Day Four With Him...

There was so much joy in the market.

Children running around, traders persuading buyers, lovers holding hands. People didn't know that I was the princess and I was shocked but i was off better like that.

I went shopping with Daemon.

I caught him winking at women who looked at him with flirty eyes.

He did it continuously as if he were trying to anger me.

I was jealous and I knew it.

Women shivered at the sight of Daemon handsome, harmoniously sculpted face.

I dragged him to a secluded area in the market.

"Cover your face" I said.

"Why". He asked

"Don't you feel they are looking at you too much" I asked.

"Who do u mean by they?. The girls or the woman".he said with a grin

I pulled his hair so hard. Gosh they were so silky.

He cackled" I figured it out, You are being a jealous princess".

I disputed "No I'm not". Actually I was. But I couldn't admit it.

He boasted"you can't have all the good things to yourself princess".

I replied "ugh! you're so full of yourself".

We came out of the secluded area and continued our shopping.

And something happened a short while after .

We had just finished bargaining for a pair of hand-stitched gloves when I heard the first shout.

It came from the far end of the square , a scream, followed by the crashing of crates and the pounding of frantic footsteps. The once-cheerful hum of the market quickly twisted into chaos.

"Everyone, clear the way!"

A figure bolted into view , cloaked in black, wild-eyed, knocking over baskets of fruit and nearly trampling a child.

Daemon stepped in front of me instinctively.

"Stay behind me," he said, his tone dropping into something… colder. Sharper.

I clutched his sleeve, trying to peek past his shoulder.

From the side alley, three armed men emerged, chasing the figure with drawn blades. But as they saw the crowd parting, their eyes locked , not on their target…

But on me.

"There she is," one of them growled.

Daemon caught it before I did. His body tensed like a drawn bow.

"They're not after him," he muttered. "They're after you."

Before I could ask how they knew, the leader lunged , blade out, face twisted with determination.

>"Get the girl!"

The crowd screamed, scattering. I stumbled backward, my heart thundering.

But Daemon moved like lightning.

He intercepted the blade with his bare hand , and to my shock, the metal bent on impact, as if it had struck stone instead of flesh.

"No one touches my princess ," he snarled, eyes flashing silver.

With one sweep of his arm, he flung the attacker into a market stall. The others hesitated ,just long enough for Daemon to pull me close and whisper a word under his breath.

The air shifted — wind rising unnaturally, twisting around us like a protective veil.

"Hold onto me," he ordered.

I did.

In a blur of wind and shadows, we vanished , reappearing in the woods outside the city gates, far from the chaos of the marketplace.

My knees buckled. Daemon caught me.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, voice softer now.

I shook my head. "No. Just… shaken."

He pulled me closer. His arms wrapped around me protectively, and for a moment I simply let myself breathe against his chest.

"Who were they?" I asked, voice muffled. "How did they know me?"

"I don't know yet," he said, jaw clenched. "But someone's watching. Someone who knows more than they should."

We stayed there like that ,holding onto each other beneath the trees, the sounds of the forest replacing the noise of the market.

Then he tilted my chin up, silver eyes serious.

"Next time we go out," he said, "I'm wrapping you in a thousand veils."

I laughed, breathless. "Or maybe you should try not flirting with every woman in sight."

"Ah," he said with a smirk, "so you were jealous."

"Daemon."

"Yes, Princess?"

"Shut up."

He chuckled and kissed my forehead. I paused, we hadn't even known each other for long .A soft, brief touch that lingered longer than it should have.

Then we started the walk back together, his arm firmly around me, and a new shadow following us , not of danger, but of everything we now had to face.

Together.