.

My first thought was that one of the women my father had arranged for me had somehow followed me, I was already irritated. How had she even found this place? Then she stumbled again.

She barely managed to take another step before her legs gave out beneath her.

She fell hard onto the ground.

I immediately stood, Something wasn't right, I moved toward her quickly and knelt beside her, she wasn't moving.

Her clothes were torn, her arms were covered in scratches, and bruises marked her skin. She looked like she had been running through the forest for a long time.

"Hey." I called but she didn't answer,I touched her shoulder gently, she didn't move.

"Can you hear me?" She didn't respond again. I tried again, louder this time.

"Miss?" Still nothing,I studied her face.

She was completely unconscious.

Who was she?

More importantly, how had she ended up in the one place in the kingdom where nobody was supposed to come?

I carefully checked that she was breathing and she was,relief washed through me.

"You're alive," I murmured.

I glanced toward the forest behind her.

Whoever she was, something had happened to her and judging from the state she was in, leaving her here wasn't an option.I looked back at her.

"Who are you?" She didn't answer.

I carefully slipped one arm beneath her shoulders and the other beneath her knees, lifting her from the ground.

She was lighter than I expected.

I took one last look at the Quiet Vale before carrying her toward my horse.

I had no idea who this girl was or how she had found my secret place but I knew one thing. I couldn't leave her here.