Chapter 1

It's such a nice day to be out and about. Only one thing is missing in my life right now and everything would be immaculate. And it is money. Money is the one thing in this world that makes the world fall on its knees for you. If only I did not get cheated on a job earlier, I would already have a belly full of hot, delicious food right about now. But, alas! It was not meant to be. Still, I do need to find a way to put food in me before I collapse and become a living skeleton because of starvation.

I observed the people coming in and out of the town gates and discern which if them is going to be an easy target. After a few minutes of carefully observing and analysing, I finally found my target. It seems to me that this person is a traveller because they just got out of an inn to my right and are now going straight to the town gates to leave this god forsaken excuse of a town. They were wearing a cloak so the downside of picking them as a target is that I know not their gender but they seem to look like a middle-aged man, judging from the way the cloak is hanging on their body.

I made my move and followed this person until we are out of town. He walked on the paved road just up until the fork that separates the road leading to the next town and the one that leads to somewhere no one knows. And what is more surprising is that he did not choose the road that leads to the next town. He chose to use the road that most people would avoid because they do not know where it leads and no one likes to be near the unknown. It doesn't even show on maps. On the maps, it just ends abruptly. The kingdom didn't bother sending someone to explore and investigate the road and where it leads.

After seeing the road he chose, I hesitated for a bit before following him down the road. Only, I shadowed his steps in the forest that is beside the road. I was, again, surprised to see a horse waiting for him just a bit far down the road. It is now or never because once he gets on the horse, I wouldn't be able to rob him of his money. I used whatever skills I picked up after all those years of being alone in the streets of Thera. The town we were in was named Tarrin after one of the original knights of this kingdom.

I lowered my hood so that they wouldn't be able to see my face and hurriedly ran for his coin purse hanging by his right hip. As I was about to secure money for food, he shot out his hands to grab mine but I quickly dodged it before he could lock his fingers around my wrist. I was right to assume that he was a man but sorely wrong to think that he is middle-aged because middle-aged men don't move that fast. Some may be an exception but they are not as fast as this one is.

We both were aware of each other's presence now, which means that I need to get away before he decides to overpower me. I may have learned to fight throughout the years of being on the streets but I lack the strength to incapacitate a grown man. I bolted like a horse but was soon within the range of the man's arm.

Without realizing or sensing his presence, I was abruptly yanked back and ended up colliding on something hard. I let out a soft groan because of the impact but was silenced afterwards by a huge hand on my mouth.

"If I were you, I'd shut my mouth if I want to live another day."

The man whispered in my ear intimately. I shivered at the sound of his husky voice reaching my ears. I did not answer, instead I silently nodded my head and he took that as a sign of submission. He kept his hold my both my mouth and my hand as we walked back to where his horse was tied to a tree. When we were there, he took his hand off of my mouth along with the hood of my cloak and took a piece of cloth from the satchel that was on the horse and tied to both of my hands behind my back. I could've bolted and took my chances again but I don't have the strength to run anymore.

I was hungry and that means no energy to run away from the man. I waited for him to finish tying my hand off before asking him a question.

"Why are you doing this? I know I was about to rob you but you could've just let me go since I failed to take your coin purse just like all the other people I failed to steal from." I confidently asked him.

He looked at me while hiding his face and slowly said, "You are in no position to question me but I will humour you. In the kingdom from where I'm from, even those who attempt to rob another will still be punished."

He turned around to fix the things inside his satchel when I replied to his statement.

"I'm pretty sure you are not in your kingdom right now though so those laws of yours do not apply in Thera." I told him in full confidence.

He stopped what he was doing and faced me. He certainly took his time because he was stalking me like I am some prey that he is hunting for sport. I, naturally, backed up until my back has hit a trunk of a tree. I tried to shrink myself, making myself as small as possible because this man is not joking right now.

When he was just a few steps away from me, he finally took off his hood and the gods have created a masterpiece that is this man. He is gorgeous, no. Gorgeous is an understatement. He is just in a different world when it comes to beauty. What's worse is that his eyes are a peculiar colour. I cannot start to describe its colour. It is a combination of honey gold and forest green swirling within its depths, trying to lure me into the pit of nothingness. But in all seriousness, it is hypnotizing. He leaned into me while I was still trying to be as small as I can. His face was inches from mine when he said,

"I know that there is no law about retribution within the kingdom of Thera but I care neither about this kingdom nor its laws." He stood back up before saying, "You're fast and I needed someone to help whenever I am in a bind."

He turned his back to me before walking back to the horse. And with that, I collapsed because my knees could no longer support my body after all of the tension went out of my body. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I was on the ground but for some reason; my mouth won't seem to shut itself up because the next question that came out of it has warranted me the consequences of being treated like a sack of potatoes.

"Is that why you were in Tarrin? Was it to find someone to take the blame for you if you were ever caught by the authorities? Or were you looking for a slave you can use and abuse to the bone? And you were faster than me so I do not see the need for someone like me to come with you to wherever you are going. I don't even know where this path leads to. Not one person in this entire kingdom knows where this leads to. I am already at my wit's end just trying to survive and find for food and shelter; I will not endanger my life any more than it is. Especially since I still have some unfinished business with this kingdom and everyone involved in it."

