Frozen Fate 5/?
Title: Frozen Fate
Pairing: Changmin/Junsu
Summary: Junsu is living a carefree, comfortable life in his father’s orchards, planning a big adventure. Everything changes when it is decided that the Prince of Ice will marry a son of one of the southern lords. Junsu learns that sometimes life pushes you in an unexpected direction, and fighting it only makes things worse.
Junsu found Jaejoong curled up in a blanket by the fire in their shared sitting room.
“I didn’t see you at breakfast,” he said.
“I don’t usually eat breakfast,” Jaejoong replied, “or not much. And they don’t have my favourite sweets and hot drinks here.”
Sweets for breakfast? Junsu thought southerners were weird, but he didn’t comment on it. “How was your date yesterday?”
A smile formed on Jaejoong’s lips. “The Prince is very… royal, good manners. He doesn’t talk much, but he’s so handsome.” He pulled his blanket up to his chin. “If only his country wasn’t so damn cold. Did you know that you can swim in the sea by the Golden Shore every single day of the year? Of course you've heard, your brother married a Jung. It’s true you can be in the water every day along the entire west coast, because the sea is always warm, but we get beautiful sunny weather on top of that.”
Junsu just nodded. He knew the west coast was somehow warmer than the east, and that winters were stronger further inland where he lived, but he honestly wasn’t that interested.
“And look how dark it still is,” Jaejoong said, glancing at the window. “The Prince says that it gets worse, that during the winter, it stays dark for almost entire days. Can you imagine that?” he sounded horrified by the mere idea.
“Good morning to you, too,” Junsu muttered under his breath.
Jaejoong didn’t hear. “Do you like it here?” he asked.
“I haven’t seen much of the country yet, but I don’t mind what I’ve seen so far.”
“Very diplomatic.” Jaejoong smiled. “Can I ask how old you are?”
“Nineteen.”
Jaejoong nodded. “Yes, I thought you were young. Did you know the Prince is only twenty-three? I thought he would be older than me, turns out he’s a year younger.”
“That doesn’t really matter, does it?”
Jaejoong stared into the fire. “I suppose not. I don’t know if he will pick me though, I’m not even sure if I want him to. It’s all up to fate now.”
Junsu didn’t like that word, fate, like you had no control over your own life whatsoever. He hoped Yoochun was less resigned than Jaejoong and working hard on seducing the Prince today.
“He can stand the cold better than me, but Yoochun is afraid of animals,” Jaejoong suddenly said. “It’s his one weakness. Cats he can handle, dogs if they’re not too big, horses because he has no choice, but anything else… I noticed any mention of the white bears freaks him out, although he tries to be brave and nonchalant about it. And then this country has other things, like strange fat animals with huge tusks. The Prince says they don’t come near the city, so he should be fine, but I’m not sure he’ll sleep very well.”
“I don’t think the Prince will mind,” Junsu said. “He’ll probably like having someone to protect. As long as Yoochun is honest about it…”
“Oh, he will be. He’s very bad at hiding his fear,” Jaejoong said with an almost fond smile. “Do you know where my bodyguard has gone? He promised to find an extra blanket.”
“I’ll look for him,” Junsu said.
“I want to go outside.”
“No.”
“Please?”
Aya shook her head. “I’ve already explained my reasons to you yesterday.”
“The Prince is disappointed that I know so little about his people,” Junsu tried. “How am I supposed to learn if I’m in here, talking to other southerners.”
“You can talk to me,” Aya suggested.
Junsu sighed. Then he thought for a moment. “You’re afraid I’ll be unpopular because the Prince hasn’t chosen me yet and no one is sure of my intentions. Can’t I just tell the people why I’m here myself, and maybe they can judge for themselves if I’m being honest?”
“They wouldn’t understand you,” Aya simply said.
“So teach me. Teach me how to say ‘I’m here today because I want to get to know you and your beautiful city’ and also teach me how to politely apologise, in case I say or do something wrong.”
Aya looked at him. She didn’t refuse immediately. Junsu could see he was gaining ground.
“And,” he said, “if that doesn’t work, you get to do some awesome bodyguard things, save me from an angry mob and guide me back to the palace, instead of babysitting me in here, because let’s be honest, that’s kind of what you’re doing.”
That made her smile.
“I will translate what you asked,” she said, “and you will repeat the words until I think others would be able to understand, and then, maybe, we can go for a short walk.”
It took almost an hour to memorise a few simple sentences, because Aya insisted on not only telling him the words, but also explaining their grammatical structure, and how certain sounds could mean different things if he pronounced them wrong. And then she wrote it down and made him recite the line while he stared at the unfamiliar characters on the paper, so he got a sense of what the writing system looked like.
Junsu’s parents and his brother would be astonished if they saw how dedicated he was to this task. They would wish he’d shown such enthusiasm during his lessons back home.
Aya didn’t exactly praise him, but she didn’t scold him either, and she was overall very patient, more patient than Junsu himself.
“How come you speak our language?” he asked her.
