H a l l o w [Eight | Beta]
Title: h a l l o w [eight| beta]
Pairing: Chapter focus: Minho/Jinki, (mentions of): Jongyun/Kibum, Sehun/Tao
Rating: R/NC-17 ( note: see bolded for each chapter)
Words: 19,262
Summary: The Blood Moon Festival, the catalyst brought on by tragedy to usher in calamity, wants a new bonded pair...
A:N: The Character guide was updated on the last update. Go there if you need a refresher!
A|N: Oh, more and more worldbuilding. Prae and the surrounding territories are big! That also includes..duh-duh-duh-daaaaaa! New creatures and people! Yay! I can see the end of the tunnel folks. Long tunnel but...still. Light.
____________________________
“You should be resting.”
Taeyeon peeked open an eye and rolled it. “I’ve been sleep for weeks. How much more rest can I get?” She watched as her twin brother came closer, pulling up a chair and setting it beside her bed. The room still smelled strongly of burnt rosemary and sage-something Taeyeon recognized as mage magic. She recognized the smell and she recognized the procedure. Taemin smelled of it stronger, though.
“You helped Mama with the unsealing didn’t you?”
“Had to! You were draining me dry,” Taemin said, his voice a touch playful. He leaned forward onto her bed and cradled his head in his hands. “How do you feel?”
“I’m not tired. I’m more…confused. It’s hard telling what’s real and what’s not right now. Images keep fluttering around my head and they are disjointed. If I can manage to put them together I think they’ll go away. ”
“Well, I can tell you what’s real, although you might not like some of it.”
“Ah, what I’ve missed in dream land.” Taeyeon sniffed. “Come on with it.”
“Let’s see. Your brother is good and mated now. Happily, even. Surprise there, huh?”
“With that tall idiot, huh? I knew it was going to work out-he had that look in his eyes. Disgustingly sweet and completely smitten.”
“Minho’s pregnant.”
“I’m not surprised. How bad is Jinki freaking out?”
Taemin chuckled. “He’s taking it pretty well. Mom isn’t. She might be more overprotective than Jinki is. Ah, that reminds me. Minho’s mother is alive…and in the other room. She trumps Mom on the overprotective front. I’m sure she’s planning on skinning Kibum alive, so if you have anything you want to say, you might want to do it quickly.”
At the mention of Kibum’s name, Taeyeon’s face fell. “He’s…”
Taemin took her hand into his. “You already know the answer to that, Tae…”
Taeyeon grunted. “I always knew that would happen,” she admitted, sighing. “I don’t know why I held on for so long,” she said, her voice raw with disappointment.
“Jongin is still available.”
With what little strength she had, she slapper her brother across his arm. “I wake up out of a coma and you’re still sprouting nonsense.”
“That’s my job. To annoy you with nonsense,” he said cheekily.
Taeyeon made to hit him again but the sound of her stomach growling stopped her.
“They said if you were healing correctly, your hunger would come back quickly, and by the sounds of it, furiously,” Taemin said, his face squinted in mock disgust. “You think you’ll be fine here till I get back?”
“I’m a grown woman... of course I’ll be okay.”
“Good. I’m sending Jackson in just in case. He’s your guard at the door until you are well enough to travel back to your suite.”
“Whatever, just get me some damn food.”
Taemin rolled his eyes, “Right away, Princess.”
As he walked out, another shifter walked in. Taeyeon sniffed. It was always the first thing she did when she met someone new, it wasn’t an uncommon practice. He was a wolf shifter, Beta, but a rare breed of wolf than what was normally found in Prae. His wolf smelled familiar in essence. She took one look at his tanned skinned and understood.
“You’re Toleran,” she stated. “But not a mage.”
The shifter paused as he shut the door behind him, his brow lifted. “How did you know?”
Taeyeon grinned. “I’m really good at the mage thing. Why are you in Prae? They tend to only send tributes. Are you a tribute?” She glanced him up and down. He had a solid figure, broad shoulders and narrow hips; one that looked like it was honed by hard work and sparring. Stubble lined his square chin and his face looked like it was easy to smile. He proved it by breaking out into a grin.
“No,” Jackson laughed. “I’m not a tribute. I’m a part of your mother’s entourage. I’ve been her bodyguard for the last few years,” he glanced up at her, then back down quickly. “You look like her.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked, her brow raised.
“It’s good,” he said resolutely. “Your mother talks about you a lot, you and Taemin and Jinki. I feel as if I’ve known you my entire life. She’s missed you, so I’m glad she finally found her way back to you all. When she heard you were sick, the floor almost caught on fire with her pacing. It would have taken an army to keep her away.”
“I never wanted her to come back,” Taeyeon said softly. Jackson tilted his head in confusion, his brows furrowed deep, his lips pulled down at the corners and she hurried to correct herself-she didn’t know why, but she felt the need to. “Not that I didn’t miss my mother but…our father was not good to her. If she came back, then she was in a definitive place, a known place, somewhere he could get to her, exile or not. I just wanted her safe,” she finished quietly.
Jackson walked up to her bedside and kneeled down until they were eye to eye. “Your mother is safer now than she ever was before. I promise to protect her with my last breath.”
Taeyeon cocked a brow at his passionate speech. “What’s your deal? You her son or something?”
