The water in the river was still, unlike our thoughts. Aiden was still standing by my side staring into the forest. His curious eyes turned into a watchful gaze and then he stepped forward. Before I could ask him what was the matter, I heard a rustling sound. His eyes were now more focused and he put his ear forward. "Is someone there?", I whispered. "Shhh.", he shushed me and pulled me behind his back. It was an unconscious act but it still made my heart melt. I was peeking from behind his back when we saw a figure emerge from one bush and disappear into the other. I clutched his belt tightly in my hands. He motioned for the nearby guards to take their positions. "Stay behind me.", he whispered pulling his sword out. "Whoever it is, come out. We will not harm you!", he yelled. There was no response. Aiden stepped forward, and I held onto him. "Stay here.", he said removing my hands from around his torso. I was scared but I just promised to keep him safe. "No, I will come with you.", I said and pulled out my sword. "It is not safe. Listen to me and stay here.", he replied. "No, I promised to keep you safe. You can't go there alone.", I said. He sighed and put his hand forward. "what?", I asked confused. "Take my hand and don't let it go. Okay?", he said and I nodded taking his hand. He stepped into the river and I followed. "You still have time. Show yourself.", he shouted again. But still, there was no response. One of the soldiers had already gone to get back up. Within a minute the whole area was covered by our soldiers. Aiden took another step into the river followed by me. We had already crossed half the river when the bushes moved again. We froze in our spot and the archers raised their bows towards the forest, ready to defend us. Aiden was calm and confident, but I was scared. Suddenly the bushes started to move a lot faster and we took a step back. Aiden pushed me behind himself the second time and I peeked curiously. We all had our eyes focused on the bush when a voice came, "Is it already morning?". The question was followed by a yawn. We all looked behind to find Ethan was the one asking this question. He must have heard the commotion and crawled out of his tent. The guards bowed down in respect but the archers and Aiden stayed in their position. I saw Aiden do a head shake and an eye roll, clearly showing he had given up on his brother. Taking advantage of our distraction someone jumped out, or maybe I should say something jumped out of the bushes.
The sudden movement startled us making 3 of the archers shoot their arrows. Fortunately, the arrows missed the target. Because the target was no enemy to us. In front of us stood a handsome steed. It was beautiful and its stance showed it knew about its beauty. The soldiers relaxed and Aiden smiled at the beautiful horse. It had no saddle which meant it was a wild horse. Aiden took a careful step forward with one of his hand in the direction of the horse, showing he means no harm to it. The horse was cautious at first but seeing Aiden's friendly gesture it gave in. Once Aiden started to pet the horse he gestured to me to come as well. His gesture resulted in a lot of raised eyebrows. But I was too excited to notice all the confused eyes surrounding us. I happily stepped forward and the horse got cautious again and stepped back. "Stop.", Aiden said. I stood still looking at him confused. "You don't just run to a horse. You will scare it. First, put one of your hands forward and gently bring it near his muzzle.", Aiden instructed. I put one hand forward and placed it in front of the steed. "Now wait and let him accept the friendship.", Aiden said. I stood there patiently, smiling at the horse a few times. "Stop showing that goofy smile to him, or else he will reject you.", Aiden said laughing. At that very moment, the horse stepped forward touching my hand with his face. I smiled. "See he loved my goofy face!", I squeaked. Aiden just smiled. "Wait how do you know it is a he?", I asked. "Look he has a beautiful collar with a name.", he pointed to the golden collar. My eyes were bewitched by the beauty of the collar. There was a circular gold piece hanging which said, 'Wildfire'. "Wow such a beautiful name you have.", I said while petting him. Aiden signalled one of the guards to bring the leash and saddle. "What are you doing?", I asked. "Keeping the horse!", Aiden replied. "Why! It is a free soul. Let it go.", I was furious at his cruel decision. Aiden sighed and asked the guard to not bring anything. "No, you have to- wait you agreed?", I was about to scold him more but I realised he had already given in. He smiled and nodded. "How?", I was still in shock. Aiden agreed to something I said without arguing, I couldn't believe it. "It is fun to spark up some rumours about the young prince listening to Hyun, isn't it now!", he whispered in my ear sarcastically. That is when realisation dawned on me and I looked around to find a lot of eyes staring at us. some were confused, some already had plans of spreading nice and spicy rumours and others were smiling. I looked down embarrassed and went back to the shore, leaving Aiden standing alone with wildfire. People were already murmuring about what they saw. I ran into my tent already planning an act of nice revenge for our young prince.