The Stolen Heir’s Bond

The forest was different at night.

Elaria had walked these paths a hundred times before, but tonight, the darkness felt heavier, pressing against her like an unseen force. The trees whispered with the wind, and every crunch of snow beneath her boots sounded too loud.

Behind her, Kael moved with surprising silence for a man who had nearly bled out hours ago. If not for his steady breath at her back, she might have thought he had vanished entirely.

She didn't like that.

"How long until we reach the next village?" Kael's voice was low, just above a whisper.

"Half a day," she answered without turning. "Longer if we're careful."

"Are we being careful?"

She shot him a look over her shoulder. "Not careful would've been letting you bleed out in the snow."

Kael huffed a quiet laugh, but there was something assessing in his gaze. He studied her like he was trying to unravel a puzzle.

Elaria ignored it. She had no patience for princely curiosity.

"We'll need supplies," she said instead. "Food. Horses. A way to cover our tracks."

"Do you have coin?"

"Do you?"

His smirk was infuriating. "I'll figure it out."

She sighed. "That's not reassuring."

Kael didn't answer.

They walked in silence for a time, the woods stretching endless before them. Elaria kept her ears trained for any sound of pursuit, but the night was still. Too still.

Then, just as they crested a hill, a sharp prickle crawled up the back of her neck.

She stopped.

Kael did too, instantly on alert. "What is it?"

Elaria turned, scanning the trees. The shadows were thick, shifting with the wind, but something felt… wrong.

She exhaled slowly, trying to quiet her pulse.

Then—

A flicker.

A glint of steel in the dark.

She moved on instinct.

"Down!" she hissed, shoving Kael to the ground just as an arrow sliced through the air where his head had been.

It struck a tree with a sickening thud.

Kael cursed, rolling to his feet, sword already in hand. Elaria pressed a hand to the earth, magic coiling in her veins, ready to unleash—

Then, from the trees, a figure emerged.

A man in dark armor, bow still raised. But he wasn't alone.

More shadows shifted behind him, a dozen or more.

Elaria's stomach dropped.

Hunters.

Not Varos's men, but something worse.

Bounty hunters.

They had come for her.