His easy smile returned as he stood his full height again. “No, no. She was just really good to me. I was born in The Den-you were born away from Toleran, so you don’t know. It’s…pretty bad in there. When we went to rescue Jungsoo I noticed nothing had changed and it hit me hard. Your mother, she hired me just because I asked, desperately, for help. I don’t even think she really needed the protection but she said my energy reminded her of Jinki. She saved my life.”
“It’s that bad?”
Jackson looked away and out of the solitary window in Taeyeon’s healing room. “Orphans. Part of the Old Way says something really vague about the fate of orphans. Prophecy layering….I was a candidate.”
Something flashed across Taeyeon’s mind, so fast and so hard, it hurt. She screwed her eyes shut as the vision took ahold.
When it ended, she gasped, her hand coming to her neck. Was that real? Was that real? She looked around the room, the edges of reality coming back into focus.
Jackson was at her side in a flash. “Lady Taeyeon, are you okay?” He pulled her hands from her neck and the tips of her fingers were blue. “I-I’m going to get Master Taemin. I’ll-I’ll-“
“No,” she gasped. “No! Take me to Jinki,” Taeyeon demanded as she began to push the covers back. Her garment was thin and Jackson turned his head away. He grabbed a thick robe off a hook off the wall and pushed it towards her. Taeyeon accepted it with a quiet thank you.
Together, they rushed down the hall but after Taeyeon stumbled for the third time, her legs weak and wobbly from not using them for weeks, Jackson picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. They came to the door of the healer alcove and Jackson had a guard open the door. He grimaced as he looked outside.
“Lady Taeyeon, it’s raining.”
Taeyeon inhaled and set her shoulders. “It’ll be fine, let’s go.”
Jinki sighed deeply. Kibum and Danye were still arguing and battle lines had been drawn in the Beam Room. Jonghyun backed his mate, while Nichkhun and Yifan followed in a show of solidarity. Victoria and Tiffany stayed out of it. Iseul naturally backed up her best friend, while Xiah and Julien tried to stay out of it.
The issue, still thirty minutes after it started?
“I already explained to you a thousand, you brazen idiot, I had no choice!”
Danye leaving her family.
“I don’t care,” Kibum said, sitting down and crossing his hands over his chest. “You have no idea what he went through because he didn’t have any family around him. How your psychotic brothers hunted him down like a wild animal. He should have had someone there for him!”
All the anger left Danye’s face. “He did, you dummy. He had you! He had Jungsoo and Julien and that entire village. He didn’t need me!”
“We were pale substitutes for a real mother,” Julien said, his first offering towards the argument. “However, she’s right, Kibum. He wasn’t alone. You have to understand why she did what she did. Trust me; I didn’t understand for years either, you know that, but now I do.”
“Great. YOU explain it to Minho, then. Explain to, not the grown up Minho, but the young man-a boy, really-who lost his entire family in one night and thought he had no one left. Explain how his mother was tra-la-la’ing in Toleran while Minho took on the Blue Crescents year after year.” Kibum looked away, his jaw hard and his eyes angry. “Because I’m not.”
“I had no reason to think they would be after him, Kibum. I thought I’d removed that threat,” Danye offered quietly, pitifully.
“Checking in on him every once in a while would have fixed you “thinking”, wouldn’t it?”
“Kibum,” Iseul offered. “Don’t you think you’re being a little hard on her?”
Kibum rolled his eyes.” A little hard on her? Oh, the chief of “the mothers who abandon their children” clan has spoken. Let me try and be nicer, then.”
Iseul’s anger flared, her mage powers pulsing as she stared at Kibum in shock. Xiah, stood, outraged, sputtering, while Jinki rubbed the bridge of his nose. “High Steward, you’ve gone too far!”
He didn’t want to yell or command them to shut the fuck up-Kibum’s anger came from his loyalty for Minho and Danye’s from guilt but if he let them continue at this, hacking away at each other’s feelings, they’d never get anywhere. Minho had told him something about a gentle touch before sharp claws but he was losing his fucking patience.
“Kibum,” Jinki tried, “Xiah is right. You’ve over stepped your bounds.
“I haven’t said anything that isn’t true,” Kibum rejoined.
“Kibum,” Jinki tried again.
“You little shit,” Kahi hissed.
He sighed. “Kahi, please,” Jinki said.
“How dare you talk to my mate that way?!” Jonghyun shouted, glaring at the Durkhai bodyguard.
“Jonghyun…control yourself,” Jinki directed to his First Captain.
“Never mind her! How dare you let your mate talk to my mate that way?!” Xiah bellowed.
Okay, obviously Minho’s approach wasn’t going to work. “EVERYONE! SIT DOWN! SHUT UP!”
His exclamation brought the room to an immediate halt. Good! Good I hope they don’t utter another word! “This is the war council room where we are supposed to discussing strategies for a war looming over our heads and you are letting your personal feelings interrupt it!” He turned to Kibum. “She left, she’s back, deal with it.” He turned to Danye. “You’ll have to tell Minho yourself, because none of us are going to. Deal with it.” He turned to Xiah, who put a hand up while the other rubbed his temples.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Deal with it. I got it.”