“Thanks to the Queen, and because I was interested,” she said. “I wanted to travel, but my parents sent me to work in the palace. I was kicked out of the kitchen, because I was too wild and broke things by accident. The head of the Guard taught me a way to channel my energy, and the Queen herself sent me down to the docks to learn different languages from the traders, because she prefers guards with many skills, and she knew I was interested.”
“You learned to speak like this, just from chatting with traders?” Junsu asked.
“Sometimes they stay for more than half a year and act like middlemen for new ships that arrive. I helped a few of them with their daily work. I got to talk to the sailors as well, and then I read the books in the palace.”
“But you didn’t get to travel, in the end?” Junsu asked.
“No, but it doesn’t matter. I am happy now. I like where I am and I'm good at what I do, why would I want anything else?”
“I still think it’s sad that you didn’t get to fulfil your dream.”
“But I got a new dream, one that I didn’t even know about before, one that did come true. Is that not better?”
“If you say so,” Junsu said. He wasn’t convinced.
“You’re not paying attention to your lesson,” Aya said.
Junsu recited his apology in Cryan and she smiled. “Good,” she said. It was the first compliment she gave him.
“Will you get in trouble for this?” Junsu asked Aya. She was leading him out of the palace through a dark hallway towards a narrow door that quite clearly wasn’t a main entrance or exit.
“Only if you tell,” she said. She smiled and put a finger against her lips.
Junsu stopped. “Are you serious?” he whispered. He couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. He’d thought she didn’t want him to go outside because he might be a nuisance to her, not because she had direct orders to keep him inside. He didn’t want to get her in trouble.
She only gestured to follow her through the door and Junsu’s curiosity got the best of him. Soon they were standing outside, on a street that ran around the palace wall. It felt good to feel the cool wind and warm sunlight on his face again.
There was a guard standing by the door. Aya greeted him and they had a short conversation in Cryan. Junsu listened, at the same time fascinated by the melodic sounds of the language and worried that the man would send them back inside. But there were no words he recognised, so he had no idea what they were saying.
The guard nodded and smiled at him. Junsu gave him a hopeful smile back.
“Let’s go,” Aya said. “I told him we're going into the city and that we’ll be back at this door before sundown, so he will sound the alarm if we don’t show up.”
“So you don’t have any orders to keep me inside the palace?” Junsu asked, just to be sure.
“My only orders are to keep you safe and to make sure you make it to your meetings with the Prince.” Compared to how hesitant she had been before, she seemed almost happy to be outside now. “Where do you want to go?” she asked.
“I want to buy some presents for my family. Is there something like a marketplace?”
“Of course.”
Aya lead him downhill over the road, between rows of brightly coloured houses. She was carrying her spear and seemed constantly alert, but she looked more relaxed and confident than nervous. A few people stopped and stared. Junsu smiled at them and tried his best to look innocent and friendly.
He had no idea how he would have felt if it had been one of those people walking over his father’s roads back home, a complete stranger who looked different, didn’t speak the language and was potentially about to marry his future king.
“Are your clothes thick enough?” Aya suddenly asked him.
It was a bit chilly, but the sun was shining, and if Junsu kept walking, he would stay warm enough. “Yes,” he said. Aya’s own tunic didn’t seem to be any thicker than his, but he was a bit jealous of her fur lined boots. His woollen socks were worn and only just kept his feet warm.
Aya narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s okay to admit that you’re not as used to the climate as I am. It’s only natural. I need you to tell me when you’re cold. Getting too cold is dangerous, and it can happen on sunny autumn days like this one.”
“I wish I had boots like yours,” Junsu admitted, "but I’m not cold."
Aya accepted that answer after a look at his leather shoes. “There might be something for you at the market.”
The market was bigger than Junsu expected, and the variety of products, too. There was lots of fish and meat, including the dark meat Junsu had tasted the day before. There were furs and weapons made of bone and flint, but also things that were obviously imported from the south, fabrics, metal and fruit. Junsu even spotted a basket of oranges.
“The market is only like this during the summer months, when southern ships come to our harbour,” Aya said. “It’s much smaller during the winter. You’re lucky you’re able to see it like this. Winter is not far away now, closer than it is to your land.”
One stand in particular drew Junsu’s attention. Laid out on neatly sown together brown furs was a collection of little figurines and jewellery, cut from bone. A few were decorated with small pieces of a kind of gem, deep blue like the Prince’s eyes.
A young girl sat on her knees behind it. She couldn’t be much older than Yunji.
“What’s the word for pretty?” Junsu asked Aya.
“Describing a person?” she asked.
Junsu shook his head. “As in pretty things.”
Aya told him. Junsu repeated it in his head and crouched down. “Pretty,” he said as best as he could, looking at the girl and pointing at the things laid out on the furs.
She seemed a bit shy, her eyes were big and brown like Yunho’s, but she gave him a careful smile.
Junsu’s heart clenched as he suddenly realised how much he missed his niece. He missed telling her stories and listening to her observations based on solid childish wisdom. He missed Yunho, too, even if most of their conversations still ended with tiny sticky hands tangled in his hair.
He wished they were both here so he could show them the marvels of this strange land.
