Yoongi
“So you’re saying Daegu and Busan are under threat?” I asked my father who simply nodded. Well *! I sighed as I closed my eyes, my mind rushing ahead to all the ways things could go wrong.
If Sehun managed to take over the two kingdoms, then it would be an easy sweep to get everything. Sehun had already managed to capture some of the smaller kingdoms, making his army stronger with each victory. I could only imagine how cruel Sehun would get and how much my people would suffer.
“What has the king of Busan said?” I asked. Father sighed as he leaned back against his chair. He was tapping against the table impatiently, or actually, nervously, as if he wasn’t too eager of telling me.
“Our exchanges have been very brief in case letters fell in the wrong hands,” father explained while I nodded. “He is of the same thought of us joining our two nations for a stronger army.”
“And how are we going to do that? I mean join the two nations. I doubt it’s going to be just some written agreement,” Taehyung asked. He had been awfully quiet throughout the whole conversation.
“We will be discussing it, however, I do believe a marriage might be proposed,” father said, looking at me. I gulped as I quickly recognised that my father meant my marriage to the princess.
I closed my eyes as her face came to mind. The last time I saw the princess of Daegu was when we were just children, during one of the summer visits. Those used to be quite fun, even though I never would have been caught dead admitting that. I wondered how she was now. What did she look like and what did she like? Was she still as feisty as back then?
“They will be arriving in the coming days. I just hope their trip will be safe,” father murmured quietly. It was clear he was concerned.
“What if we go meet them at the border? We can take a few of the most trusted people so we don’t attract a lot of attention,” I suggested.
“We can take Hoseok, maybe even Namjoon. They might be advisors to us, but they’re good fighters,” Taehyung agreed.
“That might not be a bad idea,” father said, nodding more to himself than us. I looked at Taehyung who looked almost excited.
The two of us stepped outside of father’s room as we walked next to each other. “How are you feeling about the possibility of getting married off to some princess?” Taehyung asked but I just shrugged. “Come on, you can’t be indifferent to that hyung!” Taehyung exclaimed.
“It doesn’t matter what I think of how I feel Taehyungie. If marrying her saves both the people of Daegu and the people of Busan so be it,” I said.
“Always such an obedient son,” Taehyung said but I rolled my eyes in response.
“It’s not a matter of being obedient Taehyung. We, as princes of Daegu have to always think of the people first. Our people are our responsibility,” I said.
“I know that, I just think that marriages are a stupid way to come to agreements,” Taehyung said, “I hope at least she’ll be nice to you.” I smiled, seeing his main concern was about me.
“I’ll be fine. I always am,” I said, trying to hide away my own insecurities and worries.
Everyone knew that with an arranged marriage, it was a gamble. It was a matter of luck. It could go so many ways, but father always said it could go in three ways; either you’ll be lucky and fall in love or you create a balance and a relationship out of respect for one another, or the worst, hate each other’s guts. I sighed, knowing it was not going to be easy but also knowing it had to be done, for the sake of my people.
“Do you want to spar with me little brother?” I asked as Taehyung nodded, offering me a smile that seemed to say he understood I needed a distraction.
Hyejin
I rode the horse, refusing to be in the carriage. I never quite liked the whole idea of the royal carriage, even if it was tradition. I looked at the carriage where mother and father where while soldiers rode on either side of them.
I rode behind the carriage, along with my two brothers. I had her bow and arrows attached to my back and my sword to my horse. I always preferred to be armed. It helped me feel safer. I looked at my two little brothers who were also armed with their own preferred weapons – daggers for Jungkook and a special spear for Jimin. It had the same length of a sword but had mechanism in it that let it expand into a spear.
“Are you okay?” Jimin asked from next to me. I gave a single nod, while he raised one eyebrow, almost as if to say he didn’t believe me. “Are you sure?” he insisted.
“Really noona? Because you look constipated,” Jungkook said, lowly.
“Yah when are you going to learn to respect your elders you dimwit?” I half yelled, slightly losing my composure. I saw the soldiers look at me before I gave a single nod, muttering to myself. Jungkook chuckled while I glared at him.
“Is it because you’re going to meet your very potential husband to be?” Jimin asked, but I shook my head. I knew he was trying to lighten the mood, they both were.
“No. I’ve come to terms with that, it’s just I have a bad feeling. I feel as if we’re being watched,” I said. Instantly, Jungkook’s and Jimin’s cocky smile was gone, replaced by a look of focus as they looked around without making it obvious.
“Stay next to us princess,” Jimin whispered while Jungkook looked around again. We continued on our way before we came to a stop near the lake. Mother and father stepped out of the carriage, inhaling the air.
“Mother, father, shouldn’t we keep going? I don’t think it’s safe,” I said but father shook his head.
“I know that darling but the soldiers need a break as well and so do you,” father replied.
“We’re sitting in a carriage comfortably but everyone else is riding their horses. We’ll just stop for a few minutes, let the horses drink a bit and we’ll continue sweetheart,” mother said. I nodded, giving in to their wishes.
They were right. The soldiers looked exhausted because although it wasn’t that long, the roads were difficult. Jimin and Jungkook came to stand next to me as I washed my face in the lake.