Satisfied with Xiah’s answer, he took his seat. “Now,” he huffed, “can we get back to the-“
The door burst open before Jinki could finish his sentence. Everyone in the Beam Room whipped around to see who it was. Iseul was out of her seat the fastest, followed by Xiah and Kahi. Jinki stood, confused.
The young man he’d recognized from his mother’s entourage was standing at the door, soaking wet, Taeyeon shivering and cold in his arms.
“Jackson,” Kahi said, staring at him from over Iseul’s shoulder. “What is the meaning of this?”
“She-she,” he said, his teeth clattering.
“She what, Jackson?” Iseul yelled, obviously upset at the condition of her daughter. “What were you thinking? She just woke up from a coma!”
“Don’t yell at him, Mother, please,” she pleaded. ”I had a vision!” Taeyeon yelled out. “Well, more of I remembered something and I demanded he bring me here.”
Xiah shrugged off his outer coat and slung it over Taeyeon’s shoulders before he directed the both of them to the large fire behind Jinki and Minho’s seats. “Warm up, first. Jackson, take off that wet cloak.”
Taeyeon took a seat by the fireplace, Xiah’s coat around her warming her up and bringing color back to her face. Jackson took a seat next to her, and immediately, as if on instinct, grabbed her hands and began rubbing them between his hands. Jinki raised a brow at the action but said nothing.
“Jackson was keeping me company while Taemin went to get me something to eat.”
Iseul’s face brightened. “Your appetite is back?” she said hopefully.
Taeyeon nodded but forged ahead. “He’s Toleran, so he was discussing back home and how they treated the orphans and-“she paused and shook her head. “The point is he spoke of prophecy layering.”
Danye scoffed. “Prophecy layering is nearly impossible to do. The prophecies become intermingled and they collapse, often sending the caster and the subject into unbreakable comas. They become trapped in their visions.”
“That’s true,” Taeyeon said looking down, her teeth still clattering,
“Not quite,” Iseul murmured, her finger on her chin as she thought, “That happens with non-mages. Most cases we hear are of the orphans in The Den because mage-blood children would be trained to use it, not experimented on. Non-mage blood children are more susceptible to it and it collapses because there isn’t a connection, just a demand of ovladaci prevek…control. But with mages, the castee has to share a connection, their minds-and prophecy layering happens, successfully.”
Danye frowned. “How do you know something like that? Prophecy layering is regarded as a myth.”
Iseul smiled, but it was devoid of any warmth. “Because I’ve done it before.”
She walked back over to her daughter and squatted before her. “I had to share my mind to take control of someone and in order to protect any prophetic thoughts, even ones I didn’t know existed, and I had to layer them between false ones.” She took Taeyeon’s hands in hers. “What did you see?”
“The dark mage’s name is Domonkos-that was the only clear vision I received when he performed ovladaci prevek and took control over my body. It was so terrible mother,” Taeyeon whispered. “The things he made me do to those poor men. They looked at me like they understood, and at first I couldn’t understand why they didn’t fight me. They were not restrained. But the connection was three fold. Every time I touched one of them, I received another vision and another. The threats that had been made against the Alpha Beta’s life, why they were willing to give their lives to protect him. The one named Siwon actually apologized to me…”
Jinki looked from his sister to the two from Wheph. Chanyeol cursed under his breath and Kibum looked like he could cry at any moment.
“In the echo of my screams, I could feel the layers in Domonkos’ mind. The first, I could tell was a lie. Old Se’hai would never bow to Prae. Edison would fall on his sword first. The second was a little harder to decipher. There was a river of blood. Floating along it was a simple five by five box made of five pieces of wood by two sets of hands.”
Jinki frowned.
“It was a very strong box and had lasted for a very long time. Atop of the box were five stones with five symbols. A Celtic flame knot, two pyramids, a triskelion, an embroidered tree, and three waves.”
“The five clans,” Jonghyun murmured.
“Correct,” Taeyeon affirmed. “They kept the box sealed and the blood out.”
Kibum leaned forward, cradling his chin in his hands. “What’s in the box?”
Taeyeon shook her head. “I don’t know. All I know are the words “What is protected will save but greatness will die with its salvation” are engraved on the box.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Kahi exclaimed, his lip hitched.
“The box is Prae, Kahi,” Julien explained, his eyes jutting back and forth as he thought. “Five by five, built by two pair of hands? Prae, created by Heechul and Han Geng, correct? The five stones, as Jonghyun pointed out, the five clans. What’s inside, however…”
Jinki glanced back at his sister. “This is what you determined to be the true prophecy?” Taeyeon nodded and Jinki rolled his eyes. “I am plagued but with two things, letters and prophecies. I’m sending you to Salt Kys the moment you are well enough. We will need the Oracles help.”
“Did you see anything else?” Yifan asked from his side of the table.
Taeyeon nodded. “But I know it’s a lie,” she said quietly, looking down at her hands.
“How do you know?” Kibum asked.
“Because I believe what is inside that box is Jinki and Minho. They are what’s being protected. I don’t know how I know but I just know. And if I believe that, then the third revelation cannot be true.”
“Well, what was it?” Iseul asked. “What did you see?”
Taeyeon gulped. When she looked up, tears were in her eyes. “I saw…I saw Jinki and Minho’s death.”
