Frozen Fate 6/?
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.
Changmin could tell when people lied to him.
It wasn’t a ‘gift from the spirits’ as his mother liked to let people believe. He wasn’t even sure it was completely foolproof. It was just skill based on intuition.
Kim Junsu wasn’t telling him a lie right now, but he was feigning ignorance, which was basically the same thing.
And Changmin didn’t know how to react to it.
If it had been an honest mistake, the polite thing to do would be to forgive and to gently remind the young southerner of their cultural differences.
It hadn’t been a mistake, Changmin was sure of that, so the obvious thing to do was to ask for a reason. More than he wanted to punish him, he wanted to find out why Junsu tried to antagonise him at the expense of his late father’s memory, when he had come here to marry him.
But if he went down that road, Changmin knew he would get a lot more angry than he already was. He would surely push this young lord, an important guest invited by his mother, into the wall again, possibly hurting him, and demand an explanation. His body was already tensing up, like a predator ready for attack.
The sensible thing, therefore, would be to pretend it never happened. Changmin could do that. He had been trained to keep his personal feelings out of matters concerning the future of his kingdom.
He would simply choose one of the other candidates, send Kim Junsu home and there would not be any bad blood between their families, or kingdoms.
But there were two things Changmin couldn’t just ignore and forget.
How had this southern stranger known just what to do and say to get to him like this? Changmin couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so at odds with himself.
And why, even after he’d done something like this, did the thought of sending him home without getting to know him better feel like a wasted opportunity?
The silence dragged on, and Changmin saw now that there was a hint of regret in Junsu’s eyes. This man had just knowingly hurt and insulted him, but he felt bad enough about it to look guilty.
Changmin didn’t understand any of it.
What about him interests you so? his mother had asked.
Everything, Changmin thought.
The Prince looked at him with an intensity that made Junsu more than a little uncomfortable. Many emotions broke through his usually expressionless facade. Junsu could see that he was angry, insulted and hurt.
It was immediately obvious that the Prince didn’t think that grabbing the necklace had been the honest mistake of an ignorant southerner. Somehow, he knew that Junsu had acted knowingly.
That shouldn’t matter. Junsu’s goal was to seem as undesirable as possible, wasn’t it?
And yet he started to regret what he’d done. He still didn’t fully grasp the meaning of the necklaces. He understood what Aya had told him, but how important were they really? Did the people of Cryan actually believe that touching them was equal to dancing on the grave of someone they loved?
He wanted to make the Prince dislike him enough to let him go, but maybe dishonouring the late King was not the way he should have gone about that.
Just as quickly as they had appeared, the anger and hurt drained from the Prince’s face again, to be hidden away.
Prince Changmin seemed to be analysing the situation and deciding on an appropriate reaction, completely disregarding his own emotions. This man was the perfect future monarch, calculating and cold when he needed to be.
Junsu wondered what it would be like to be married to such a man. He hoped he would never find out.
“Aya!” The Prince suddenly called out. Junsu jumped when the shout pierced the heavy silence.
Aya appeared from the dark hallway behind the Prince, where she must have been hidden all this time. She’d followed him. Of course, Junsu thought, like his shadow, as she’d been ordered. The Prince had known that.
“Your Highness,” Aya said, bowing.
Prince Changmin didn’t turn around to face her. He kept his eyes on Junsu.
“In addition to your previous orders,” he said, “you are to make sure the young lord Kim doesn’t wander into my father’s rooms again. In fact, confine him to the part of the palace he has been assigned for the time being.”
“Of course,” Aya said. “And the other candidates? Should I inform their guards?”
“Not necessary,” the Prince said. “I’m sure they have manners.” He turned around.
Junsu realised that not a word of that had been directed at him, although he was obviously meant to hear. The Prince was going to ignore him. That was his punishment.
That was…not as bad as he’d expected. He wondered if this was it, if he’d succeeded in his mission, if he could go home.
But then the Prince added: “And bring him to my rooms tomorrow after breakfast. Don’t be late.”
“You knew what you were doing. You can’t be that stupid. Why did you do it?” Aya demanded as soon as the Prince was gone.
