Loving the Forbidden Prince

AYLETH

Three days over the Summitran border, they woke to find the city of the Capital, shining on the distant hill. They were still two nights travel away, though Etan was certain they'd arrive before high moon on the second night.

They'd continued to travel at night just in case they were overtaken by the Zenithran army that had to be in pursuit by now. But Borsche had already stopped by two villages and sent messages to the Castle. The Kingdom would be prepared, if they weren't already, for the upcoming conflict, and ready for any orders from the King when he arrived to give them.

When they woke that afternoon, still hours from dark, Etan was smiling in a way she didn't think she'd ever seen. His spirits had lifted with every step deeper into his Kingdom until he was... lighter.

She liked him this way—the easy smile and eyes that sparkled rather than brooded. She hadn't understood how much he'd been affected by the pressures of her parent's rule until they were here and suddenly he could laugh and tease and...

Ayleth smiled as he caught her eye from across the fire he'd just poked to spread the embers so it would burn out before they left. The heat in his gaze threatened to burn her fingers, just like those embers.

She bit her lip to stifle the returning smile.

"I think I will take my wife for a walk and show her some of my Kingdom," Etan declared to the other two, suddenly. "We'll be back well before dark."

"Etan," Borsche began, but Etan shook his head.

"If we are not safe here, Borsche, there is nowhere on earth that I can take her. We won't stray far. There's a clearing to the east with a lake. And the old abandoned barn on its other side. You remember?"

"Yes,"

"That's where we'll be."

"I don't know, Etan, I don't have a good feeling—"

"Let them go," Falek muttered without looking up. Far from becoming lighter as they'd traveled, her Knight Defender seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. She'd tried to talk to him one more time about the woman, but he'd utterly refused to even broach the subject and had found a reason to leave her presence when she pressed.

So his intervention on her behalf was a surprise. And not just to her. Borsche seemed shocked.

"Etan is right. If they aren't safe here, they aren't safe anywhere. We've seen no signs of pursuit. You said that we need to visit the village today anyway."

"I need you to visit the village," Borsche said. "This close to the Palace I might be recognized. I can tell you what sources to approach, and give you the codes so they will speak. But—"

"Then all the more reason to let them go. I'll gather your information, they can rest together, and you remain here to watch. You can simply get them and run them to the Palace if there's an issue before I return."

Ayleth didn't like the flat tone in Falek's voice, but she wanted him to win the argument, so she remained silent. And sure enough, within minutes, Etan was beaming as he took her hand and led her away from the campsite, while Falek saddled his mount to travel to a nearby village and gather gossip and news.

Borsche scowled, but didn't protest when Etan said they would walk to leave the horses to rest. Then he led Ayleth through the trees and out into a beautiful, rolling meadow with a distant lake and thickets of trees that looked so lush and idyllic, Ayleth almost sighed.

"Your land is beautiful, Etan." While Zenithra was all contradictions—a wild, rugged land, tamed and refined in its cities and habitations, Summitras, with the milder climate, seemed somehow softer... the land less bruising. Mountains distant instead of hovering. Everything green, all the time.

And spaces like this at every turn—where they could see for miles—broken only by beautiful, healthy forests and gullies.

Etan practically dragged her towards the water, but they hadn't brought towels or soap, so she didn't imagine that he intended to swim.

He seemed to know exactly where he was headed though, dragging her through the long grass towards a large, weeping willow that brushed the edge of the lake, while he told her all about the land, his people, and how they would receive her.

"I know they'll be skeptical, but my people want to see Summitras strong. They'll recognize your strength as well. And if you're willing to be presented, I believe we can bring them with us—can you see it, Ayleth? We'll make our dream contagious—promise to attempt to negotiate, but also let them catch the vision of what we can accomplish if we are forced to fight. Ayleth... I know there is so much risk and so much danger, but I really... I can't explain it, I believe we can do this!"

His joy was contagious as he pulled her forward into a run.

The grasses caught at her feet and she stumbled more than once, but Etan just kept hold of her, swinging her back into step when she faltered.

They were both laughing and panting, and as he tugged her toward the tree at the water's edge, then when they reached it, pulled her into his arms. He was panting and beaming and he looked so handsome with his hair tousled and his eyes bright, Ayleth thought that if his people loved him half as much as she did... he was right. They would follow him anywhere.

Etan held her there, their twin breaths mingling as he stared down at her with a smile. "I'm so glad that you're here," he whispered through his panting breath. "I'm so grateful that we get to do this together. We're going to change the world, Ayleth."

And as he leaned down to take her mouth in a kiss, she decided he already had. He had changed her world forever. And she was the one who was grateful.

The following hour was one of the happiest of her life. They were alone—and under the cover of the weeping willow, they did remove their clothes and take a dip in the cool water—but their attention soon turned to each other.

And when Etan spread her on his cloak, he didn't take her immediately, but sat back on his knees to stare down at her.

"So beautiful," he breathed. "And so incredibly mine."

She giggled in embarrassment, sat up to pull him in, to take him in, to love him. And when they both broke over that wave of pleasure together, she cried out to whatever God was listening to please, please make certain she never had to live a day without this incredible man.

They were still lying there, bodies humming with pleasure, but minds and eyes drowsy, when a voice rose from the edge of trees a mile away.

Borsche's voice, screaming for Etan.

They both jumped to their feet, scrambling for their clothes, as Etan yelled back that they were coming!

"What do you think—?"

"I don't know!"

But as they finished dressing, Etan swept up his cloak from the ground and took Ayleth's hand, pulling her out into the open where they found Borsche and Falek both sweaty, yelling instructions that were tossed and cut through by the wind, as they galloped towards them.

And the closer they drew, the more Ayleth could understand their words.

"...Fortress City denied them entrance... pinned between forces... train was attacked."

"What are they saying—?" She feared what she was hearing, but she didn't want to know.

"I don't know," Etan said, his voice strangled as they started to run toward their men.

Falek's cloak rippled out behind him as he galloped towards them, bellowing for Ayleth. But it was Borsche on the lighter mount who reached them first, leaping from his still running horse to throw himself at Etan's feet in a kneel of fealty, gripping his arms. The older man's eyes were wide and pained, urgency on every line of his face as Falek drew rein behind him, his face a mask of uncertainty.

"Etan! Etan!" Borsche cried. "I'm so sorry—the King is Dead! Etan, you are King! Long live the King!"

Falek swung his leg over his mount and dropped to the ground, then to one knee, hand clasped over his chest in a salute to the King.

Etan's face paled and an ice cube slid down Ayleth's spine.