Edison was not a patient man. He didn’t feel he had to be. He was also kind of an asshole but being nice was not a thing Edison felt he had to be, either. Edison felt he needed to be a leader, to do what was best for his people. His philosophy was in order to protect his people, he needed to be at his strongest. Wealth was equivalent to power, power was equivalent to strength. The richer he was, the richer his people would be.
It was exactly the reason why he was their leader. He had brought Old Se’hai onto the path of the new Prae, he alone aligned them with the five clans, and he alone was the only one smart enough to barter that ridiculous effectual treaty with Leehom.
And he was the only smart enough to realize an easy exit to it when it no longer served him.
Yoon, a scoundrel really in the eyes of the Old Se’haian court, stood before him. His savage friend, leader of the Blue Crescents, stood next to him, waiting for him. To do what? Edison didn’t know. If it was to respond to that letter, they’d be waiting for quite some time.
His head Advisor, Vivo, stood one step below his stone throne platform, the letter his son sent him cradled on top of a silver platter. Silver. Just like the silver spoon he’d slipped in his son’s mouth, only for him to spit it back out.
“My lord, it has been over a week,” Vivo said, his silvery but worried tones echoing in the large throne room. “As your heir-“
“Who said he couldn’t come back? Has he done something that would require permission to come back here? Oh! That’s right,” Edison yelled as poked a finger in Vivo’s direction. “He mated with someone else without my leave. Tell me, Vivo, how often do I suffer this sort of behavior?”
Vivo’s head lowered minutely. “Not often, my lord.” He turned and placed the platter down. “Yet, your council has accepted it. To go against the council-“
Edison waved his hands. “They have nothing to fear. Zitao is still my heir. You run and tell them that, as well as demand they find me more resources,” he looked over at Yoon and Toggo, “I don’t want to keep my guest waiting all day. Your update?”
Yoon took the cue and walked closer to the leader of Old Se’hai, stopping on the bottom step. “As of now your treaty is still intact. I could not convince Leehom to join our cause. I was thinking…maybe something of a monetary persuasion could help.”
Edison pinched his face. “And why would I want to do that?”
Toggo frowned. “Because…having Mott Argan’s manpower at our backs would do wonders for our campaign.”
“Mott Argan’s did not going to concede to your sweet words of friendship, nor are they going to be swayed by money. They’ll respond to the cool edge of a sword.”
Yoon pinched the bridge of his nose. “They will not come easily. Leehom is apathetic to war and Yifan hold unquestionable loyalty to Prae, especially now with his mating complete with who, might I add, holds considerable power in Dinfire and now in the Fortress. Zhang Yixing not only was his First, but the General to Jonghyun’s entire Black Flame, Dinfire’s strongest military contingency. Attacking his mate’s clan will bring Dinfire onto of our heads.”
Edison grinned. “Let them. The army I’ve allowed you to build is vast, the Blue Crescents are the most formidable mercenary group in all of Prae and we have The Den on our side.”
“I’ve also been able to connect with some smaller militias out of Ves,” Toggo pointed out, pacing back and forth. “Small but deadly. Feral wolves hold allegiance to no one as long as they can fight.” Toggo stopped and Edison stared at him. He didn’t like Toggo. Yoon was a reasonable strategist, but Toggo was smarter, sneakier. Toggo wanted the same position he desired. Edison chuckled internally. He won’t get it.
“And that brings me to my request of the day,” Toggo said, taking a step towards Edison.
“I need more money.”
Edison snorted. “Of course you do. For what?”
“I want to travel to Rhyna Ghali. Sangre, specifically.”
Edison’s face hardened over and Yoon looked like he’d just swallowed his tongue. “I’m sorry,” Yoon said, trying to speak over his disbelief. “You want to travel where?”
“Sangre-the Shadowlands...”
“I know where fucking Sangre is but you can’t possibly be about to say what I think you’re going to say. Those animals, those beasts are uncontrollable! They answer to nothing but bloodlust, a bloodlust we cannot offer! I would rather a wolf die before they be turned into one of those-those-those-“
“Vampyres,“ Edison finished for him. “And no. The answer is no. They are uncontrollable.”
Toggo shook his head. “We can lure the Hunters in; they are the best equipped at dealing with Vampyres, although it will be hard. They keep to themselves and will only comply with something beneficial to them. If not, we have Domonkos-he’s a 7th Order Dark Mage, the highest of all Dark Mages, actually. Vampyres are simple creatures and he has shown me his complete control over them.”
Edison leaned forward. “He’s going to have to show it to me as well.” Edison sighed back into his seat. He was beginning to get a headache, the pain pulsing right over his eye.
“You’re first plan of attack is Mott Argan, am I correct?”
“Not quite,” Yoon said, taking over.
Edison’s face showed no surprised or annoyance, although he felt it. Their last discussion picked Mott Argan as the focal attack point. Sighing, “Then where.”
Yoon smile was slow, irritatingly slow, but confident. “To get to the heart of a beast, you must cut it open. You lure it out, strangle its defenses and you stick your knife into its soul. Mott Argan is the lure, The Fortress is the target…The Magnus Couple is the prize.”
Edison frowned.
“A war inside and a war out,” Yoon said, lowly, almost growling. “That is how we make Prae ours.”