He scanned the necklaces and found that most of them depicted animals he’d never seen before. Fish and whales he knew, and there was also a certain type of bird and something that reminded him of what Jaejoong had mentioned that morning, about strange fat animals with big tusks. He reached out to touch one of those. The thing also seemed to have fish-like attributes.
The girl quickly picked up the necklace and held it out for him. She was smiling widely now and said something he didn’t understand.
He looked up at Aya. “What did she say?”
Aya failed to completely hide her amused smile behind her hand. “She said it suits you, strong brown-haired hunter.”
Junsu smiled at the girl but shook his head. “What’s cat in Cryan?” he asked Aya.
“Cat?” Aya asked, confused.
“Don’t you know cats?” Junsu asked. He looked from Aya to the little girl and back.
“Meow?” he said, and he drew pointy ears above his head with his fingers.
The girl laughed and Aya clasped a hand over her mouth.
The girl walked around her stand and kneeled in front of him. She was still holding the necklace with the strange fat animal and offered to hang it around his neck.
Junsu wanted to shake his head again, but her expression was so bright and hopeful that he hesitated. His eyes fell on the necklace she was wearing herself. The little animal figurine hanging from the leather cord was cut from the purest white material and very clearly resembled a bear, much like the brown ones Junsu knew from pictures in books.
“Is that one of the sacred white bears?” he asked, and he pointed at it.
The little girl jumped to her feet and screamed, eyes wide. Aya quickly stood between her and Junsu and crouched down. She spoke slow, calming words. Junsu also recognised an apology in there. He got up and took a step back, wondering what he’d done wrong. The girl was still looking at him over Aya’s shoulder, horrified.
Someone roughly grabbed his arm and turned him around. A tall man with a face covered in black symbols glared at him so fiercely that Junsu cringed. The man smelled of fish and still had a death grip on his arm.
The only thing Junsu could think of to do was recite his apology. He stumbled over the words, but the intensity of the man’s glare lessened significantly. He seemed surprised.
And then Aya was there to save him. She had a firm grip on her spear but didn’t use it yet. She spoke to the man much like she had spoken to the girl, and he let go.
“Come,” Aya said, putting a hand on Junsu’s shoulder. “We should go.”
The man moved to stand by the little girl, who was most likely his daughter, and Junsu let Aya lead him away. A lot of people were staring at them now, and they had to walk for some time before the attention slowly faded.
“What did I do?” Junsu asked. His heart was still beating wildly in his chest.
“Exactly the kind of thing I was afraid you would do,” Aya said.
“But I don’t understand-“
“We believe that when someone dies, their spirit is given new life as a bear, the most powerful animal, to watch over their loved ones from a distance,” Aya said. “Someone who wears a bear necklace has recently lost someone, or still feels the loss very strongly. It’s a very sacred and personal thing. You don't let anyone else touch it. The girl thought you were going to grab the necklace that represented her mother’s spirit.”
“...oh,” Junsu said.
“You couldn’t know,” Aya said, “but you very nearly got yourself in a lot of trouble with your southern ignorance.”
Junsu looked over his shoulder, but they had gone too far to be able to see the girl or her father. “Did you tell her I didn’t mean to?” he asked. “Did you apologise for me?”
“Yes,” Aya said. She stopped walking and looked at the sun. “Now if you promise not to reach for anyone’s necklace again, or to even look at them, we still have a little time to find you a decent pair of boots.”
Junsu thought for a moment. “Do the people here accept gold?” he asked.
“Yes,” Aya said. “We use gold to buy goods from the south. We only used whale oil and furs in the past, but thanks to the grandfather of your friend with his yellow sails, gold became an important part of trade here.”
“How much for a pair of boots?”
“About three pieces.”
“Then I won’t do that,” Junsu decided. “I don’t have much, and I haven’t bought anyone a present yet. Boots aren’t that important, especially if I end up going home soon.”
The sun was slowly setting, it was quickly cooling down and he was starting to lose feeling in his feet. He tried to ignore it all the way back to the palace, but he was glad to be back in the room with the brightly burning fire and Jaejoong still curled up in front of it.
“Where have you been?” Jaejoong asked.
“A walk,” Junsu said, because that was the easiest answer.
“Yoochun isn’t back yet, I wonder how he’s doing.” Jaejoong stared at the window. “Did you know the sea sometimes freezes over during the winter months here? The sea turns into ice, can you imagine?”
Apparently Jaejoong’s mind hadn’t moved far from where it had been just after breakfast. Junsu wondered if he wanted to listen to complaints about cold weather for the rest of the evening.
Maybe he would do some exploring inside of the palace later, after he’d warmed up a bit.
“Ah, I’m glad to see you.” The Queen put down her glass of wine. “So, do you like them?”
“I thought you said I didn’t need to report to you,” Changmin reminded his mother.
The Queen smiled. “Then why are you here?”
“Because I want to ask you about your reasons behind inviting Kim Junsu.”
“I thought you met with the young lord of White Mountain today.”
“I did, but I will meet the young lord Kim tomorrow and before I do, I want to understand why you chose him for me.”
“My reasons are the same as for the other two,” she answered a little too soon. “He applied and I deemed him suitable.”
