Philip rode all night and stopped at a creek when the sun rose. His horse was out of breath and tired, but Philip wanted to keep going. He wanted to get to his father and save him as soon as possible. He looked to the sky and admired how the pastel colors stretched across the orange sky. It was gorgeous and the color reminded him of Adelaide. The orange was like her hair. The other vibrant colors perfectly represented her personality, bright and fierce.

Once his horse had his fill, Philip mounted and went to a slow trot. The falls were over the two hills in the distance. He figured he would get there in three hours.

"I hope you are still there, Father."

--Flash back--

"How big is our kingdom, Father?" Philip bounced on his father's lap and looked into his eyes.

"Well, son, do you see those two mountain peaks in the horizon?" His father pointed to the peaks and smiled. "That is the southern point of our kingdom. The north," He turned around and pointed. "goes to the Hills of Dungaren. On the east and west are the Aloden and Feorn Mountains. That is how big our kingdom is."

Philip's eyes grew big and his mouth formed an O. "Our kingdom is huge!" He jumped out of his father's lap and laid on the grassy hill. "Will I rule the kingdom one day, Father?"

"You will, my son. One day, Aragoth will be yours and you will be king of this glorious land. I know you will be a fine king one day." 

"Like you, Father?"

Philip's father smiled and brushed a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "Yes, like me. I know you will lead our kingdom well."

Philip jumped up and grabbed at his father's hand. "Can we go riding, Father? Oh please, Father!"

"Maybe tomorrow, my son. Today you have lessons. Tomorrow we will take the day off and go riding wherever you want. I will have Cook prepare a meal for us."

Philip squealed with delight and hugged his father's legs. "Thank you, Father! Thank you!"

The king picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder and ran towards the castle. "It's time for your lessons! You must learn and then you will become wise."

Philip shrieked and clung to his father's shirt. He was so excited to rule the kingdom. He would be ruler and could eat all the sweets he wanted and no one could scold him for it!

When they got back to the castle, the king bent and placed Philip on the ground. "Off you go now! Go be a good boy and learn! Your education is vital. Do not waste it." With a kiss on the head, the king sent Philip off to the library and watched as his boy, his own image, ran with mirth. "One day you will be a fine king, Philip. One day you will rule and lead this land into prosperity."

---

Philip stopped his horse when he reached the top of the hill and eyed the land below him. The falls crashed into the large boulders with a mighty whoosh and the water's spray created misty rainbows in the sunlight.

He spotted a cave to the side of the falls and eyed it closely. Nothing seemed to move around it and no light came from it. There were no signs of the ogres.

With a deep breath, he slowly made his way down the hill, careful to watch for an ambush. When he made it to the bottom, he tied his horse to a strong tree and withdrew his sword. He crept towards the falls and walked along the rock ledge behind the water fall. The cave lay just beyond and he got closer to it, inch by inch.

He made it to the opening of the cave and peeked around to see inside. There was nothing inside. Philip huffed and stepped inside. He felt the anger boil inside of him and he tossed his sword to the ground with a yell. It echoed around him and caused a few disgruntled bats to fly out from their perches. He knelt to the ground and smashed his palms to his face.

A scraping noise came from the corner in the darkness and Philip scrambled to get to his sword. His breathing became quick and erratic and he crouched behind a boulder to take cover. A muffled groan and more scraping came from the darkness and Philip stood slowly.

As he got closer, he saw a lump in the farthest part of the darkness. The lump moved and Philip pointed his sword at it. He poked it and it turned over. Two big brown eyes stared back at him and he dropped his sword in shock.

"Father?" Philip rushed to his side and pulled at the material covering him.

His father lay on the ground, dirty and frail looking. He looked at Philip and smiled. "My son..." His eyes closed and he slumped to the ground again.

"No! Father!"

A/N:

Hey guys! So I finally updated Gold Heart..took me long enough. I left it at a bad part and the update kinda sucks, so sorry. I kind of have a hard time writing for Philip's POV so that is why the chapters with him aren't so great. I hope you liked it *shrug*

I am going to try to have updates twice a week because I want to get this as far as I can before I get to the fall and start on Love Again. So hopefully I can get this to where I want it. When Love Again comes out, I will have most of my focus on that and Gold Heart updates will probably get pushed back to once a week or every two weeks.

Thank you if you read, vote, comment, add, follow, and all that jazz! You guys are totally amazing!

-Red xx