Victory Rising
It's not as easy as it seems to be a prince, especially when it seems impossible to meet expectations. As the second prince, young Donavin is expected to someday become the commander of the army like his great uncle who happens to hate him. Maybe it's because he would rather hold a book than a sword or that he's more likely to trip than to land a hit in training. Either way, the ability to protect his jerk of an older brother and an entire country seems utterly impossible. Frustrated, he runs away to be alone, only to be immediately found by a peasant girl who is also having a bad day.
It's not easy being a foreigner in a new country especially when you can't talk to anyone. Vera looks a little too much like the enemy, and her father has strange rules, one of which is no talking outside the home. It seems impossible to make friends when you can't talk to anyone. It doesn't help that people think she's stupid because she is still learning the basics of a new language while others are reading and writing. Frustrated that she can't be herself or show her skills she runs away, so she can just be herself for a while when she runs into someone else trying to hide from the world and decides right there and then that they should be friends.
Years pass and their friendship has helped both of them grow into stronger people, their situations in life have changed but more changes are on the way, and secrets will get revealed leading to adventures and futures neither could have imagined.