Changmin could feel she was keeping something from him. “Is that all? And do you really think him suitable, the second son of the least powerful Lord of Soris?”
“You know we don’t care much for those things here.”
“No, but the south does, and you care about our relationship with the south enough to arrange this marriage.”
The Queen picked up her glass again. “I think he’s southern enough to get Soris behind him. And you know I care just as much about your happiness. If you don’t like him, don’t pick him, and if you don’t like the others either, you can send them all back. We’ll find someone else.”
Changmin took a step forward to where his mother was seated in her favourite chair by the fire. “You would let me reject them all? After the effort you put into selecting them? Why?”
She looked at him. “Because I don’t think you actually want to do that. Tell me, what about him interests you so?”
She infuriated him sometimes. But he also respected her cunning mind.
“I don’t like or dislike him, I just don’t understand why he’s here. He doesn’t seem to know himself. He has made no attempts to get close to me like the others have.”
The Queen nodded slowly. “I’ll tell you my reasons, if you think it would help you.”
Changmin waited patiently.
“The Lord of Apples and Honey sent me a letter explaining his son's qualities in great detail. It was well-written, but just a little too perfect.”
Just like all the others probably were, Changmin thought. “What father wouldn’t exaggerate his sons skills when there is a chance at such a beneficial marriage?”
“Exactly,” the Queen said, “I received many similar letters. What’s interesting is that my letter asking for more personal information wasn’t answered by the father, but the older brother, and his letter told a very different story. He tried to convince me that his brother was completely unsuitable for the role of your husband, immature and disobedient.”
“So, his brother was jealous?” Changmin guessed.
The Queen looked at her wine as if it would reveal the true explanation. “Perhaps. But he is married already, and his children would greatly benefit from a tie to our family through their uncle. He would be a very jealous fool not to see that, and he didn’t write like a fool.”
“Then…” Changmin said, “he wanted to keep his brother from being chosen for another reason. To protect him? Do the people in the south really detest our country that much, or is it me he feared?”
“I don’t know.” The Queen turned her glass around in her hand. “But it intrigued me. Who is this boy and what is he truly like? So I sent an invitation, addressed specifically to the father.”
“That’s all?” Changmin asked. “His family members disagree with each other. That’s why you picked him.”
“He’s a little different. I thought you’d like that.”
“What does he think of this himself?” Changmin asked. Wasn’t that the most important thing?
“I don’t know,” the Queen said. “I thought you could find out.”
Changmin didn’t think he’d ever fully understand his mother, but he knew she had a great sense for many things. A disagreeing father and brother didn’t tell him anything about a person, but she seemed to have discovered some meaning in that.
He thought she had mainly let their country’s interests lead her in her decisions this time, but maybe he was wrong about that. And if anyone knew what made a good marriage, it was his mother.
His feet automatically brought him to his father’s rooms.
Two years had passed already. It wasn’t enough time to stop missing someone, but long enough to end their period of mourning and start looking towards the future again, as his mother had said. It was time to find an heir, to expand their family.
Not a lot of torches were kept burning in this nearly abandoned part of the palace. Changmin walked around in the semi-darkness, not sure what he was looking for. Sometimes he came here just to walk around for a bit, to retrace the steps he took when he was still a boy, in different times.
A sudden sound made him stop and listen.
There wasn’t supposed to be anyone here. The servants wouldn’t be cleaning at this hour.
Another sound, footsteps, lead him to the nearest door. Changmin didn’t bother holding his breath or keeping his own feet silent. If anyone had the right to be here, it was him.
The intruder didn’t seem to notice him regardless. Changmin looked inside the room. His father’s coat was draped over a chair, and someone was touching it, rubbing his hands all over the precious white fox fur.
Furious, Changmin stepped forward and grabbed the man’s arm. He spun him around an pushed him against the nearest wall, trapping him with his body.
“Ah!” the intruder winced and cried out with a familiar voice. Changmin eased his grip a bit. But he didn’t let go.
The Prince had grabbed his arm in exactly the same spot as the angry father had that afternoon. The Prince's blue eyes were angry too.
Junsu wondered what he’d done wrong. Well, he probably wasn’t supposed to be here, or touch anything.
“My Prince, I just, I noticed it was the same fur as your coat is made of, and Jaejoong said it was the softest thing he’d ever worn. I wanted to feel for myself.”
“That there,” the Prince said, “is my father’s coat.” His voice was low and clear. “And you are never to touch it again.”
Junsu hadn’t noticed before, but he saw now that the Prince wore a necklace as well.
The little bear hung from a delicate silver chain against his chest, its white almost glowing against the dark blue of his tunic. The animal was so intricately carved that it looked like it might come to life at any moment.
Junsu didn’t know how the thought came to him, or why he decided to go along with it despite the fear he'd felt in the back of his mind since the Prince had suddenly pushed him into the wall. It was like his hand acted on its own accord, reaching out and lifting the small figurine from the Prince’s chest.
The Prince flinched back from him as if burned by fire.
“Is that one of the bears we’re not supposed to eat?” Junsu asked as innocently as he could.
There had to be a line, somewhere, and once he’d crossed it, the Prince would never consider him serious marriage material ever again.
