Jun didn’t know how much time had passed since things stopped going his way. First, his food supplies were stolen while he was asleep and then his horse ran away when he ran into some wolves.

He had to constantly remind himself why on earth he was running through the woods in the first place. It was all to save the princess and get a big reward.

Nobody had ever seen the princess since the king used to keep her from the public eye since birth. Until last year, when she was kidnapped and locked away in a highly secured tower in the woods, nobody ever gave her much thought at all.

Jun wasn’t a knight or anything like that. He was just a simple stable boy at the royal court. But he figured that if he saved the princess, he might be able to become more than that. Maybe he’d even be forgiven for 'borrowing' one of the royal horses – and losing it.

The sun was starting to set. Had he really spent most of the day walking? He should find a cave quickly. The woods weren’t safe at night.

Tomorrow he should look for food. For once today, luck seemed to be on his side as he found a cave hidden behind three big trees. He checked if it was occupied. When he was sure that it wasn’t he crawled inside and leaned against the wall, trying to find a comfortable sleeping position.

~

“ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU STILL HAVEN’T FOUND THE FILTHY RAT THAT STOLE ONE OF MY MOST PRECIOUS HORSES?” the king yelled, making the small troop of knights shrink back. “N-no your highness. So far we haven’t had any lu-“ “I’M LOSING PATIENCE HERE! IF YOU FOOLS ARE UNSUITABLE FOR THE JOB I WILL HAVE YOU REPLACED!” the monarch interrupted.

Everyone in the room knew that by ‘replaced’ the king meant ‘thrown into the dungeons for a lifetime’. “We’ll find him, your majesty. We’re going to search every last bit of the forest!” the troop’s leader said, his voice full of panic.

The king glared down at them from his throne for a few seconds before dismissing the troop with a wave of his hand. He didn’t really care that much about the horse but he couldn’t stand thieves. That person needed to be punished for daring to touch his property.