Pairing: Chapter focus: Minho/Jinki, (mentions of): Jongyun/Kibum, Sehun/Tao
Rating: R/NC-17 ( note: see bolded for each chapter)
Words: 19,262
Summary: The Blood Moon Festival, the catalyst brought on by tragedy to usher in calamity, wants a new bonded pair...
A:N: The Character guide was updated on the last update. Go there if you need a refresher!
A|N: Oh, more and more worldbuilding. Prae and the surrounding territories are big! That also includes..duh-duh-duh-daaaaaa! New creatures and people! Yay! I can see the end of the tunnel folks. Long tunnel but...still. Light.
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“You should be resting.”
Taeyeon peeked open an eye and rolled it. “I’ve been sleep for weeks. How much more rest can I get?” She watched as her twin brother came closer, pulling up a chair and setting it beside her bed. The room still smelled strongly of burnt rosemary and sage-something Taeyeon recognized as mage magic. She recognized the smell and she recognized the procedure. Taemin smelled of it stronger, though.
“You helped Mama with the unsealing didn’t you?”
“Had to! You were draining me dry,” Taemin said, his voice a touch playful. He leaned forward onto her bed and cradled his head in his hands. “How do you feel?”
“I’m not tired. I’m more…confused. It’s hard telling what’s real and what’s not right now. Images keep fluttering around my head and they are disjointed. If I can manage to put them together I think they’ll go away. ”
“Well, I can tell you what’s real, although you might not like some of it.”
“Ah, what I’ve missed in dream land.” Taeyeon sniffed. “Come on with it.”
“Let’s see. Your brother is good and mated now. Happily, even. Surprise there, huh?”
“With that tall idiot, huh? I knew it was going to work out-he had that look in his eyes. Disgustingly sweet and completely smitten.”
“Minho’s pregnant.”
“I’m not surprised. How bad is Jinki freaking out?”
Taemin chuckled. “He’s taking it pretty well. Mom isn’t. She might be more overprotective than Jinki is. Ah, that reminds me. Minho’s mother is alive…and in the other room. She trumps Mom on the overprotective front. I’m sure she’s planning on skinning Kibum alive, so if you have anything you want to say, you might want to do it quickly.”
At the mention of Kibum’s name, Taeyeon’s face fell. “He’s…”
Taemin took her hand into his. “You already know the answer to that, Tae…”
Taeyeon grunted. “I always knew that would happen,” she admitted, sighing. “I don’t know why I held on for so long,” she said, her voice raw with disappointment.
“Jongin is still available.”
With what little strength she had, she slapper her brother across his arm. “I wake up out of a coma and you’re still sprouting nonsense.”
“That’s my job. To annoy you with nonsense,” he said cheekily.
Taeyeon made to hit him again but the sound of her stomach growling stopped her.
“They said if you were healing correctly, your hunger would come back quickly, and by the sounds of it, furiously,” Taemin said, his face squinted in mock disgust. “You think you’ll be fine here till I get back?”
“I’m a grown woman... of course I’ll be okay.”
“Good. I’m sending Jackson in just in case. He’s your guard at the door until you are well enough to travel back to your suite.”
“Whatever, just get me some damn food.”
Taemin rolled his eyes, “Right away, Princess.”
As he walked out, another shifter walked in. Taeyeon sniffed. It was always the first thing she did when she met someone new, it wasn’t an uncommon practice. He was a wolf shifter, Beta, but a rare breed of wolf than what was normally found in Prae. His wolf smelled familiar in essence. She took one look at his tanned skinned and understood.
“You’re Toleran,” she stated. “But not a mage.”
The shifter paused as he shut the door behind him, his brow lifted. “How did you know?”
Taeyeon grinned. “I’m really good at the mage thing. Why are you in Prae? They tend to only send tributes. Are you a tribute?” She glanced him up and down. He had a solid figure, broad shoulders and narrow hips; one that looked like it was honed by hard work and sparring. Stubble lined his square chin and his face looked like it was easy to smile. He proved it by breaking out into a grin.
“No,” Jackson laughed. “I’m not a tribute. I’m a part of your mother’s entourage. I’ve been her bodyguard for the last few years,” he glanced up at her, then back down quickly. “You look like her.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked, her brow raised.
“It’s good,” he said resolutely. “Your mother talks about you a lot, you and Taemin and Jinki. I feel as if I’ve known you my entire life. She’s missed you, so I’m glad she finally found her way back to you all. When she heard you were sick, the floor almost caught on fire with her pacing. It would have taken an army to keep her away.”
“I never wanted her to come back,” Taeyeon said softly. Jackson tilted his head in confusion, his brows furrowed deep, his lips pulled down at the corners and she hurried to correct herself-she didn’t know why, but she felt the need to. “Not that I didn’t miss my mother but…our father was not good to her. If she came back, then she was in a definitive place, a known place, somewhere he could get to her, exile or not. I just wanted her safe,” she finished quietly.
Jackson walked up to her bedside and kneeled down until they were eye to eye. “Your mother is safer now than she ever was before. I promise to protect her with my last breath.”
Taeyeon cocked a brow at his passionate speech. “What’s your deal? You her son or something?”