Junsu wondered if this was it.
NEXT
Previous
Pairing: Changmin/Junsu
Summary: Junsu is living a carefree, comfortable life in his father’s orchards, planning a big adventure. Everything changes when it is decided that the Prince of Ice will marry a son of one of the southern lords. Junsu learns that sometimes life pushes you in an unexpected direction, and fighting it only makes things worse.
Junsu found Jaejoong curled up in a blanket by the fire in their shared sitting room.
“I didn’t see you at breakfast,” he said.
“I don’t usually eat breakfast,” Jaejoong replied, “or not much. And they don’t have my favourite sweets and hot drinks here.”
Sweets for breakfast? Junsu thought southerners were weird, but he didn’t comment on it. “How was your date yesterday?”
A smile formed on Jaejoong’s lips. “The Prince is very… royal, good manners. He doesn’t talk much, but he’s so handsome.” He pulled his blanket up to his chin. “If only his country wasn’t so damn cold. Did you know that you can swim in the sea by the Golden Shore every single day of the year? Of course you've heard, your brother married a Jung. It’s true you can be in the water every day along the entire west coast, because the sea is always warm, but we get beautiful sunny weather on top of that.”
Junsu just nodded. He knew the west coast was somehow warmer than the east, and that winters were stronger further inland where he lived, but he honestly wasn’t that interested.
“And look how dark it still is,” Jaejoong said, glancing at the window. “The Prince says that it gets worse, that during the winter, it stays dark for almost entire days. Can you imagine that?” he sounded horrified by the mere idea.
“Good morning to you, too,” Junsu muttered under his breath.
Jaejoong didn’t hear. “Do you like it here?” he asked.
“I haven’t seen much of the country yet, but I don’t mind what I’ve seen so far.”
“Very diplomatic.” Jaejoong smiled. “Can I ask how old you are?”
“Nineteen.”
Jaejoong nodded. “Yes, I thought you were young. Did you know the Prince is only twenty-three? I thought he would be older than me, turns out he’s a year younger.”
“That doesn’t really matter, does it?”
Jaejoong stared into the fire. “I suppose not. I don’t know if he will pick me though, I’m not even sure if I want him to. It’s all up to fate now.”
Junsu didn’t like that word, fate, like you had no control over your own life whatsoever. He hoped Yoochun was less resigned than Jaejoong and working hard on seducing the Prince today.
“He can stand the cold better than me, but Yoochun is afraid of animals,” Jaejoong suddenly said. “It’s his one weakness. Cats he can handle, dogs if they’re not too big, horses because he has no choice, but anything else… I noticed any mention of the white bears freaks him out, although he tries to be brave and nonchalant about it. And then this country has other things, like strange fat animals with huge tusks. The Prince says they don’t come near the city, so he should be fine, but I’m not sure he’ll sleep very well.”
“I don’t think the Prince will mind,” Junsu said. “He’ll probably like having someone to protect. As long as Yoochun is honest about it…”
“Oh, he will be. He’s very bad at hiding his fear,” Jaejoong said with an almost fond smile. “Do you know where my bodyguard has gone? He promised to find an extra blanket.”
“I’ll look for him,” Junsu said.
“I want to go outside.”
“No.”
“Please?”
Aya shook her head. “I’ve already explained my reasons to you yesterday.”
“The Prince is disappointed that I know so little about his people,” Junsu tried. “How am I supposed to learn if I’m in here, talking to other southerners.”
“You can talk to me,” Aya suggested.
Junsu sighed. Then he thought for a moment. “You’re afraid I’ll be unpopular because the Prince hasn’t chosen me yet and no one is sure of my intentions. Can’t I just tell the people why I’m here myself, and maybe they can judge for themselves if I’m being honest?”
“They wouldn’t understand you,” Aya simply said.
“So teach me. Teach me how to say ‘I’m here today because I want to get to know you and your beautiful city’ and also teach me how to politely apologise, in case I say or do something wrong.”
Aya looked at him. She didn’t refuse immediately. Junsu could see he was gaining ground.
“And,” he said, “if that doesn’t work, you get to do some awesome bodyguard things, save me from an angry mob and guide me back to the palace, instead of babysitting me in here, because let’s be honest, that’s kind of what you’re doing.”
That made her smile.
“I will translate what you asked,” she said, “and you will repeat the words until I think others would be able to understand, and then, maybe, we can go for a short walk.”
It took almost an hour to memorise a few simple sentences, because Aya insisted on not only telling him the words, but also explaining their grammatical structure, and how certain sounds could mean different things if he pronounced them wrong. And then she wrote it down and made him recite the line while he stared at the unfamiliar characters on the paper, so he got a sense of what the writing system looked like.
Junsu’s parents and his brother would be astonished if they saw how dedicated he was to this task. They would wish he’d shown such enthusiasm during his lessons back home.
Aya didn’t exactly praise him, but she didn’t scold him either, and she was overall very patient, more patient than Junsu himself.
“How come you speak our language?” he asked her.