Junsu wasn’t sure if he should allow her to speak to him like that, but at home he was used to treating the servants like family, and Aya was more than a servant. Come to think of it, she had spoken to him as an equal all this time, and he’d simply accepted it. Too late to turn back now.
“I don’t want to marry him,” he said. The damage was done anyway, she knew he was the opposite of an honourable guest. He might as well tell her the truth.
Aya crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Then why are you here?”
‘Because my family forced me’ would sound make him sound pathetic. It also wasn’t completely true. Junsu had chosen to go himself, in the end.
But it was very different, looking into his brother’s pleading eyes or actually standing in front of the Prince of Ice. He sighed. “It’s complicated.”
Aya didn’t accept that answer. “If there’s something about him you dislike, you should reconsider after tomorrow. You have hardly spent any time with him.”
“What does it matter to you?” Junsu asked. It was rude, but so was she.
Aya looked at him for a while. Then she said: “The Queen has promised me the honour of guarding the husband of our future King. I have no say in this, the Prince decides who he will marrry, but I would like that to be you.”
“Me? Why me?” Junsu asked, incredulous.
“Because I believe that you are good for Cryan,” Aya simply said, without a trace of doubt in her voice.
She had sounded like a sensible person up to this point, but now she had completely lost him.
“But all I have done so far is insult people and get you in trouble with the Prince!”
Aya offered no explanation. Instead she said: “The Prince is not angry with me. He hasn’t made me responsible for your actions. I was only tasked to protect you. But now, I am responsible for letting you linger here. Come, we must go back to your rooms, and you need to think about how you will make up for your insolence tomorrow.”
Yoochun and Jaejoong were having an animated conversation by the fire. Junsu had no desire to join them, so he walked on to his bedroom, under the watchful eye of Aya.
“You’re never going to let me out of your sight again, are you?” he asked.
“I never have,” she said. “Except when you were sleeping or bathing.”
“What about the times when you disappeared?”
“That I’m out of your sight doesn’t mean you’re out of mine. I just thought it would be more comfortable for you, to not feel like I’m following you around all day.”
Junsu paused in the doorway and turned around to look at her. “From now on, I would like to see you when you’re watching me. I don’t care much for that false sense of privacy.”
“Understood,” Aya said with a bow. She could be subservient when she wanted. Junsu didn’t think he’d ever have the power over her that the Prince seemed to have, but then he didn’t think he’d like that.
He’d spent so much time with her these past few days that it almost felt like he’d gained a sister, a very tough and candid sister.
She let him close the door between them, although she would probably be nearby all night. Junsu wondered if she even slept herself.
And then he wondered if he would be able to sleep. Just one more day and then the Prince would pick one of the others and he could go home. But would he have enough time to explore this fascinating country before he had to leave? And how badly had he insulted the Prince today? He couldn’t help but worry about that, too.
“What would you like to do?”
That wasn’t the question Junsu had expected. He’d worried all night about what the Prince might say to him when they met again, but the Prince himself seemed determined to completely ignore what happened. Maybe the necklaces weren’t that important after all.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Prince Changmin was standing by a window, looking out over the city. He was wearing a blue tunic, white breeches and fur lined boots. His black hair was braided along the sides of his head and tied at the back.
When he turned to look at Junsu, the outline of his face framed by the soft morning light, he could rival Jaejoong’s good looks.
For the first time since Yoochun commented on it, Junsu was painfully aware of his dull brown clothes and worn leather shoes. It was a good thing he wasn’t here to impress anyone.
“I took the young Golden Lord for a walk in the courtyard and the heir of White Mountain asked for a tour of the palace before we sat down and talked. Is there anything you’d like to see, young lord of Apples and Honey?”
“Not really,” Junsu said. He tried his best to sound bored and disinterested. He didn’t think the Prince still thought of him as a serious candidate, but it was best to be safe.
“Are you sure? My gardens contain a few southern species which we will soon have to cover up to protect them from the cold. You must have some interest in plants and trees. And my palace is big. There are many rooms you haven’t seen yet.”
Besides the ones you banned me from visiting, Junsu added in his head.
