The Unknown Princess

Hidden in Plain Sight

Suddenly, Kiyan appeared behind the unknown girl, and her back was turned to him. He grabbed the hilt of his sword but did not draw it out yet. "Halt.." He warned. "Step away from the horse. And do not make any sudden movements." He continued.

The horse was shocked as it raise its body while neighing and waving its legs in the air. Meanwhile, the woman didn't do anything or didn't even turn around, she have to keep her face hidden from the man. "You shouldn't do that young man...this is not your place..you don't have the ability to do anything..once you step inside.." the horse instead stand in front of the girl and scratch its feet on the ground, being so defensive all of a sudden

Kiyan detected a hint of magic in the air. "Is this your doing? Hypnotizing my mount?" He slowly grinned. "This should be interesting. So what kind of magical beast are you, to be able to do that?" He questioned and remained on his guard as he did not want to harm his horse.

Bartos finally gets to catch up with the prince. He notices the figure of a blurry light, the only thing he sees is a figure of cloudy smoke and not a woman unlike the prince "w..what is happening?" He pulls out his sword just to be cautious to protect the prince "What's with the smoke, your majesty"

The girl held her head up when another voice said about the smoke figure. She starts to realize something that the man behind her is the only person that can see her clearly in her human form "I believe we should end our meeting..the forest will lead you back to your kingdom...you shouldn't have gone further into the forest. luckily you bump into me and not my family..." She didn't say a word then when she transform into a white cat and start to run away

Kiyan was about to give chase but figured that the horses might just get agitated more. He turned towards Bartos with a slight frown. "You did not see her? She looked like a woman." He described the encounter as they headed back to the stream. "You didn't even hear a single word she said?"

Bartos raises his eyebrows with curiosity and weirdness. He just shook his head before she follow his prince and the horse suddenly turn back into normal as it follows them back to the stream "I didn't even get what it speaks..it's just blurry voice..and all I see is smoke..maybe we should just..ask the ministry of magic about it.."

Kiyan wondered about it for a moment. Perhaps only those trained more in the magical arts would be able to see her in that way. Perhaps that is why he could see her and Bartos couldn't. It was all quite interesting to him. "Very well. I'll handle the report on this situation myself. As for the rumors, it looks like it has some merit to it after all. But we will not act until we know more."

He wasn't going to tell Bartos that he was not actually going to file a report because this sort of rare adventure should be enjoyed while it can. Because at last, he finally had a reason to venture out into the woods. "Tonight..I'll uncover the secrets of this beast myself." He whispered quietly to himself as they made it back to the kingdom.

A white eagle was standing on the tree, watching the men leave the forest area. Looks like the territory is safe once again. The eagle starts to flap its wings and fly up to the top of the mountain. If any magical creatures could see there was a globe barrier that protect the top. The eagle flies through the barrier and it can see many forest animals staying there all together. It's a long story to explain how all forest animals decided to stay on top of the mountain and leave the human forest behind. It all started when a small baby was abandoned in the forest alone, by its parents, with no love, no mercy. Until the magical creatures put a curse on her. Good curse which makes her the leader of the forest. Like a goddess so she is in charge of guarding the forest and the animals. A reward for her life is given by the magical creatures. The eagle flies down to the land before it slowly turns into the same white girl..she sighs and smiles looking at the animals doing their usual work, eating, breeding, and taking care of their children "Looks like they are safe again.."

Kiyan entered the bustling city again with his bodyguard as they neared the castle. "You got your work cut out for you. Aren't there still some thieves hiding in the shadows that you need to help handle?" He asked him. "I'd volunteer to help out, but I got a report to make and some magic to study." He laughed.

Barton remembers he does have some thieves cases to handle. But he wishes he could help his prince with the magic stuff. And then again it's his job as the knight of the duke to care about people too. He sigh softly with a smile and bow his head "Very well my prince. I'll handle my case now. If you need anything you know where to find me" he whip his horse and made his way to the other route since he have something urgent to do.

Kiyan nodded and watched him ride off before guiding his own horse into the stable and dismounting as well. "I don't know what happened to you back there buddy..but I'll get to the bottom of it." He assured his horse before heading back to his castle for now.

His personal butler and maid immediately attended to him as he arrived and bowed to him. "Welcome back, my liege." Val the maid turned.

The butler Vince cleared his throat. "There is nothing to report at this time, sire. But how was your adventure in the woods?"

"The tavern rumors appear to have some worth to it. I'm going back there at night to investigate again." Kiyan told them as they walked back to his room.

"Shall I prepare some guards for you?" The butler asked.

"There is no need. I'll be alright. Just make sure my parents don't know." Kiyan smirked as he prepared for the night to come.