“Thanks to the Queen, and because I was interested,” she said. “I wanted to travel, but my parents sent me to work in the palace. I was kicked out of the kitchen, because I was too wild and broke things by accident. The head of the Guard taught me a way to channel my energy, and the Queen herself sent me down to the docks to learn different languages from the traders, because she prefers guards with many skills, and she knew I was interested.”
“You learned to speak like this, just from chatting with traders?” Junsu asked.
“Sometimes they stay for more than half a year and act like middlemen for new ships that arrive. I helped a few of them with their daily work. I got to talk to the sailors as well, and then I read the books in the palace.”
“But you didn’t get to travel, in the end?” Junsu asked.
“No, but it doesn’t matter. I am happy now. I like where I am and I'm good at what I do, why would I want anything else?”
“I still think it’s sad that you didn’t get to fulfil your dream.”
“But I got a new dream, one that I didn’t even know about before, one that did come true. Is that not better?”
“If you say so,” Junsu said. He wasn’t convinced.
“You’re not paying attention to your lesson,” Aya said.
Junsu recited his apology in Cryan and she smiled. “Good,” she said. It was the first compliment she gave him.
“Will you get in trouble for this?” Junsu asked Aya. She was leading him out of the palace through a dark hallway towards a narrow door that quite clearly wasn’t a main entrance or exit.
“Only if you tell,” she said. She smiled and put a finger against her lips.
Junsu stopped. “Are you serious?” he whispered. He couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. He’d thought she didn’t want him to go outside because he might be a nuisance to her, not because she had direct orders to keep him inside. He didn’t want to get her in trouble.
She only gestured to follow her through the door and Junsu’s curiosity got the best of him. Soon they were standing outside, on a street that ran around the palace wall. It felt good to feel the cool wind and warm sunlight on his face again.
There was a guard standing by the door. Aya greeted him and they had a short conversation in Cryan. Junsu listened, at the same time fascinated by the melodic sounds of the language and worried that the man would send them back inside. But there were no words he recognised, so he had no idea what they were saying.
The guard nodded and smiled at him. Junsu gave him a hopeful smile back.
“Let’s go,” Aya said. “I told him we're going into the city and that we’ll be back at this door before sundown, so he will sound the alarm if we don’t show up.”
“So you don’t have any orders to keep me inside the palace?” Junsu asked, just to be sure.
“My only orders are to keep you safe and to make sure you make it to your meetings with the Prince.” Compared to how hesitant she had been before, she seemed almost happy to be outside now. “Where do you want to go?” she asked.
“I want to buy some presents for my family. Is there something like a marketplace?”
“Of course.”
Aya lead him downhill over the road, between rows of brightly coloured houses. She was carrying her spear and seemed constantly alert, but she looked more relaxed and confident than nervous. A few people stopped and stared. Junsu smiled at them and tried his best to look innocent and friendly.
He had no idea how he would have felt if it had been one of those people walking over his father’s roads back home, a complete stranger who looked different, didn’t speak the language and was potentially about to marry his future king.
“Are your clothes thick enough?” Aya suddenly asked him.
It was a bit chilly, but the sun was shining, and if Junsu kept walking, he would stay warm enough. “Yes,” he said. Aya’s own tunic didn’t seem to be any thicker than his, but he was a bit jealous of her fur lined boots. His woollen socks were worn and only just kept his feet warm.
Aya narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s okay to admit that you’re not as used to the climate as I am. It’s only natural. I need you to tell me when you’re cold. Getting too cold is dangerous, and it can happen on sunny autumn days like this one.”
“I wish I had boots like yours,” Junsu admitted, "but I’m not cold."
Aya accepted that answer after a look at his leather shoes. “There might be something for you at the market.”
The market was bigger than Junsu expected, and the variety of products, too. There was lots of fish and meat, including the dark meat Junsu had tasted the day before. There were furs and weapons made of bone and flint, but also things that were obviously imported from the south, fabrics, metal and fruit. Junsu even spotted a basket of oranges.
“The market is only like this during the summer months, when southern ships come to our harbour,” Aya said. “It’s much smaller during the winter. You’re lucky you’re able to see it like this. Winter is not far away now, closer than it is to your land.”
One stand in particular drew Junsu’s attention. Laid out on neatly sown together brown furs was a collection of little figurines and jewellery, cut from bone. A few were decorated with small pieces of a kind of gem, deep blue like the Prince’s eyes.
A young girl sat on her knees behind it. She couldn’t be much older than Yunji.
“What’s the word for pretty?” Junsu asked Aya.
“Describing a person?” she asked.
Junsu shook his head. “As in pretty things.”
Aya told him. Junsu repeated it in his head and crouched down. “Pretty,” he said as best as he could, looking at the girl and pointing at the things laid out on the furs.
She seemed a bit shy, her eyes were big and brown like Yunho’s, but she gave him a careful smile.
Junsu’s heart clenched as he suddenly realised how much he missed his niece. He missed telling her stories and listening to her observations based on solid childish wisdom. He missed Yunho, too, even if most of their conversations still ended with tiny sticky hands tangled in his hair.
He wished they were both here so he could show them the marvels of this strange land.
