@icxnhxndleit - wishlist starter for helena
Running away from his responsibilities wasn't ENTIRELY uncommon for Tomas. He had done it more than a few times in his short life and no one has been the wiser, mostly because he was the 2nd son. His brother Juan, well he was the lucky one to get the throne so everything he did was scrutinized.
It was during a visit to his aunt in France that the news of Juan's untimely demise reached them, making Tomas the new heir to the throne, which meant he had to cut his trip short and return home at once, only to be bethroted to some princess or other, much like his aunt had been.
Tomas didn't want that life, any of it. Maybe if he ran away his youngest sibling would take over, which really meant his mother would take over in the event of his father's passing. It wasn't as bad as it sounded---or at least he wanted to believe it was allright to abandon his family and responsibilities and at night he snuck out of the castle, stealing some clothes from the locals. He was clearly a foreigner and it wasn't long until he came across a group of bandits but instead of killing him and leaving him for dead hw somehow convinced them to join.
He had been with them for a few months when they came across a young woman who seemed to be hidig something--she looked far too pretty to be anything other than a courtier.