It was still quite early in the morning to be open for business, however, the elderly couple that owned the vast orchard was more than happy to let the queen and her son partake from their crop. They had said that the group could take whatever they wanted free of charge, but Gala insisted on paying their fee and then some for the inconvenience.

Gala, Tityra, and Rhys walked down the plush and abundant grove, the two men following her majesty as she made her way wistfully past the trees. She looked a bit more carefree as her eyes searched for the elusive fruit she wanted like she was a child once more and life was simpler. Behind her, Tityra held onto a couple of baskets to hold their fruit, and beside him walked Rhys with his notebook in hand.

He had made it a habit to take it everywhere. To make a bad situation a fraction better, Rhys had tried to turn this into a learning opportunity. Dutifully he documented things he hadn’t seen before in an effort to educate himself on the world he’d barely seen before. If he was going to be forced into Kingship he was going into it as educated about his country and the lands around it as he could be. And maybe it was also an excuse to draw some particularly odd fauna or an animal he’d never seen before but it was mostly for the former reason. At least that is what he kept telling himself.

 Gala had slowed down her pace, noticing her son. How he looked a little bit longer at things that caught his attention as they passed; how his fingers fidgeted with the pages of his notebook like they were itching to do something. Turning on her heel she faced him.

“You know, I’m sure Tityra will be able to help me just fine by himself.” 

The words hung in the air and her son looked blankly at her.

“I don’t mind helping.”

“Why don't you go fill up some of those pages, dear.” 

Putting a hand on his shoulder she smiled at him and then gently shooed him away. As they walked away from him she spoke up again to the blonde.

“Sometimes boys just need some alone time, don’t you think?”

“He’s been attached to your hip most of the trip. It wouldn’t hurt.”

Rhys scribbled in his notebook as he aimlessly walked through the grove. Anything that didn’t look familiar to him he jotted down and he made a mental note to visit the library in Aramore to find out more information on the things he recorded. He was in the middle of shading the details of a piece of unknown fruit when he spotted an eerie blue light out of his peripheral vision. A glimpse of the unknown light could be seen before it dashed past a group of trees, out of sight. Curiosity gripped at him. Glancing back the way he came for just a moment, he followed the light.

The damn light kept bouncing away deeper and deeper into the grove until the fruit trees started to fade into a dense thicket that led into an even larger forest. Rhys had almost captured it more than once, but it was fast. He came to a full stop now, having lost sight of the unknown light. His breath came out ragged, now realizing he had been foolishly running after it this whole time. Taking in his surroundings, he cursed to himself that he didn’t know where he was. The trees were not as thick as they were before but they were still plentiful. They stood stories taller than Rhys himself did and the morning sun barely made its way between the dense roof of leaves above.

A splash alerted him, and he was made aware of a small pond nearby. As he approached it he saw the source of the noise and immediately hid behind a patch of thorn bushes. Lifting up to look again, he saw an alabaster, elk-like creature drinking at the edge of the water. Its appearance was a little blurry like it could disappear at any moment, emphasized by the blue glow that surrounded it. Rhys had never seen a creature quite like it.

 As it continued to lap at the shifting waters, Rhys slowly opened his notebook and began sketching out the scene laid out before him. Entranced by the creature's beautiful appearance he took extra care to put more detail in the rudimentary sketch than he usually would. His eyes shifted back and forth trying to take in every detail before it moved again. 

Suddenly an arrow flew from up above. 

Aimed straight at the creature, it hit the ground where it once stood; a cloud of mist left in its wake. Immediately Rhys’ hand flew to his scabbard attached to his hip, ready to take action if needed. There was a long second of silence before the creature appeared again in a cloud of mist on the other side of the pond, unharmed and seemingly unbothered.

 Then a second arrow came and just as before it missed.

Rhys watched on, confused as the creature appeared and disappeared after every shot; floating higher and higher off the ground after every attempt. Whoever it was shooting jumped from tree branch to tree branch from up above to evade the sight of its prey.

At first, it seemed like the archer was shooting blindly, maybe just aiming for the animal itself, but it became evident that the shots were carefully calculated and the missed shots had a purpose. Another shot was made and the creature disappeared as it had done before, but after the arrow hit the ground the archer leaped from his perch in the treetop. He swiveled himself in the air aiming the large bow straight up at nothing, then just as he released his arrow the creature appeared in front of him.

Hit smack dab between its glowing eyes, its blue light intensified tenfold until it poofed away for good into a fine mist. Its opalescent antlers fell to the ground and the archer gracefully plunged into the stillness of the pond.

Rhys’ mouth was agape during the whole exchange, confused yet astounded at what he had seen. He scanned the surface of the water for any sign that the archer was going to emerge. After a long moment, the man came up for air. Catching his footing he arose out of the water, standing with just his bottom half submerged. Water dripped from his wet raven hair that flowed down his bare tanned chest like water. Said chest looked like it was chiseled from stone but gave way to its softness as it rose up and down as he tried to catch his breath. Every one of his muscles flexed and shifted as the man made his way towards the water's edge; the bow still gripped in his hand.

He made his way out of the water and to the antlers that lay just beyond it. Swiping them up from the ground he stored them in an empty bag that was tied around his waist, after emptying the water that had gathered in it. The man inspected his bow, holding it out in front of him and shifting it in the light. Plopping on the grass he began to fiddle with it, mumbling to himself.

The prince was utterly enraptured with the sight before him and out of the heat of the moment, he picked up his notebook from where it lay beside him and hurriedly flipped to the first empty page he could find. He sketched rapidly before his subject matter could move again. Rhys leaned in closer and closer to get a better look, too lost in the moment to remember he had hidden behind thorn bushes.

Leaning too far the prince lost his balance and tumbled forward over the bushes, falling straight onto his face and thorns tearing up his clothes.

“Shit!” he exclaimed.

Startled, the archer instinctively crouched on his knees from where he was and pointed an arrow straight for Rhys. His eyes shimmered in the morning sun like two golden ingots. Wet locks framed his serious features, clinging to his skin. He looked like a polished statue, a work of art, the only thing marring his skin being scars from numerous battles. And all Rhys could do was stare at him. He should be doing something, the man had a clear shot to shoot him between the eyes just like that creature. But it was like he was frozen in place.