I kind of mumbled the last sentence because I was a bit ashamed of him hearing that reason of mine. He ignored me after everything that I said and that only made me contemplate more on whether to run away again or lose him in the woods.

"Don't even think of running away through the woods. You are neither strong enough to lose me inside Targhee Forest nor are you experienced enough in hunting for me to lose you inside." He said while still tending to the horse.

"And to answer your questions, I know where this path leads to, I was not looking for a slave to abuse and I will not hurt you if you would obediently come with me. Would that be all?" he asked.

His answers confused me more and more questions popped out of my head. "How would you know where this path leads to when you're not even from Thera? And why would I obediently go with you to wherever you want to go? If you were not looking for a slave back in Tarrin, then what were you doing there in the first place?" I asked question after question after question non-stop. That's how confused I am.

He finally stopped what he was doing with the horse and faced me to answer my questions one by one.

"You are such a chatterbox. You are going to obediently come with to wherever I need to go because you almost robbed me of my coins to use for my daily necessities. I was in Tarrin because I needed someone to aid me in my quest but that town didn't even have a single guild that could give me the people I needed for the quest. And as for the first question, it is a secret. A need to know basis and you need not know it, for now. Do you still have any questions?" he asked after answering my questions. Even though he sounds annoyed from my questions, he almost seems to be enjoying this exchange of ours. And I was a bit curious about this quest of his.

I nodded and proceeded to ask another set of questions. "What is this quest you are talking about? If you want me to obediently go with you, I need to know what it is I am endangering my life for. Also, what is your name and which kingdom were you from? I am curious because you have peculiar eyes."

My curiosity got the better of me because I did not intend to tell him about his eyes. I pursed my mouth the moment that comment about his eye colour got out of it. His almost animate face turned stone-sold after my comment about his eyes. He clenched his chiselled jaw and just plainly said, "You will know once we get to a place where I deem is safe to tell you all about it; about the quest and about myself. You can just call me Ian for now. And that is all you need to know for now." He paused before asking, "What is your name, little fox?"

My brows furrowed when he called me a little fox. Little? Me? How am I little when I am taller than most girls my age? I reined in my anger and told him my name. "Colette. My name is Colette."

He grinned like a fool after hearing my name before proceeding to say my name. "Colette. Colette. It's a nice name. I once knew a Colette back when I was just a young boy but that could not be you because she was a princess from an empire that was destroyed and became the kingdom that is now Thera. I heard she died along with her parents, the former Emperor and Empress of the Tairia Empire. That could not be you, right?"

He asked me, trying to intimidate me but I did not let that get to me. I answered flatly, "Impossible. The empire was destroyed decades before I was born." It's a lie, of course. And now that he mentions this, I do somehow remember meeting a boy back then but I do not know he is that boy or someone else entirely. "I became an orphan when my father died because of an ambush from bandits on the road and when my mother died because of a sickness that has no cure." Again, more lies. My whole life has been a huge lie after my parents died in that revolution where we were falsely accused by those we trusted the most to protect us from outside forces.

It happened when I was just six years old. I managed to escape because I got help from one our trusted maids but she abandoned me as well when she no longer had any reason to protect me. That was the worst time of my life and I don't ever want to ever experience that again. The only good thing that happened during that time was that the empire did not know how I looked so I easily passed as another street rat that had lost their family during the revolt. I was just grateful that I was forced to train with sword master before I escaped so that definitely helped me whenever I was suspected of being the lost heir.

After a few years of hiding and narrowly escaping the guards, everybody already thought that I was dead and they went on to divide the land that the empire was on to five different kingdoms, one for each of the people who betrayed my family and accused us of being tyrants and dictators that did not care for the empire. I swore that time that I will bide my time and take back everything they took from me. Blood has been spilled, and blood shall be spilled again.

I snapped back to reality when he literally snapped his fingers at me. "Snap out of it. I was just teasing you. It is time to go. Follow me." He said to me and I followed after sighing in defeat.

He stood by the horse and motioned for me to come closer to him and followed his commands. I do not have any choice right now. When I was near enough for him to grab me, he grabbed my waist and I panicked but he just lifted me up so I could sit on the horse. It was a bit uncomfortable because my hands were tied behind my back so I told him, "Can you untie my hands? It is uncomfortable riding a horse with them being tied behind my back."

He stared at me but heeded my request when he followed suit sat behind me on top of the horse. I massaged my sore wrists when untied them.

"What have you been eating for you to be so light?" he asked.

"Nothing, why do you think I would steal from you?" I asked him back, to which he replied, "Fair point."

He proceeded to get something from the big satchel that is on his side and I saw that it was an apple and a small loaf of stale bread. "Here, you must be starving. We will eat something more filling later after I have hunted something from the forest." He said as he gave me the food. I immediately took them without hesitation and started chomping on the bread slowly. He took the reins and the horse started moving. I admit that I was startled when the horse moved because the last time I was on a horse was when the empire still existed. I almost slid off the horse but Ian caught me and kept me in place.

I thanked him and continued to happily eat my food while being oblivious of what is to come in my life.