His easy smile returned as he stood his full height again. “No, no. She was just really good to me. I was born in The Den-you were born away from Toleran, so you don’t know. It’s…pretty bad in there. When we went to rescue Jungsoo I noticed nothing had changed and it hit me hard. Your mother, she hired me just because I asked, desperately, for help. I don’t even think she really needed the protection but she said my energy reminded her of Jinki. She saved my life.”
“It’s that bad?”
Jackson looked away and out of the solitary window in Taeyeon’s healing room. “Orphans. Part of the Old Way says something really vague about the fate of orphans. Prophecy layering….I was a candidate.”
Something flashed across Taeyeon’s mind, so fast and so hard, it hurt. She screwed her eyes shut as the vision took ahold.
When it ended, she gasped, her hand coming to her neck. Was that real? Was that real? She looked around the room, the edges of reality coming back into focus.
Jackson was at her side in a flash. “Lady Taeyeon, are you okay?” He pulled her hands from her neck and the tips of her fingers were blue. “I-I’m going to get Master Taemin. I’ll-I’ll-“
“No,” she gasped. “No! Take me to Jinki,” Taeyeon demanded as she began to push the covers back. Her garment was thin and Jackson turned his head away. He grabbed a thick robe off a hook off the wall and pushed it towards her. Taeyeon accepted it with a quiet thank you.
Together, they rushed down the hall but after Taeyeon stumbled for the third time, her legs weak and wobbly from not using them for weeks, Jackson picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. They came to the door of the healer alcove and Jackson had a guard open the door. He grimaced as he looked outside.
“Lady Taeyeon, it’s raining.”
Taeyeon inhaled and set her shoulders. “It’ll be fine, let’s go.”
Jinki sighed deeply. Kibum and Danye were still arguing and battle lines had been drawn in the Beam Room. Jonghyun backed his mate, while Nichkhun and Yifan followed in a show of solidarity. Victoria and Tiffany stayed out of it. Iseul naturally backed up her best friend, while Xiah and Julien tried to stay out of it.
The issue, still thirty minutes after it started?
“I already explained to you a thousand, you brazen idiot, I had no choice!”
Danye leaving her family.
“I don’t care,” Kibum said, sitting down and crossing his hands over his chest. “You have no idea what he went through because he didn’t have any family around him. How your psychotic brothers hunted him down like a wild animal. He should have had someone there for him!”
All the anger left Danye’s face. “He did, you dummy. He had you! He had Jungsoo and Julien and that entire village. He didn’t need me!”
“We were pale substitutes for a real mother,” Julien said, his first offering towards the argument. “However, she’s right, Kibum. He wasn’t alone. You have to understand why she did what she did. Trust me; I didn’t understand for years either, you know that, but now I do.”
“Great. YOU explain it to Minho, then. Explain to, not the grown up Minho, but the young man-a boy, really-who lost his entire family in one night and thought he had no one left. Explain how his mother was tra-la-la’ing in Toleran while Minho took on the Blue Crescents year after year.” Kibum looked away, his jaw hard and his eyes angry. “Because I’m not.”
“I had no reason to think they would be after him, Kibum. I thought I’d removed that threat,” Danye offered quietly, pitifully.
“Checking in on him every once in a while would have fixed you “thinking”, wouldn’t it?”
“Kibum,” Iseul offered. “Don’t you think you’re being a little hard on her?”
Kibum rolled his eyes.” A little hard on her? Oh, the chief of “the mothers who abandon their children” clan has spoken. Let me try and be nicer, then.”
Iseul’s anger flared, her mage powers pulsing as she stared at Kibum in shock. Xiah, stood, outraged, sputtering, while Jinki rubbed the bridge of his nose. “High Steward, you’ve gone too far!”
He didn’t want to yell or command them to shut the fuck up-Kibum’s anger came from his loyalty for Minho and Danye’s from guilt but if he let them continue at this, hacking away at each other’s feelings, they’d never get anywhere. Minho had told him something about a gentle touch before sharp claws but he was losing his fucking patience.
“Kibum,” Jinki tried, “Xiah is right. You’ve over stepped your bounds.
“I haven’t said anything that isn’t true,” Kibum rejoined.
“Kibum,” Jinki tried again.
“You little shit,” Kahi hissed.
He sighed. “Kahi, please,” Jinki said.
“How dare you talk to my mate that way?!” Jonghyun shouted, glaring at the Durkhai bodyguard.
“Jonghyun…control yourself,” Jinki directed to his First Captain.
“Never mind her! How dare you let your mate talk to my mate that way?!” Xiah bellowed.
Okay, obviously Minho’s approach wasn’t going to work. “EVERYONE! SIT DOWN! SHUT UP!”
His exclamation brought the room to an immediate halt. Good! Good I hope they don’t utter another word! “This is the war council room where we are supposed to discussing strategies for a war looming over our heads and you are letting your personal feelings interrupt it!” He turned to Kibum. “She left, she’s back, deal with it.” He turned to Danye. “You’ll have to tell Minho yourself, because none of us are going to. Deal with it.” He turned to Xiah, who put a hand up while the other rubbed his temples.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Deal with it. I got it.”