“The young lord Park had a special interest in my bedroom. You don’t share his fascination?”
The Prince was looking straight into his eyes, challenging him.
Junsu didn’t even have to try to show disinterest this time. He did wonder what Yoochun had done in the Prince’s bedroom. Would the Prince have allowed him to do to him what Junsu hadn’t allowed two days ago? Junsu found that hard to believe. Still, the thought and memory made him shiver with discomfort.
“Apparently not,” the Prince said, giving him a curious look.
Junsu didn’t say anything.
“But you seem interested in my country, it’s customs and food. Ah, I never asked you if you enjoyed the traditional meal you were offered.”
Junsu shrugged. “It was edible.”
The Prince seemed disappointed in that answer. “That’s all? You ate nearly all of it. I was impressed.”
Junsu bit his lip. He’d planned not to engage in conversation, to only briefly answer the Prince’s questions and not ask any of his own. But he could no longer hold back his curiosity. “What was it?” he asked.
“I don’t know the name for the animal in your language,” the Prince said. “I don’t know if you even have one.” He walked to a table where a servant had left them a tray full of food and a pitcher filled with some kind of liquid. “Do you want anything?”
“No, thank you,” Junsu said, even though you probably weren’t supposed to refuse if a Prince offered you food or drink. He moved to stand in the spot by the window that the Prince had just left, because he was curious about the view from this part of the palace.
He could see the city and the bay from here as well, but the hills in the distance weren’t as visible today. The sky was grey and cloudy.
“We’re on an island,” the Prince said behind him, “but some winters the ice connects it to the vast land in the north.”
Junsu hadn’t asked anything. Perhaps the Prince just wanted to boast about the size of his Kingdom.
“Many of my people live and hunt there,” the Prince continued. “They hunt foxes and deer, but not the kind that live where you come from. Some stay close to the sea and fish or hunt the kind of animal you ate the meat of. They are very careful not to hunt too many of the same kind in one season, and they use every part of the animal, not just the fur and oil you southerners are so fond of.”
Junsu tried to imagine the kinds of animals the Prince was talking about. He kept staring out the window, as if he’d be able to see them through the hills and across the sea.
“This island is named after a blue crystal. There are mountains here, hidden caves and rivers of ice. There are smaller islands to the east. Their names won’t make sense to you, but translated they mean something like Mountain of Fire, Bird Rock and Bed of Moss.”
Junsu wanted to ask what their names were in Cryan, but he didn’t want to interrupt the Prince, as he still wasn’t done talking.
“This city is the door to the south. There are things our land can’t provide, like metal and fruit. Many of my people have come to depend on trade with your Kingdom, which is why my mother wants to strengthen our bond.”
That made sense, Junsu thought.
The Prince’s voice turned grave now. “Another reason is that during the past few years, hunters from Aruni have come to kill our animals, with no respect for nature or the spirits and giving us nothing in return. Some of them don’t make it back, because they’re not equipped to deal with the cold, but they are greedy and keep sending more ships.”
Junsu turned around. “They don’t have the right to do that. Can’t you do anything about it?”
The Prince looked at him. “This land is too big to protect, and we don’t want war. Soris may be small, but its influence over its neighbour far exceeds ours.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” Junsu asked.
“I want you to know why you are here, how important you are to us. Because I don’t understand how you can seem so fond of my Kingdom and yet not take your conversations with me seriously. They are connected, you see.”
“Who says I’m fond of your Kingdom?” Junsu said boldly. “I’m not.”
It was a lie. He actually liked Cryan more with every new piece of information he learned about it. But he would not admit that.
Unexpectedly, the Prince smiled, quite convincingly. So he was capable of it.
“I’m sorry for making assumptions.” He didn’t seem sorry at all, smiling like he did. “But tell me, if this was your very last day here. What would you want to do?”
That was a question Junsu could answer without thinking. “I would want to go into the city, so see as much of it as I can and to buy souvenirs for my niece and nephew.”
The Prince looked past him, out the window. “Today is a cold day. Summer is behind us. Are you sure you want to go outside?”
“You would let me?” Junsu asked, perhaps a little too eagerly. He didn’t want to sound excited about anything the Prince proposed.
