CHAPTER FIVE: The Hunt And The Smirk

By dawn, the palace was in chaos. Torches still flickered in the corridors as guards scoured every hall, room, and secret passage. Sir Garrick, the captain of the guard, moved briskly through the eastern wing, his expression grim.

“Have you found her?” a junior officer asked, breathless from running.

“No,” Garrick replied, his voice tight. “The princess has vanished as if she were never here. Search the gardens again. Check the passages. Every inch.”

Meanwhile, Meliora sat atop a riverbank, her skirts damp from the morning dew. Selene perched beside her, brushing back tangled hair. They were safe, for the moment, yet Meliora’s mind refused to rest. She had escaped the palace, yes, but the thought of her arranged marriag, and the rumors of the man she was to wed, gnawed at her like a persistent shadow.

And then, as if fate itself were mocking her, she felt the unmistakable presence behind her.

“You made it out alive,” said the voice she had both feared and been drawn to all night.

Meliora spun, dagger at the ready, but she stopped short. The man was standing there, arms crossed, eyes dark and amused. Sunlight gleamed off his dark hair and sharp features, and for a moment, she was caught between anger, relief, and an unnameable pull.

“You…” she began, her voice trembling. “How did you—”

“I told you I would watch,” he interrupted smoothly. “I find courage like yours… entertaining.”

Meliora narrowed her eyes. “Why do you care? Who are you?”

He smirked, his gaze unreadable. “Curiosity, mostly. And perhaps because I find it… amusing to see someone challenge the night and live to tell the tale.”

Before she could respond, a distant clamor echoed from the palace. The guards were searching, and the sound reminded her of the consequences she had narrowly avoided.

“You should return,” he said, his voice softer now, almost protective. “Sooner or later, they will find you.”

Meliora stiffened. “Return? To what? To my wedding? To him?”

He tilted his head, his eyes glinting. “Perhaps. Or perhaps to something… more interesting.”

Her heart raced at the implication, though she could not place why. Something about him—the calm authority, the dark amusement, the way he seemed to know more than he revealed, made her pulse quicken in a way no ordinary man could.

Hours later, back at the palace, the guards returned to Kaelen with no success. Sir Garrick, his patience thinning, reported, “Your Majesty, we searched everywhere. The princess is not to be found.”

Kaelen’s lips curved into a slow, dangerous smile. “Is that so?” His eyes glimmered with amusement and something darker, something unreadable. “Interesting.”

Sir Garrick hesitated, noticing the faint edge of satisfaction in the king’s expression. “But… Your Majesty… she—”

Kaelen merely shook his head, letting the words trail into silence. The princess had been found, and not by the guards. She had been in his presence all along, though she did not know it yet.

And somewhere, in the quiet of the palace, Kaelen allowed himself a rare thought: this princess, bold and clever, might just be the most dangerous, and the most fascinating, thing he had ever encountered.

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