Verena moved quickly over the roofs of the city. The dark of the night hides her well. The clouds covered the moon, helping her mask as she moved over the tops of houses. Her black attire covered her entire body, camouflaging her into the night. She stopped at the peak of a tall building, crouching down as she surveyed the city before her.

It was quiet as the city slept. She had spent too long in this city but couldn't leave. No matter how hard she tried. In the day, the town of Presa was beautiful. Vibrant colors covered the houses and businesses. The people of Presa were happy. Verena had almost decided against stealing from them.

Verena was a professional rogue and thief. Her kingdom, Clio Crus, had hired her to steal Groi Blon's war plans. She had traveled to Groi Blon's capital, Presa, hoping to find the war plans. The two kingdoms had been at war with each other for decades, with thousands and thousands of people dying for a cause that no one knew about. No one remembers which kingdom started the war, but there was no doubt about the hate the two domains shared.

Verena had tried to ask the people who hired her about the war and the rumors about who started everything. No one would answer her. They just wanted her to do her job and not ask any questions. She complied and did her job, but when she came to Presa, something else had distracted her.

Verena watched her footing as she continued to move closer to her destination. The palace came into view. Verena was careful as she made her way to the right wing of the castle. She lowered herself into a large tree and settled against a limb. It was the same tree she had been sitting in every night for the past week. She quickly found the war plans and sent them to her contact to take the projects back to Clio Crus. She got comfortable against the tree as she waited for her new obsession to come into her view.

The Prince of Groi Blon, Koen, had recently caught her attention. She first saw him walking through the city. Verena had followed him in the shadows until he came to the palace. She followed him for the next couple of days after that, finding that his room resided in the castle's right wing. She would wait until night and sit in this tree, waiting for Koen to walk into his room.

Verena needed to improve at making friends. She didn't know how to make friends. She had always been a loner. It bothered her as a child, but she had gotten used to it quickly. She had to. Her parents had sold her to a family for money to purchase drugs and alcohol. The family she was sold to taught her to make a life of stealing. They needed someone to steal for them, and they saw her as the one to do it. The family was never friendly to her; her hands rubbed over her arms, which held the number of scars and burns from knives, whips, and fire that they would use against her whenever she tried to defy them. Her life had always been stuck to the shadows, only speaking when told to.

Verena knew that stalking the enemy prince was wrong of her. Her obsession would be looked at as defying her kingdom. She couldn't help herself. There was something about Koen that intrigued her. From watching him for the past week, she found he was the youngest of the three princes. Koen kept to himself most of the time, barely speaking.

Verena sat up straight as she watched Koen's door open, and he stepped through. Koen was tall with broad shoulders. He took care of himself if his body was any indication of that. His black hair was trimmed neatly but was still shaggy around his face. Koen started to undress, and Verena forced herself to look down. She wanted to look but knew she couldn't. She waited a couple of minutes before she looked back up.

Koen moved around the room, extinguishing the lights before crawling into his bed. Verena waited an hour until she felt it safe to proceed. She knew the guard's patterns and that they wouldn't be on this side of the palace for another thirty minutes. Tonight, she wanted to be bold. The window to his room was always open—a welcoming invitation for her to move into his room.

Verena looked around one last time before swiftly moving off the tree onto the palace's roof. She maneuvered onto Koen's balcony before slipping through the crack in his window. Taking a deep breath, she welcomed the clean smell. Where she had grown up, it was always musty and smelled of rotten meat. Verena quietly closed the window behind her. She wanted to tell him every night that keeping this window open was wrong and dangerous, but she never did. She couldn't visit him in his room if he closed the window.

Verena stayed in the shadows as she moved closer to his bed. A small smile formed behind her mask as she looked down at him. He looked peaceful as he slept. Verena clenched her fist and pulled them behind her back. She wanted to touch his face, brush his hair over his forehead but knew she couldn't touch him. Verena stood there watching him for a moment before turning away. She was about to leave when she felt a hand grasp her wrist.

"Finally caught you," Koen's deep timber voice cut through the silence.