Suddenly, we heard shouting and I instantly stood up straighter. My eyes widened as I saw a group of bandits, coming out from behind the trees and rushing at us. The soldiers quickly took out their swords and I took mine out as well.
“Mother, father, get into the carriage,” Jimin shouted as the king and queen nodded, knowing they weren’t the best of fighters. Jimin took out his spear while Jungkook took out his daggers.
“Be careful,” I warned them as I rushed towards the carriage, sword in hand. A bandit came towards me, snarling.
“Out of the way princess,” he said but I just scoffed as I steadied my grip on the sword.
“I don’t think so,” I said, just as he came at me with his own sword. I quickly raised mine, blocking his attack. Our swords clanged together, making a lot of noise that was being drowned by his frustrated yells. I blocked each of his attacks, finally manging to do a cut on his arm.
He hissed and took a step back, his hand going to cover the cut. He looked at me, surprised which quickly turned into a smirk. “Not bad, for a girl,” he said as he lounged at me again.
I rolled my eyes as I bent backwards, the sword passing above my head. I came up from behind him, slashing at his back. “I’ll show you what a girl can do,” I said as I twirled around and slashed at his abdomen, sending him to the ground.
I looked over at Jimin and Jungkook who were busily fighting against two opponents each. Two of our soldiers had fallen and I felt that familiar ache whenever I saw one of our subjects dead when trying to protect us.
I heard footsteps from behind me and I turned just in time to block another attack. This man was bigger than the one before him and surprisingly faster. His attacks were more vicious and I was having a hard time blocking his attacks.
His attacks kept making me move backwards, until I tripped and fell. He snarled as he was ready to bring the sword down. Suddenly, almost as if out of nowhere, someone else came, his sword stopping the bandit’s sword, inches away from me.
The man, who was giving me his back quickly took charge of the fight. He moved, effortlessly and almost gracefully as he blocked the attacks and then went on the offence himself. For a moment, I felt frozen, watching the way he fought until the bandit fell to the ground and the man turned towards me.
I was sure a gasp had left my mouth seeing the man in front of me. He wasn’t the tallest man I’ve ever seen, probably the same height as Jimin. His skin was rather pale but his eyes were dark and deep. His long, blonde hair was neatly kept and his black clothes that were riddled with gold had a Daegu crest on it. He approached me and gave me a small, tight smile.
“Princess, are you okay?” he asked as he offered me his hand. I nodded as I took it and stood up. “Are you sure?” he asked again and I nodded.
“I am. Thank you. Are you…” I began, but paused, not sure whether I should assume or not. His smile grew by a small inch but nodded.
“I’m Prince Yoongi of Daegu,” he said, lowering his head a little. My eyes widened as I quickly bowed my head. Great – my husband-to-be’s first impression of me was seeing me laying on the ground, about to get killed. “You’re quite impressive with a sword,” he said, quickly making me raise my head in his direction.
“What?” I asked, not sure if I heard him right.
“We were on our way to come and meet you, knowing that there are lots of bandits around the border. We saw from a distance your convoy getting attacked but I saw you handling your own,” he said. I smiled a little, grateful that I didn’t make a complete fool of myself.
“Noona, are you okay?” I heard Jungkook asking as he ran in my direction. He was panting and there was blood on his face, but I knew it wasn’t his.
“I’m fine. What about you and Jimin?” I asked as he nodded.
“We’re fine, so are our parents,” he said before he turned to Prince Yoongi, almost as if realising that there was someone else.
“Jungkook, this is Prince Yoongi of Daegu. Prince Yoongi, this is my younger brother, Prince Jungkook of Busan,” I said, making the introductions. They both bowed to each other as a sign of respect.
“Thank you for coming to our aid and for protecting my sister,” Jungkook said. Yoongi looked at him and then at me, before he nodded. I looked around and sighed as I saw the damage that had been inflicted.
All the bandits were either dead or caught. Some of our soldiers had also been killed while Yoongi’s men were helping sort things out. I saw another man, who contrasted a lot from Yoongi’s appearance, yet had some familiarity to him, approaching, holding his own sword.
“Well, that’s one way to start an alliance,” he said with almost a smug smile, yet, I knew he wasn’t being an *. He wasn't being a menace or condescending, but it was almost as if he was finding humour in it. A little bit weird but understandable, given the situation.
“We should get going. More bandits might show up,” Yoongi urged. I nodded as I gripped my sword tighter.
“My brother is right. This area is known to be loved by bandits,” the other one said. Ah so that must be Prince Taehyung.
I gave a single nod as I walked back to my horse and quickly clambered on. I saw Yoongi and Taehyung both give a quizzical look, probably having expected me to ride in the carriage. Jimin and Jungkook both got on their horses as well as they came next to me.
“That’s one hell of a way to meet your future husband noona,” Jimin said, but I just grunted, not bothering to form a reply. The last thing I wanted was for him to think of me as some damsel in distress who constantly needed protection.
Jungkook sighed as he shook his head while we started moving, this time accompanied by Prince Yoongi and Prince Taehyung as well as some of their men.
