There were times where Nico would laugh and say something like, "And yeah, I'm Apollo." But his tongue got stuck and he stared at the princess.

"I'll take you home, come on." She held out her hand and Nico grabbed it, surprised the warmth of her touch.

"You're the princess?"

She nodded, "You've never seen me?"

"My parents did."

"Do your parents work in the rice fields?" Nice nodded. "We have an overload of rice."

Tuyet cracked a smile as Nico climbed onto Darkmoon. "You can ride too, your majesty."

"No need to call me your majesty or anything. Tuyet is fine." She grabbed his hand and jumped on behind him, almost falling, shocked from the ice coldness of his hand. Darkmoon began to trot toward Nico's house and Tuyet looked around the thick jungle in awe. Nico turned and looked at the princess. She looked vaguely familiar. Like he'd seen her before. She held her hand out and a monkey jumped on, grinning madly at her.

"Cute." She murmured, stroking the monkey's fur.

"You've never been out to the jungle this far, have you?" Nico asked as Darkmoon slowed down. Tuyet shook her head.

"My dad wants to protect me. I have no idea why though. He says someone wants to kill me, but I think it's pretty cliché." She snorted. The horse stopped in front of a house of bamboo and other natural materials. Nico's mother, Huong was standing by the door looking extremely worried.

"Nico! Where were you?"

"Sorry mom. I was taking Darkmoon out for a ride." He turned and smiled at the princess.

"Nico Pham."

"Nico meeting you, Nico." She hopped off the horse and bowed at Huong.

"Same time same place?" Nico nodded. With that, she backed off into the trees and there was a flash of orange, like fire. Nico dropped his quiver and raced to the grove where Tuyet just stood and saw nothing, nobody. No sign of fire.

Tuyet dropped into her bedroom in a wave of fire, coughing from the ash that followed. She looked around, and sighed in relief; nobody noticed she was gone.

"Where were you?" Her father stepped out into the light.

"Uh…"

"Don't lie Tuyet. Were you in the jungle?" Tuyet looked down, ashamed.

"How many times have I told you! Don't go out there! There are people out there who would want to kill you and take the throne!" He sighed. "Did you meet anyone out there?"

"Yes."

Quang turned his eyes wide. "Who?"

"Nico Pham. A village boy. His parents work in the rice fields."

His blood turned cold. "Nico Pham?" Tuyet nodded.

"I want you to resume your daily schedule. Please, Tuyet, don't ever leave the palace again."

"Yes Father." The kind swept out of the room and decided to visit the Pham family.

It was late at night when everyone retired to their beds, getting ready for a full day of work tomorrow. King Quang raced through the village and stopped at a hut near the river. A horse with dark eyes whinnied as he went past and knocked on the front door. It opened and Huong and Huy Pham stood at the door.

"My king!" They knelt, bowing low to him. "Do you need something?" The king nodded.

"Have you told Nico about the betrothal yet?" The couple shook their head, inviting Quang inside for a sip of jasmine tea. He sipped at the white ceramic cup, warm spices filling his stomach.

"Don't. I have a betrothal set up for my daughter. I don't want Tuyet to find out about anything." The couple nodded, not knowing that Bianca and Nico were at the corner, listening to every word the king spoke.