When you hunt to survive, nothing is easy — especially when the royal family hunts only for entertainment.
Hidden among the bushes, I hold my breath while watching the forest ahead of me. My bow is steady in my hands and the arrow is ready.
Today I need to hit my target.
It has been far too long since my last proper meal.
Then I hear it.
The dry sound of a branch snapping.
Without thinking twice, I turn toward the noise and release the arrow.
But instead of a deer, I find something far worse.
Royal guards.
Unfortunately for me, they find me before I can escape. I am surrounded, disarmed, and dragged away from the forest that has always been my only home.
The accusation?
Trying to kill the prince.
Which is ironic… considering I never even saw him among the trees.
And now here I am.
Sitting on the cold floor of a dungeon, my wrists bound by heavy chains. The only light comes from a torch on the wall, casting dancing shadows across the damp stone.
I ask myself how much time I have left before they decide to send me to the gallows.
I try not to think about it.
But then I hear footsteps approaching down the corridor.
Slow. Firm.
My heart begins to race. Maybe my time has come.
When the cell door opens, the torchlight reveals a young man dressed far too well for a place like this.
Young. Elegant. And undeniably handsome.
But it isn't his appearance that tells me who he is.
It's the royal crest embroidered on his clothes.
Royalty.
While I am still trying to understand what a prince would be doing in a dungeon, he steps closer and grabs my arm with more force than necessary for someone who is chained and clearly no threat.
His eyes burn with anger.
"Who sent you?" he demands, his voice filled with fury. "Answer me. Who had the courage to try to kill me?"
For a moment, I remain silent.
Maybe I should be afraid.
Maybe I should beg for my life.
But instead, something very different rises inside me.
Hatred.
I lift my chin and meet his gaze.
"No one sent me," I reply coldly. "I was hunting."
His jaw tightens.
"Hunting?" he repeats, disbelief in his voice.
"Yes, Your Highness," I say with a humorless smile. "Unlike you, some of us hunt to survive."
The silence that follows is heavy.
And for the first time, I see something change in his eyes.
It is no longer just anger.
It's curiosity.
And perhaps… something more.