Satisfied with Xiah’s answer, he took his seat. “Now,” he huffed, “can we get back to the-“
The door burst open before Jinki could finish his sentence. Everyone in the Beam Room whipped around to see who it was. Iseul was out of her seat the fastest, followed by Xiah and Kahi. Jinki stood, confused.
The young man he’d recognized from his mother’s entourage was standing at the door, soaking wet, Taeyeon shivering and cold in his arms.
“Jackson,” Kahi said, staring at him from over Iseul’s shoulder. “What is the meaning of this?”
“She-she,” he said, his teeth clattering.
“She what, Jackson?” Iseul yelled, obviously upset at the condition of her daughter. “What were you thinking? She just woke up from a coma!”
“Don’t yell at him, Mother, please,” she pleaded. ”I had a vision!” Taeyeon yelled out. “Well, more of I remembered something and I demanded he bring me here.”
Xiah shrugged off his outer coat and slung it over Taeyeon’s shoulders before he directed the both of them to the large fire behind Jinki and Minho’s seats. “Warm up, first. Jackson, take off that wet cloak.”
Taeyeon took a seat by the fireplace, Xiah’s coat around her warming her up and bringing color back to her face. Jackson took a seat next to her, and immediately, as if on instinct, grabbed her hands and began rubbing them between his hands. Jinki raised a brow at the action but said nothing.
“Jackson was keeping me company while Taemin went to get me something to eat.”
Iseul’s face brightened. “Your appetite is back?” she said hopefully.
Taeyeon nodded but forged ahead. “He’s Toleran, so he was discussing back home and how they treated the orphans and-“she paused and shook her head. “The point is he spoke of prophecy layering.”
Danye scoffed. “Prophecy layering is nearly impossible to do. The prophecies become intermingled and they collapse, often sending the caster and the subject into unbreakable comas. They become trapped in their visions.”
“That’s true,” Taeyeon said looking down, her teeth still clattering,
“Not quite,” Iseul murmured, her finger on her chin as she thought, “That happens with non-mages. Most cases we hear are of the orphans in The Den because mage-blood children would be trained to use it, not experimented on. Non-mage blood children are more susceptible to it and it collapses because there isn’t a connection, just a demand of ovladaci prevek…control. But with mages, the castee has to share a connection, their minds-and prophecy layering happens, successfully.”
Danye frowned. “How do you know something like that? Prophecy layering is regarded as a myth.”
Iseul smiled, but it was devoid of any warmth. “Because I’ve done it before.”
She walked back over to her daughter and squatted before her. “I had to share my mind to take control of someone and in order to protect any prophetic thoughts, even ones I didn’t know existed, and I had to layer them between false ones.” She took Taeyeon’s hands in hers. “What did you see?”
“The dark mage’s name is Domonkos-that was the only clear vision I received when he performed ovladaci prevek and took control over my body. It was so terrible mother,” Taeyeon whispered. “The things he made me do to those poor men. They looked at me like they understood, and at first I couldn’t understand why they didn’t fight me. They were not restrained. But the connection was three fold. Every time I touched one of them, I received another vision and another. The threats that had been made against the Alpha Beta’s life, why they were willing to give their lives to protect him. The one named Siwon actually apologized to me…”
Jinki looked from his sister to the two from Wheph. Chanyeol cursed under his breath and Kibum looked like he could cry at any moment.
“In the echo of my screams, I could feel the layers in Domonkos’ mind. The first, I could tell was a lie. Old Se’hai would never bow to Prae. Edison would fall on his sword first. The second was a little harder to decipher. There was a river of blood. Floating along it was a simple five by five box made of five pieces of wood by two sets of hands.”
Jinki frowned.
“It was a very strong box and had lasted for a very long time. Atop of the box were five stones with five symbols. A Celtic flame knot, two pyramids, a triskelion, an embroidered tree, and three waves.”
“The five clans,” Jonghyun murmured.
“Correct,” Taeyeon affirmed. “They kept the box sealed and the blood out.”
Kibum leaned forward, cradling his chin in his hands. “What’s in the box?”
Taeyeon shook her head. “I don’t know. All I know are the words “What is protected will save but greatness will die with its salvation” are engraved on the box.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Kahi exclaimed, his lip hitched.
“The box is Prae, Kahi,” Julien explained, his eyes jutting back and forth as he thought. “Five by five, built by two pair of hands? Prae, created by Heechul and Han Geng, correct? The five stones, as Jonghyun pointed out, the five clans. What’s inside, however…”
Jinki glanced back at his sister. “This is what you determined to be the true prophecy?” Taeyeon nodded and Jinki rolled his eyes. “I am plagued but with two things, letters and prophecies. I’m sending you to Salt Kys the moment you are well enough. We will need the Oracles help.”
“Did you see anything else?” Yifan asked from his side of the table.
Taeyeon nodded. “But I know it’s a lie,” she said quietly, looking down at her hands.
“How do you know?” Kibum asked.
“Because I believe what is inside that box is Jinki and Minho. They are what’s being protected. I don’t know how I know but I just know. And if I believe that, then the third revelation cannot be true.”
“Well, what was it?” Iseul asked. “What did you see?”
Taeyeon gulped. When she looked up, tears were in her eyes. “I saw…I saw Jinki and Minho’s death.”