“I would come with you, of course,” the Prince said.
That didn’t matter. Junsu had already resigned himself to spending the whole day in the Prince’s company. But he hadn’t expected he would actually get to do something fun.
The Prince was right. With the sun hidden behind the clouds, it was a lot colder. Junsu’s leather shoes with woollen socks might as well have been sandals for how much warmth they provided. The rest of his clothes were a little too thin as well, but Junsu refused to do as Jaejoong and ask to borrow the Prince’s cloak.
He would look ridiculous in it anyway. The snow white fur looked amazing around the Prince’s broad shoulders, a sharp contrast to his black hair and a perfect match with his boots. It undoubtedly make Junsu look like a stable boy in comparison.
Strangely enough, the people they met shot him the exact same admiring looks they gave the Prince. It was a completely different reaction from yesterday, when they had been curious but mostly wary.
Junsu had been surprised when the Prince said they would only take Aya and Joon, the Prince’s personal guard, to protect them. But he could see now that there was no real danger out here. People smiled when they saw them and kept a respectable distance. Aya and Joon stayed alert, but they carried their weapons loosely at their side.
A woman shouted something in Cryan, and a few others came running to admire them.
“What did she say?” Junsu asked, curious.
The Prince cleared his throat. “Something like…come look at the handsome man our Prince will marry.”
Junsu could feel his cheeks heat up. “But they don’t know yet if you will pick me.”
“Being seen at my side in public in the city gives you an advantage over the others. The people will assume I favour you.”
“That…it wasn’t my intention. I hadn’t thought about that at all when I said I wanted to go outside.”
“I know,” the Prince said without looking at him. “That’s why I agreed to it. We’re almost at the market. What are you looking for?”
Junsu thought about fur boots again. That idea seemed very tempting right now, but he shouldn’t spend all his money on himself.
The street was more crowded here. The empty space around them shrunk slightly, but people still kept their distance, until suddenly a tall man stepped forward and blocked their way.
Joon made to draw his sword, but Aya held him back with a hand on his arm and a shake of her head.
It was the man who yelled at Junsu yesterday. The little girl appeared from behind him. She looked a little shy but determined as she stepped forward. Junsu smiled at her. He hoped she was not afraid of him now.
The Prince said something in Cryan and the man bowed and said something back.
“This man says his daughter has something to show you,” the Prince said to Junsu. “Do you know them?”
Junsu was surprised by how quickly the Prince switched between the two languages. He hadn’t heard him speak Cryan before, and his Sorisian sounded so natural that he hadn’t even imagined him speaking anything else.
The little girl was right in front of him now, drawing his attention. “I know them,” he said, and he crouched down to seem less intimidating to her.
She held out a small ivory figurine. Junsu immediately saw that it was a fox. Its eyes were tiny shards of a bright blue crystal. She pointed at its ears and smiled widely. It was true that they were a little cat-like. Junsu smiled back.
“Pretty,” he said in Cryan, hoping he’d remembered it right.
She pushed the little fox against his hand, urging him to take it.
Junsu looked up at the Prince, who didn’t quite manage to hide his surprise in time. Yes, Junsu thought, I know a little something about your language too. A little.
“Can you tell her I don’t have enough gold to buy such a pretty figurine?” he asked.
The girl said something before the Prince had time to translate.
“She says it’s a gift,” he said. “Because she screamed at you yesterday even though you’re not a bad man.” He gave Junsu a questioning look.
Junsu pulled two gold pieces from the pouch on his belt. “I can’t just take it for free. It’s too beautiful.”
The girl shook her head.
“She doesn’t want the gold,” the Prince said. “It’s a gift. You should accept it.”
The girl pushed the little fox into his hand and walked back to stand beside her father.
Junsu didn’t like it. He wanted to pay her for it, but maybe this was another important custom he did not know about. He stood up and admired the delicately carved animal from up close.
He wouldn’t give it to Yunji, because she had asked for a cat. He knew she would settle for a fox if she had to, but he wanted to do better than that. Yunho would probably appreciate this gift more. But maybe he’d give it to Mina first so she could save it until her son was old enough to not randomly put small things in his mouth.
