[Music Recommendation: Why ~ Rascal Flatts]

Inside the camp, Adric and his soldiers prepared to infiltrate Eridor’s camp. While each soldier polished their swords and daggers, others sharpened their arrowheads. It was a night that would determine whether they would return home to be with their loved ones and families again.

Adric sat on the bed while the physician, who was also a soldier, cleaned the wound on his stomach, wrapping it up with cleaner cloths.

"Your Majesty, please be cautious with your movements. We cannot afford to risk aggravating your wound again. I’ve tried to stop the bleeding as best I can," the physician said, helping to fix Adric’s armor.

Adric didn’t pay much attention to what the physician had to say. He tightened the band on his wrist, his mind focused on the plan he had made for the night, hoping it would work so he could be on his way back home. Not finding out that Nicholas was the reason behind the war, and having yet to receive any letter from Madame Rosalie concerning Oriana’s well-being, made him feel uneasy.

"What about Louis?" Adric asked after he was done getting dressed.

One of the soldiers in the room bowed and replied, "He left to find anything that will be of importance for making food for the soldiers."

Adric nodded. "Get him ready to head back to Avon. I need to be sure Oriana is safe."

Before the soldier could leave to carry out the order, Rowan held him back.

"I will go myself," Rowan said, turning to Adric and bowing. "Your Majesty." He then left the camp.

Rowan passed through the raised tents as he walked deeper into the forest, where the voices of the soldiers faded, replaced by the soft chittering of forest birds and the snapping of dried twigs underfoot.

"Louis?" Rowan called, searching for the man. He moved the fallen leaves out of his way with his sword. When he finally found the man not far from the camp, sitting close to the riverside where the soldiers went to wash up, he called again, "Louis?"

With a solemn look on his face, Louis turned, but when he saw the king’s personal guard, his lips curled into a soft smile.

"Sir Rowan," Louis bowed gently.

Rowan took gentle steps toward the man, wondering what he was doing all alone so close to the river. "You were supposed to be picking things for the soldiers’ food. Staying in an open space alone is dangerous, especially when you can’t protect yourself."

Louis nodded, pointing his hand toward a broken tree that now served as a hanger. On it was a jacket that still had water on it.

"I was waiting for that to dry before I go back to join the others. I didn’t mean to be a burden to anyone," Louis replied.

Rowan narrowed his eyes when he noticed that the jacket was none other than the one Freya gave him. "That?"

"Ah, yes. I hope you don’t mind. I just wanted to feel closer to my daughter, since it’s the only thing of hers here. I decided to wash it," Louis explained, squeezing his hands together.

Rowan’s eyes moved from the jacket and settled on the older man in front of him. He could still remember the first time he saw the man, when they were almost burned by the villagers for wrong accusations. Back then, the man looked happier, but now it seemed time had taken a toll on him, making him look stressed.

"You knew your daughter got it for me?" Rowan asked in a calm voice. "She told you?"

Louis smiled, his eyes now looking at nothing in particular. "Yes, she told me..." His voice trailed off. "My little bookworm, she tells me everything. I wonder what she’s doing now... She must be so scared in the palace without me." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Rowan looked back at the path he came from. There was still time before they infiltrated Eridor and Louis got on his way. He decided to give the man a little time.

"You can sit here," Rowan pointed to a large rock close to the river. As both of them walked towards the rock, Rowan continued, "Have you never left her alone? I mean your daughter."

Louis finally found a good spot on the rock and sat down. "Freya? No, I haven’t... After her mother died, I decided to keep her by my side and protect her. Though I lack in so many areas, she doesn’t know how to cook her own food or fend for herself."

"From where I stand, I think you did great for your daughter. She doesn’t come off as someone sheltered or scared; she’s capable of taking care of herself. Just that she has a tendency to judge people like me." Rowan twitched his lips, looking at the peaceful image the river created every time the sun cast its shadow on it.

Louis exhaled, his shoulders sagging tiredly. "You won’t blame her; she grew up by herself. All I did was feed her, but don’t mind her cold nature. She just does that to protect herself. Behind that stoic expression is my little girl who gets scared easily. And I hope to stay beside her, alive, until I’m sure I’ve married her off."