Edison was not a patient man. He didn’t feel he had to be. He was also kind of an asshole but being nice was not a thing Edison felt he had to be, either. Edison felt he needed to be a leader, to do what was best for his people. His philosophy was in order to protect his people, he needed to be at his strongest. Wealth was equivalent to power, power was equivalent to strength. The richer he was, the richer his people would be.
It was exactly the reason why he was their leader. He had brought Old Se’hai onto the path of the new Prae, he alone aligned them with the five clans, and he alone was the only one smart enough to barter that ridiculous effectual treaty with Leehom.
And he was the only smart enough to realize an easy exit to it when it no longer served him.
Yoon, a scoundrel really in the eyes of the Old Se’haian court, stood before him. His savage friend, leader of the Blue Crescents, stood next to him, waiting for him. To do what? Edison didn’t know. If it was to respond to that letter, they’d be waiting for quite some time.
His head Advisor, Vivo, stood one step below his stone throne platform, the letter his son sent him cradled on top of a silver platter. Silver. Just like the silver spoon he’d slipped in his son’s mouth, only for him to spit it back out.
“My lord, it has been over a week,” Vivo said, his silvery but worried tones echoing in the large throne room. “As your heir-“
“Who said he couldn’t come back? Has he done something that would require permission to come back here? Oh! That’s right,” Edison yelled as poked a finger in Vivo’s direction. “He mated with someone else without my leave. Tell me, Vivo, how often do I suffer this sort of behavior?”
Vivo’s head lowered minutely. “Not often, my lord.” He turned and placed the platter down. “Yet, your council has accepted it. To go against the council-“
Edison waved his hands. “They have nothing to fear. Zitao is still my heir. You run and tell them that, as well as demand they find me more resources,” he looked over at Yoon and Toggo, “I don’t want to keep my guest waiting all day. Your update?”
Yoon took the cue and walked closer to the leader of Old Se’hai, stopping on the bottom step. “As of now your treaty is still intact. I could not convince Leehom to join our cause. I was thinking…maybe something of a monetary persuasion could help.”
Edison pinched his face. “And why would I want to do that?”
Toggo frowned. “Because…having Mott Argan’s manpower at our backs would do wonders for our campaign.”
“Mott Argan’s did not going to concede to your sweet words of friendship, nor are they going to be swayed by money. They’ll respond to the cool edge of a sword.”
Yoon pinched the bridge of his nose. “They will not come easily. Leehom is apathetic to war and Yifan hold unquestionable loyalty to Prae, especially now with his mating complete with who, might I add, holds considerable power in Dinfire and now in the Fortress. Zhang Yixing not only was his First, but the General to Jonghyun’s entire Black Flame, Dinfire’s strongest military contingency. Attacking his mate’s clan will bring Dinfire onto of our heads.”
Edison grinned. “Let them. The army I’ve allowed you to build is vast, the Blue Crescents are the most formidable mercenary group in all of Prae and we have The Den on our side.”
“I’ve also been able to connect with some smaller militias out of Ves,” Toggo pointed out, pacing back and forth. “Small but deadly. Feral wolves hold allegiance to no one as long as they can fight.” Toggo stopped and Edison stared at him. He didn’t like Toggo. Yoon was a reasonable strategist, but Toggo was smarter, sneakier. Toggo wanted the same position he desired. Edison chuckled internally. He won’t get it.
“And that brings me to my request of the day,” Toggo said, taking a step towards Edison.
“I need more money.”
Edison snorted. “Of course you do. For what?”
“I want to travel to Rhyna Ghali. Sangre, specifically.”
Edison’s face hardened over and Yoon looked like he’d just swallowed his tongue. “I’m sorry,” Yoon said, trying to speak over his disbelief. “You want to travel where?”
“Sangre-the Shadowlands...”
“I know where fucking Sangre is but you can’t possibly be about to say what I think you’re going to say. Those animals, those beasts are uncontrollable! They answer to nothing but bloodlust, a bloodlust we cannot offer! I would rather a wolf die before they be turned into one of those-those-those-“
“Vampyres,“ Edison finished for him. “And no. The answer is no. They are uncontrollable.”
Toggo shook his head. “We can lure the Hunters in; they are the best equipped at dealing with Vampyres, although it will be hard. They keep to themselves and will only comply with something beneficial to them. If not, we have Domonkos-he’s a 7th Order Dark Mage, the highest of all Dark Mages, actually. Vampyres are simple creatures and he has shown me his complete control over them.”
Edison leaned forward. “He’s going to have to show it to me as well.” Edison sighed back into his seat. He was beginning to get a headache, the pain pulsing right over his eye.
“You’re first plan of attack is Mott Argan, am I correct?”
“Not quite,” Yoon said, taking over.
Edison’s face showed no surprised or annoyance, although he felt it. Their last discussion picked Mott Argan as the focal attack point. Sighing, “Then where.”
Yoon smile was slow, irritatingly slow, but confident. “To get to the heart of a beast, you must cut it open. You lure it out, strangle its defenses and you stick your knife into its soul. Mott Argan is the lure, The Fortress is the target…The Magnus Couple is the prize.”
Edison frowned.
“A war inside and a war out,” Yoon said, lowly, almost growling. “That is how we make Prae ours.”