The girl’s father bowed deeply for the second time and said something again. Junsu recognised an apology.
The Prince frowned and looked at him. “He apologises for the misunderstanding yesterday and he wants to know if you are hurt.”
“Tell him not to worry about it,” Junsu said.
The Prince moved closer, standing beside him. “Did this man hurt you?”
“No.”
“He says he grabbed you and worries he was too rough. Show me your arms.”
Junsu thought everyone was overreacting. He looked to Aya for help, but she showed her support for the Prince with a nod.
Junsu sighed and pulled up his sleeves. There was a light bruise just above one of his wrists.
The Prince took his hand and inspected it. “Did he do this?”
Junsu shrugged. “You grabbed me there, too. I couldn’t say which of you caused it.”
The Prince let go of his hand and looked guilty for a second. Then he turned to the man and said something that sounded like a dismissal.
The man looked relieved. He bowed again, towards Junsu this time, and walked away.
“I don’t know what happened,” the Prince said, “but you should be careful. It is an offence punishable by death to injure a member of the royal family, even if it is just a bruise.”
Junsu was shocked. “You wouldn’t put a man to death over something like this.”
The Prince’s eyes hardened. “When we get married and someone hurts you, I will.”
If, Junsu thought. If we get married.
But he was starting to understand what it meant to be seen by the Prince’s side like this. In one day an entire city had gone from looking down on him to treating him like royalty.
“Your hands are cold,” the Prince said. “We need to buy you something warm to wear before we do anything else.”
Junsu wrapped his arms around his own body. He wanted to protest, but the thought of being warm again was just too tempting.
Suddenly, someone was shouting again, and soon more people followed. These weren’t shouts of admiration, Junsu didn’t need to understand the language for that. They sounded worried, almost panicked. He looked to the Prince for help, but he seemed busy trying to listen to what everyone was saying at once.
Aya translated for him instead. “A ship from the south has arrived in the harbour, with news from Soris. There is bad weather in your country.”
“Winter is coming from the south this year,” Joon said. His Cryan accent was heavier than Aya’s. It made the words sound even more grim.
“What does that mean?” Junsu asked.
“When the winter starts with storms in the south, it will be a long and harsh one,” Aya explained. “The last time that happened was nine years ago.”
Junsu’s heart sank. He remembered that winter. He had been ten, Junho seventeen. Hail storms badly damaged the orchards ahead of harvest. His father divided all the food they had equally over the villages. What Junsu mostly remembered from that winter was the cold, his parents yelling at each other, and hunger.
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.
Changmin could tell when people lied to him.
It wasn’t a ‘gift from the spirits’ as his mother liked to let people believe. He wasn’t even sure it was completely foolproof. It was just skill based on intuition.
Kim Junsu wasn’t telling him a lie right now, but he was feigning ignorance, which was basically the same thing.
And Changmin didn’t know how to react to it.
If it had been an honest mistake, the polite thing to do would be to forgive and to gently remind the young southerner of their cultural differences.
It hadn’t been a mistake, Changmin was sure of that, so the obvious thing to do was to ask for a reason. More than he wanted to punish him, he wanted to find out why Junsu tried to antagonise him at the expense of his late father’s memory, when he had come here to marry him.
But if he went down that road, Changmin knew he would get a lot more angry than he already was. He would surely push this young lord, an important guest invited by his mother, into the wall again, possibly hurting him, and demand an explanation. His body was already tensing up, like a predator ready for attack.
The sensible thing, therefore, would be to pretend it never happened. Changmin could do that. He had been trained to keep his personal feelings out of matters concerning the future of his kingdom.
He would simply choose one of the other candidates, send Kim Junsu home and there would not be any bad blood between their families, or kingdoms.
But there were two things Changmin couldn’t just ignore and forget.
How had this southern stranger known just what to do and say to get to him like this? Changmin couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so at odds with himself.
And why, even after he’d done something like this, did the thought of sending him home without getting to know him better feel like a wasted opportunity?
The silence dragged on, and Changmin saw now that there was a hint of regret in Junsu’s eyes. This man had just knowingly hurt and insulted him, but he felt bad enough about it to look guilty.
