Him.

Chapter I

Cathan. The place where those wretched men had taken Haya to be put to death, and apparently also the country her mother had been a princess of. The idea would have been much more startling if Erik wasn't worried beyond wit that she was to be murdered.

Luckily, he was a man of many resources and he was on her side. He'd slipped from the guards as if they weren't a problem to begin with, and then began to wander about Cathan. No one was truly too focused on him there, the light skinned foreigner just a nuisance to their justice, so he blended easily. Erik could hardly believe that she had gotten so far from him so quickly, seeing as they'd kept them separately and he was given much less care. But he bested the overbearing ring of fate. It was a very long journey, and he was surprised that she made it there alright when he had snuck over to the poorly watched castle to keep a watchful eye on her. Little did she know that Erik was doing every methodical thing he could do to get her away from there.

The whole situation was simply unjust and quite idiotic. Who out to death their own grandchild for the sake of some petty right to the thrown? Erik thought the idea insane, and he struggled to see that there was any resolve or correct things going on in the kingdom. There seemed to be a lot that was incorrectly run, and their currency was simply poor. He was not truly surprised, especially with how the country was run, that Cathan suffered as it did.

"There has to be a logical way to do this," Erik muttered in a room of the king's palace, one he had so very easily snuck into. Seriously, their protection was as easy to break as the managers had been at the opera.

He locked the doors from the inside, hiding in the shadows if necessary, and eventually came up with a plan to free the girl.

The girl he loved.

But with that knock of fate, the one that had gotten them into this situation in the first place, Erik knew that they shouldn't ever be together. He would save her and make sure she was alright, a debt he owed to Henry, but there was no way he was allowing her into his heart. Not any more.

Haya, he soon found out, was to be hung at noon, that very day. She'd met with the king, her grandfather, and was manhandled around several times, being punished for something that she never should have been punished for. Just because Haya's mother and grandmother had left the king, that didn't mean she was to blame. He'd overheard the conversations of the castle and been informed of her so-called wrongdoings. But monarchs are brutal. They care not about actual justice when in such a small and crossed country. There was no justice.

When noon came, Haya was walked out in their traditional clothing, which was a mix of dress and bathing suit. It was a long, red-brown fabric that dragged behind her. Erik watched as her face flushed red at the crowd watching as they imagined her death was the right thing to do. He noticed her reason for abashment instead of fear was the top of the dress which was practically string for the sleeves. They held the very low-neck over her breasts which were just barely staying in the dress. And to top off the poor girl's embarrassment, she had the rightful tiara on top of her beautiful curls... But Erik didn't think she looked beautiful at all.

There was no beauty in a woman about to be put to death for something like what Haya was. No, her eyes were beautiful, her skin even more, but she wasn't beautiful being showcased like that. Erik just wanted her in his arms, and as she was placed in the noose, he decided it was high-time for that.

With agile movements, Erik was at the edge of the crowd.

"Stop!" He yelled and his heart fluttered when Haya's eyes locked with his own.

In that moment she was beautiful. Just her eyes was all he could see, and that was the moment Erik knew that he would have to leave her after rescuing her, there was no doubt any longer. He couldn't harm such a beautiful creature with his hands and his skin. Erik was in no shape or form... or age to be loving and making love to such a young and vibrant sole. Her tanned skin reminded him of Nadir's, but her decent was obviously like that of the people around her. She was intoxicating, but right now she needed to be saved... and once that happened, he needed to save her from himself.