At the mention of marriage, Rowan turned his face to look at the man. "Marriage?"

"I know," Louis sighed. "I can’t believe she’s going to leave my side soon, but she’s growing into a woman, and it’s inevitable. I just hope she finds someone who can protect her, putting her before anything else."

Rowan hummed, still remembering the girl’s skittishness and how she spoke her mind without needing words; all she had to do was glare. The girl was so unpredictable that sometimes he was amused by her actions. She always tried to hide herself from people’s eyes, but that only made her stand out.

A small smile crept onto Rowan’s lips as he thought about the girl. When he realized what he was doing, he cleared his throat and turned to Louis.

"Then we better get you back alive to your daughter. You’re leaving tonight for Avon." Rowan stood up, dusting the sand off his trousers.

Louis stood up immediately. "Tonight? What about infiltrating Eridor?"

"King Adric wants to be sure the Queen is safe. Also, you should be at ease if you’re close to your daughter. No?" Rowan asked, turning his head to the side without looking at the man.

Louis chuckled, walking back toward the jacket and checking with his palm if it was dry. "I’ll be at ease when the war is settled." He replied, lifting the jacket from the short tree.

"What about you, Sir Rowan? You have the looks and the wealth, yet you don’t have a family waiting for your return," Louis said.

Rowan, who wasn’t expecting that, opened his mouth to reply, but something sparkled in the corner of his eye, and this time it wasn’t the sun casting its shadow on the river. It was a polished armor. He turned his head quickly, just in time to see horses coming in their direction.

The soldiers of Eridor had beaten them to it by attacking first. Rowan swiftly took out the dagger at his waist.

"Run! Go back and alert the King! Now!" Rowan shouted, using his body to protect Louis.

Louis looked back and forth, his hands trembling with fear. He always forgot that they were on a battlefield and anything could happen, even after a moment of peace.

"W-what about you? I can’t leave you all alone here; the soldiers are too many." He stuttered.

Before Rowan could respond, one of the attacking soldiers crept up from the side, ready to stab him, but Rowan was fast enough to dodge the hit. Using his dagger, he slit the soldier’s throat, causing blood to splatter all over his face.

"Unless you know how to kill without blinking which you don’t, you need to return to your daughter alive! Now go!" Rowan pushed the dead soldier aside. Seeing that the Eridor soldiers were increasing in number, he decided to hold them off until Adric came back with reinforcements.

At the same time, two soldiers tried to hold Rowan down, stabbing his shoulder with force. But with a calm face, Rowan pushed his dagger down, grabbed it with his free hand, and stabbed it first into the stomach of one soldier before drawing it out. He then grabbed the second one by the throat, and with one snap, killed him too.

Louis felt his throat go dry as he watched Rowan unalive more than five soldiers as if it were nothing new. He staggered back toward the forest, his knees wobbling, but he knew he needed to be fast in order to save Rowan.

He ran with all his might, as fast as his weak knees could carry him, until he was back at the camp. Though he was panting and out of breath, he rushed inside Adric’s tent.

"They’re here..." Louis pointed, looking disoriented.

Malcolm stood up from his chair and rushed to Louis. "Who? Who is here?"

"The men! Eridor! They’re here!" Louis gasped for air, holding his stomach. His words were enough to alarm Adric, who quickly dashed out of his tent.

"Rowan..." Adric muttered. "Where are they? Show me!" Adric barked.

Louis’s trembling fingers pointed toward the riverside. "T-there, the riverside..."

Adric ran as fast as his legs could carry him, not minding the wound on his stomach. He knew how merciless enemy kingdoms were during war, and Rowan might be strong, but he wouldn’t be able to hold off a whole army alone.

When he got to the river, the Crown Prince of Eridor now held Rowan by his hair, with a knife close to his throat, the man raised his hand in the air.

Adric ran in just in time to see his friend covered in blood, the sharpness of the knife shined with the sun before getting down to Rowan’s face.

"No!"