Chapter 5> Prince Theron

~Avery's POV~

I opened my eyes and looked around. The place didn't look familiar. Did the guards bring me here? But this place was too beautiful to be a dungeon. It looked more like a royal chamber, but who would bring me to a royal chamber?

I tried getting upright, but my whole body was hurting, so I couldn't sit upright. I just lay there, staring at the decor in the room. Then I heard footsteps approaching. I closed my eyes and pretended to still be sleeping. “Is she awake yet?” a man asked. The voice didn't sound familiar. “Not yet, my prince,” another man answered.

Did he just say “my prince”? So I really am in a royal chamber. Did the Prince find me in the forest and bring me here? I opened my eyes slowly and acted as if I had just woken up. I met a pair of piercing blue eyes looking at me. He was handsome. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen.

“She’s awake,” the other man said.

From how he was dressed, I could tell he was the physician..“Where am I?” I asked.

The handsome man helped me sit up.

“You're safe. This is the palace, and this is Prince Theron, he found you in the forest and brought you back,” the physician said.

As expected of the Prince of the Elarion kingdom, he was so handsome.

“Thank you, Your Grace,” I said.

“It is nothing. What were you doing in the forest all alone?” he asked. His voice was melodious.

“I lost my way,” I lied. I wasn't going to tell him that I somehow broke the relic during the Awakening Ceremony and now the High Mage had ordered that I be brought back and sacrificed.

The Prince ordered the physician to leave.

“What were you running from?” he asked.

Why was he so concerned? He was the Prince, not a knight or protector of the kingdom.

I wanted to say something before he cut in. “There were strange marks on your body when I found you. Are you a mage or a witch?” he asked.

The questions were getting much, and he observed a lot, but his expression remained calm. I wasn't a threat to him, so it was normal for him to be calm.

“I don't know anything about the marks. They just appeared on my skin yesterday,” I said. He should believe that.

“You were unconscious for two days,” he said. “Then they appeared on my body two days ago. I also don't know what they mean,” I answered immediately.

He looked at me for a while. He believed me, and besides, I wasn't lying. I also didn't know what the marks meant.

“Where were you going before you lost your way in the Quiet Vale?” he asked.

“Nowhere exactly,” I admitted.

He looked at me.

“I ran away from home, and I didn't know where to go from there, so I wandered in the forest before I fell unconscious, and you saved me,” I said.

For a moment, I saw a flicker of confusion on his face.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

I wasn't sure I wanted to tell him that, but he saved me, and he didn't look harmful.

“Oakridge. I have stayed there for almost half of my life with my adoptive parents,” I said.

The thought of them came to my mind, but I pushed it away. I had forgotten everything about them for a while.

His expression was unreadable.

“You're safe here. I won't harm you. Tell the servant what you need, and they will attend to you,” he said and left.

I stared at the door after he left, for some reason, I still couldn't believe I was in the palace. The palace of Elarion.

I had heard stories about this place from people in Oakridge, but I never imagined I would ever step inside it, let alone wake up in one of its rooms.

I looked around again, everything looked expensive. The curtains, the furniture, even the small decorations placed around the room looked like they belonged to someone important, I suddenly became aware of how I looked.

My clothes were torn and dirty from running through the forest, my arms were covered in scratches, and my feet still hurt from all the stones and branches I had stepped on, I didn't belong here, I knew that well, then I looked down at my arms.

The marks were gone, I rubbed my skin, wondering if I had imagined them, but there wasn't even a faint trace left behind. Yet I knew they had been there. I had watched them glow while I was running through the forest, even the prince saw them but now they were gone

I didn't understand what was happening to me.

I carefully got out of bed, wincing when pain shot through my legs. I walked toward the door and opened it, A servant was standing outside. “Excuse me,” I called.

She turned toward me. “Yes, miss?”

“I want to take a bath.” I said.She nodded. “Of course. I'll have everything prepared.”

I stepped back into the room and waited.

For the first time since the ceremony, I allowed myself to breathe but deep down, I knew I couldn't relax for long.

The High Mage was still looking for me and I had no idea what would happen when he found me. The servants here were dressed beautifully. They were better than me in every possible way. Their dresses were clean and beautiful, their hair was neatly arranged, and they looked nothing like the servants I was used to seeing in Oakridge.

I looked down at the torn dress I was wearing and couldn't help but think about my own life in my adoptive parents' house. I was always reminded that I wasn't part of the family, and I had gotten used to it.

Now I was standing in a palace wearing a beautiful dress, surrounded by servants who looked more put together than I ever had.

For some reason, that made me feel even smaller, I was no different from them.

They prepared warm water for me. I took my bath and wore the beautiful dress arranged for me by the prince himself. I looked at the beautiful dress, I had never been given dresses like this.

Most of the clothes I wore were old ones that Neris no longer wanted or things I had managed to keep for years.I looked beautiful.My hair was arranged by the servant, and food was brought for me,I ate and then sat again to think.

I knew I wasn't going to stay here because if the High Mage reported me to the king, then I was done for, so I would leave.