Changmin didn’t understand any of it.
What about him interests you so? his mother had asked.
Everything, Changmin thought.
The Prince looked at him with an intensity that made Junsu more than a little uncomfortable. Many emotions broke through his usually expressionless facade. Junsu could see that he was angry, insulted and hurt.
It was immediately obvious that the Prince didn’t think that grabbing the necklace had been the honest mistake of an ignorant southerner. Somehow, he knew that Junsu had acted knowingly.
That shouldn’t matter. Junsu’s goal was to seem as undesirable as possible, wasn’t it?
And yet he started to regret what he’d done. He still didn’t fully grasp the meaning of the necklaces. He understood what Aya had told him, but how important were they really? Did the people of Cryan actually believe that touching them was equal to dancing on the grave of someone they loved?
He wanted to make the Prince dislike him enough to let him go, but maybe dishonouring the late King was not the way he should have gone about that.
Just as quickly as they had appeared, the anger and hurt drained from the Prince’s face again, to be hidden away.
Prince Changmin seemed to be analysing the situation and deciding on an appropriate reaction, completely disregarding his own emotions. This man was the perfect future monarch, calculating and cold when he needed to be.
Junsu wondered what it would be like to be married to such a man. He hoped he would never find out.
“Aya!” The Prince suddenly called out. Junsu jumped when the shout pierced the heavy silence.
Aya appeared from the dark hallway behind the Prince, where she must have been hidden all this time. She’d followed him. Of course, Junsu thought, like his shadow, as she’d been ordered. The Prince had known that.
“Your Highness,” Aya said, bowing.
Prince Changmin didn’t turn around to face her. He kept his eyes on Junsu.
“In addition to your previous orders,” he said, “you are to make sure the young lord Kim doesn’t wander into my father’s rooms again. In fact, confine him to the part of the palace he has been assigned for the time being.”
“Of course,” Aya said. “And the other candidates? Should I inform their guards?”
“Not necessary,” the Prince said. “I’m sure they have manners.” He turned around.
Junsu realised that not a word of that had been directed at him, although he was obviously meant to hear. The Prince was going to ignore him. That was his punishment.
That was…not as bad as he’d expected. He wondered if this was it, if he’d succeeded in his mission, if he could go home.
But then the Prince added: “And bring him to my rooms tomorrow after breakfast. Don’t be late.”
“You knew what you were doing. You can’t be that stupid. Why did you do it?” Aya demanded as soon as the Prince was gone.
Junsu wasn’t sure if he should allow her to speak to him like that, but at home he was used to treating the servants like family, and Aya was more than a servant. Come to think of it, she had spoken to him as an equal all this time, and he’d simply accepted it. Too late to turn back now.
“I don’t want to marry him,” he said. The damage was done anyway, she knew he was the opposite of an honourable guest. He might as well tell her the truth.
Aya crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Then why are you here?”
‘Because my family forced me’ would sound make him sound pathetic. It also wasn’t completely true. Junsu had chosen to go himself, in the end.
But it was very different, looking into his brother’s pleading eyes or actually standing in front of the Prince of Ice. He sighed. “It’s complicated.”
Aya didn’t accept that answer. “If there’s something about him you dislike, you should reconsider after tomorrow. You have hardly spent any time with him.”
“What does it matter to you?” Junsu asked. It was rude, but so was she.
Aya looked at him for a while. Then she said: “The Queen has promised me the honour of guarding the husband of our future King. I have no say in this, the Prince decides who he will marrry, but I would like that to be you.”
“Me? Why me?” Junsu asked, incredulous.
“Because I believe that you are good for Cryan,” Aya simply said, without a trace of doubt in her voice.
She had sounded like a sensible person up to this point, but now she had completely lost him.
“But all I have done so far is insult people and get you in trouble with the Prince!”
Aya offered no explanation. Instead she said: “The Prince is not angry with me. He hasn’t made me responsible for your actions. I was only tasked to protect you. But now, I am responsible for letting you linger here. Come, we must go back to your rooms, and you need to think about how you will make up for your insolence tomorrow.”