He scanned the necklaces and found that most of them depicted animals he’d never seen before. Fish and whales he knew, and there was also a certain type of bird and something that reminded him of what Jaejoong had mentioned that morning, about strange fat animals with big tusks. He reached out to touch one of those. The thing also seemed to have fish-like attributes.
The girl quickly picked up the necklace and held it out for him. She was smiling widely now and said something he didn’t understand.
He looked up at Aya. “What did she say?”
Aya failed to completely hide her amused smile behind her hand. “She said it suits you, strong brown-haired hunter.”
Junsu smiled at the girl but shook his head. “What’s cat in Cryan?” he asked Aya.
“Cat?” Aya asked, confused.
“Don’t you know cats?” Junsu asked. He looked from Aya to the little girl and back.
“Meow?” he said, and he drew pointy ears above his head with his fingers.
The girl laughed and Aya clasped a hand over her mouth.
The girl walked around her stand and kneeled in front of him. She was still holding the necklace with the strange fat animal and offered to hang it around his neck.
Junsu wanted to shake his head again, but her expression was so bright and hopeful that he hesitated. His eyes fell on the necklace she was wearing herself. The little animal figurine hanging from the leather cord was cut from the purest white material and very clearly resembled a bear, much like the brown ones Junsu knew from pictures in books.
“Is that one of the sacred white bears?” he asked, and he pointed at it.
The little girl jumped to her feet and screamed, eyes wide. Aya quickly stood between her and Junsu and crouched down. She spoke slow, calming words. Junsu also recognised an apology in there. He got up and took a step back, wondering what he’d done wrong. The girl was still looking at him over Aya’s shoulder, horrified.
Someone roughly grabbed his arm and turned him around. A tall man with a face covered in black symbols glared at him so fiercely that Junsu cringed. The man smelled of fish and still had a death grip on his arm.
The only thing Junsu could think of to do was recite his apology. He stumbled over the words, but the intensity of the man’s glare lessened significantly. He seemed surprised.
And then Aya was there to save him. She had a firm grip on her spear but didn’t use it yet. She spoke to the man much like she had spoken to the girl, and he let go.
“Come,” Aya said, putting a hand on Junsu’s shoulder. “We should go.”
The man moved to stand by the little girl, who was most likely his daughter, and Junsu let Aya lead him away. A lot of people were staring at them now, and they had to walk for some time before the attention slowly faded.
“What did I do?” Junsu asked. His heart was still beating wildly in his chest.
“Exactly the kind of thing I was afraid you would do,” Aya said.
“But I don’t understand-“
“We believe that when someone dies, their spirit is given new life as a bear, the most powerful animal, to watch over their loved ones from a distance,” Aya said. “Someone who wears a bear necklace has recently lost someone, or still feels the loss very strongly. It’s a very sacred and personal thing. You don't let anyone else touch it. The girl thought you were going to grab the necklace that represented her mother’s spirit.”
“...oh,” Junsu said.
“You couldn’t know,” Aya said, “but you very nearly got yourself in a lot of trouble with your southern ignorance.”
Junsu looked over his shoulder, but they had gone too far to be able to see the girl or her father. “Did you tell her I didn’t mean to?” he asked. “Did you apologise for me?”
“Yes,” Aya said. She stopped walking and looked at the sun. “Now if you promise not to reach for anyone’s necklace again, or to even look at them, we still have a little time to find you a decent pair of boots.”
Junsu thought for a moment. “Do the people here accept gold?” he asked.
“Yes,” Aya said. “We use gold to buy goods from the south. We only used whale oil and furs in the past, but thanks to the grandfather of your friend with his yellow sails, gold became an important part of trade here.”
“How much for a pair of boots?”
“About three pieces.”
“Then I won’t do that,” Junsu decided. “I don’t have much, and I haven’t bought anyone a present yet. Boots aren’t that important, especially if I end up going home soon.”
The sun was slowly setting, it was quickly cooling down and he was starting to lose feeling in his feet. He tried to ignore it all the way back to the palace, but he was glad to be back in the room with the brightly burning fire and Jaejoong still curled up in front of it.
“Where have you been?” Jaejoong asked.
“A walk,” Junsu said, because that was the easiest answer.
“Yoochun isn’t back yet, I wonder how he’s doing.” Jaejoong stared at the window. “Did you know the sea sometimes freezes over during the winter months here? The sea turns into ice, can you imagine?”
Apparently Jaejoong’s mind hadn’t moved far from where it had been just after breakfast. Junsu wondered if he wanted to listen to complaints about cold weather for the rest of the evening.
Maybe he would do some exploring inside of the palace later, after he’d warmed up a bit.
“Ah, I’m glad to see you.” The Queen put down her glass of wine. “So, do you like them?”
“I thought you said I didn’t need to report to you,” Changmin reminded his mother.
The Queen smiled. “Then why are you here?”
“Because I want to ask you about your reasons behind inviting Kim Junsu.”
“I thought you met with the young lord of White Mountain today.”
“I did, but I will meet the young lord Kim tomorrow and before I do, I want to understand why you chose him for me.”
“My reasons are the same as for the other two,” she answered a little too soon. “He applied and I deemed him suitable.”
Changmin could feel she was keeping something from him. “Is that all? And do you really think him suitable, the second son of the least powerful Lord of Soris?”