Yoochun and Jaejoong were having an animated conversation by the fire. Junsu had no desire to join them, so he walked on to his bedroom, under the watchful eye of Aya.
“You’re never going to let me out of your sight again, are you?” he asked.
“I never have,” she said. “Except when you were sleeping or bathing.”
“What about the times when you disappeared?”
“That I’m out of your sight doesn’t mean you’re out of mine. I just thought it would be more comfortable for you, to not feel like I’m following you around all day.”
Junsu paused in the doorway and turned around to look at her. “From now on, I would like to see you when you’re watching me. I don’t care much for that false sense of privacy.”
“Understood,” Aya said with a bow. She could be subservient when she wanted. Junsu didn’t think he’d ever have the power over her that the Prince seemed to have, but then he didn’t think he’d like that.
He’d spent so much time with her these past few days that it almost felt like he’d gained a sister, a very tough and candid sister.
She let him close the door between them, although she would probably be nearby all night. Junsu wondered if she even slept herself.
And then he wondered if he would be able to sleep. Just one more day and then the Prince would pick one of the others and he could go home. But would he have enough time to explore this fascinating country before he had to leave? And how badly had he insulted the Prince today? He couldn’t help but worry about that, too.
“What would you like to do?”
That wasn’t the question Junsu had expected. He’d worried all night about what the Prince might say to him when they met again, but the Prince himself seemed determined to completely ignore what happened. Maybe the necklaces weren’t that important after all.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Prince Changmin was standing by a window, looking out over the city. He was wearing a blue tunic, white breeches and fur lined boots. His black hair was braided along the sides of his head and tied at the back.
When he turned to look at Junsu, the outline of his face framed by the soft morning light, he could rival Jaejoong’s good looks.
For the first time since Yoochun commented on it, Junsu was painfully aware of his dull brown clothes and worn leather shoes. It was a good thing he wasn’t here to impress anyone.
“I took the young Golden Lord for a walk in the courtyard and the heir of White Mountain asked for a tour of the palace before we sat down and talked. Is there anything you’d like to see, young lord of Apples and Honey?”
“Not really,” Junsu said. He tried his best to sound bored and disinterested. He didn’t think the Prince still thought of him as a serious candidate, but it was best to be safe.
“Are you sure? My gardens contain a few southern species which we will soon have to cover up to protect them from the cold. You must have some interest in plants and trees. And my palace is big. There are many rooms you haven’t seen yet.”
Besides the ones you banned me from visiting, Junsu added in his head.
“The young lord Park had a special interest in my bedroom. You don’t share his fascination?”
The Prince was looking straight into his eyes, challenging him.
Junsu didn’t even have to try to show disinterest this time. He did wonder what Yoochun had done in the Prince’s bedroom. Would the Prince have allowed him to do to him what Junsu hadn’t allowed two days ago? Junsu found that hard to believe. Still, the thought and memory made him shiver with discomfort.
“Apparently not,” the Prince said, giving him a curious look.
Junsu didn’t say anything.
“But you seem interested in my country, it’s customs and food. Ah, I never asked you if you enjoyed the traditional meal you were offered.”
Junsu shrugged. “It was edible.”
The Prince seemed disappointed in that answer. “That’s all? You ate nearly all of it. I was impressed.”
Junsu bit his lip. He’d planned not to engage in conversation, to only briefly answer the Prince’s questions and not ask any of his own. But he could no longer hold back his curiosity. “What was it?” he asked.
“I don’t know the name for the animal in your language,” the Prince said. “I don’t know if you even have one.” He walked to a table where a servant had left them a tray full of food and a pitcher filled with some kind of liquid. “Do you want anything?”
“No, thank you,” Junsu said, even though you probably weren’t supposed to refuse if a Prince offered you food or drink. He moved to stand in the spot by the window that the Prince had just left, because he was curious about the view from this part of the palace.
He could see the city and the bay from here as well, but the hills in the distance weren’t as visible today. The sky was grey and cloudy.
“We’re on an island,” the Prince said behind him, “but some winters the ice connects it to the vast land in the north.”