“You know we don’t care much for those things here.”
“No, but the south does, and you care about our relationship with the south enough to arrange this marriage.”
The Queen picked up her glass again. “I think he’s southern enough to get Soris behind him. And you know I care just as much about your happiness. If you don’t like him, don’t pick him, and if you don’t like the others either, you can send them all back. We’ll find someone else.”
Changmin took a step forward to where his mother was seated in her favourite chair by the fire. “You would let me reject them all? After the effort you put into selecting them? Why?”
She looked at him. “Because I don’t think you actually want to do that. Tell me, what about him interests you so?”
She infuriated him sometimes. But he also respected her cunning mind.
“I don’t like or dislike him, I just don’t understand why he’s here. He doesn’t seem to know himself. He has made no attempts to get close to me like the others have.”
The Queen nodded slowly. “I’ll tell you my reasons, if you think it would help you.”
Changmin waited patiently.
“The Lord of Apples and Honey sent me a letter explaining his son's qualities in great detail. It was well-written, but just a little too perfect.”
Just like all the others probably were, Changmin thought. “What father wouldn’t exaggerate his sons skills when there is a chance at such a beneficial marriage?”
“Exactly,” the Queen said, “I received many similar letters. What’s interesting is that my letter asking for more personal information wasn’t answered by the father, but the older brother, and his letter told a very different story. He tried to convince me that his brother was completely unsuitable for the role of your husband, immature and disobedient.”
“So, his brother was jealous?” Changmin guessed.
The Queen looked at her wine as if it would reveal the true explanation. “Perhaps. But he is married already, and his children would greatly benefit from a tie to our family through their uncle. He would be a very jealous fool not to see that, and he didn’t write like a fool.”
“Then…” Changmin said, “he wanted to keep his brother from being chosen for another reason. To protect him? Do the people in the south really detest our country that much, or is it me he feared?”
“I don’t know.” The Queen turned her glass around in her hand. “But it intrigued me. Who is this boy and what is he truly like? So I sent an invitation, addressed specifically to the father.”
“That’s all?” Changmin asked. “His family members disagree with each other. That’s why you picked him.”
“He’s a little different. I thought you’d like that.”
“What does he think of this himself?” Changmin asked. Wasn’t that the most important thing?
“I don’t know,” the Queen said. “I thought you could find out.”
Changmin didn’t think he’d ever fully understand his mother, but he knew she had a great sense for many things. A disagreeing father and brother didn’t tell him anything about a person, but she seemed to have discovered some meaning in that.
He thought she had mainly let their country’s interests lead her in her decisions this time, but maybe he was wrong about that. And if anyone knew what made a good marriage, it was his mother.
His feet automatically brought him to his father’s rooms.
Two years had passed already. It wasn’t enough time to stop missing someone, but long enough to end their period of mourning and start looking towards the future again, as his mother had said. It was time to find an heir, to expand their family.
Not a lot of torches were kept burning in this nearly abandoned part of the palace. Changmin walked around in the semi-darkness, not sure what he was looking for. Sometimes he came here just to walk around for a bit, to retrace the steps he took when he was still a boy, in different times.
A sudden sound made him stop and listen.
There wasn’t supposed to be anyone here. The servants wouldn’t be cleaning at this hour.
Another sound, footsteps, lead him to the nearest door. Changmin didn’t bother holding his breath or keeping his own feet silent. If anyone had the right to be here, it was him.
The intruder didn’t seem to notice him regardless. Changmin looked inside the room. His father’s coat was draped over a chair, and someone was touching it, rubbing his hands all over the precious white fox fur.
Furious, Changmin stepped forward and grabbed the man’s arm. He spun him around an pushed him against the nearest wall, trapping him with his body.
“Ah!” the intruder winced and cried out with a familiar voice. Changmin eased his grip a bit. But he didn’t let go.
The Prince had grabbed his arm in exactly the same spot as the angry father had that afternoon. The Prince's blue eyes were angry too.
Junsu wondered what he’d done wrong. Well, he probably wasn’t supposed to be here, or touch anything.
“My Prince, I just, I noticed it was the same fur as your coat is made of, and Jaejoong said it was the softest thing he’d ever worn. I wanted to feel for myself.”
“That there,” the Prince said, “is my father’s coat.” His voice was low and clear. “And you are never to touch it again.”
Junsu hadn’t noticed before, but he saw now that the Prince wore a necklace as well.
The little bear hung from a delicate silver chain against his chest, its white almost glowing against the dark blue of his tunic. The animal was so intricately carved that it looked like it might come to life at any moment.
Junsu didn’t know how the thought came to him, or why he decided to go along with it despite the fear he'd felt in the back of his mind since the Prince had suddenly pushed him into the wall. It was like his hand acted on its own accord, reaching out and lifting the small figurine from the Prince’s chest.
The Prince flinched back from him as if burned by fire.
“Is that one of the bears we’re not supposed to eat?” Junsu asked as innocently as he could.
There had to be a line, somewhere, and once he’d crossed it, the Prince would never consider him serious marriage material ever again.
Junsu wondered if this was it.
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