Junsu hadn’t asked anything. Perhaps the Prince just wanted to boast about the size of his Kingdom.
“Many of my people live and hunt there,” the Prince continued. “They hunt foxes and deer, but not the kind that live where you come from. Some stay close to the sea and fish or hunt the kind of animal you ate the meat of. They are very careful not to hunt too many of the same kind in one season, and they use every part of the animal, not just the fur and oil you southerners are so fond of.”
Junsu tried to imagine the kinds of animals the Prince was talking about. He kept staring out the window, as if he’d be able to see them through the hills and across the sea.
“This island is named after a blue crystal. There are mountains here, hidden caves and rivers of ice. There are smaller islands to the east. Their names won’t make sense to you, but translated they mean something like Mountain of Fire, Bird Rock and Bed of Moss.”
Junsu wanted to ask what their names were in Cryan, but he didn’t want to interrupt the Prince, as he still wasn’t done talking.
“This city is the door to the south. There are things our land can’t provide, like metal and fruit. Many of my people have come to depend on trade with your Kingdom, which is why my mother wants to strengthen our bond.”
That made sense, Junsu thought.
The Prince’s voice turned grave now. “Another reason is that during the past few years, hunters from Aruni have come to kill our animals, with no respect for nature or the spirits and giving us nothing in return. Some of them don’t make it back, because they’re not equipped to deal with the cold, but they are greedy and keep sending more ships.”
Junsu turned around. “They don’t have the right to do that. Can’t you do anything about it?”
The Prince looked at him. “This land is too big to protect, and we don’t want war. Soris may be small, but its influence over its neighbour far exceeds ours.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” Junsu asked.
“I want you to know why you are here, how important you are to us. Because I don’t understand how you can seem so fond of my Kingdom and yet not take your conversations with me seriously. They are connected, you see.”
“Who says I’m fond of your Kingdom?” Junsu said boldly. “I’m not.”
It was a lie. He actually liked Cryan more with every new piece of information he learned about it. But he would not admit that.
Unexpectedly, the Prince smiled, quite convincingly. So he was capable of it.
“I’m sorry for making assumptions.” He didn’t seem sorry at all, smiling like he did. “But tell me, if this was your very last day here. What would you want to do?”
That was a question Junsu could answer without thinking. “I would want to go into the city, so see as much of it as I can and to buy souvenirs for my niece and nephew.”
The Prince looked past him, out the window. “Today is a cold day. Summer is behind us. Are you sure you want to go outside?”
“You would let me?” Junsu asked, perhaps a little too eagerly. He didn’t want to sound excited about anything the Prince proposed.
“I would come with you, of course,” the Prince said.
That didn’t matter. Junsu had already resigned himself to spending the whole day in the Prince’s company. But he hadn’t expected he would actually get to do something fun.
The Prince was right. With the sun hidden behind the clouds, it was a lot colder. Junsu’s leather shoes with woollen socks might as well have been sandals for how much warmth they provided. The rest of his clothes were a little too thin as well, but Junsu refused to do as Jaejoong and ask to borrow the Prince’s cloak.
He would look ridiculous in it anyway. The snow white fur looked amazing around the Prince’s broad shoulders, a sharp contrast to his black hair and a perfect match with his boots. It undoubtedly make Junsu look like a stable boy in comparison.
Strangely enough, the people they met shot him the exact same admiring looks they gave the Prince. It was a completely different reaction from yesterday, when they had been curious but mostly wary.
Junsu had been surprised when the Prince said they would only take Aya and Joon, the Prince’s personal guard, to protect them. But he could see now that there was no real danger out here. People smiled when they saw them and kept a respectable distance. Aya and Joon stayed alert, but they carried their weapons loosely at their side.
A woman shouted something in Cryan, and a few others came running to admire them.
“What did she say?” Junsu asked, curious.
The Prince cleared his throat. “Something like…come look at the handsome man our Prince will marry.”
Junsu could feel his cheeks heat up. “But they don’t know yet if you will pick me.”
“Being seen at my side in public in the city gives you an advantage over the others. The people will assume I favour you.”
“That…it wasn’t my intention. I hadn’t thought about that at all when I said I wanted to go outside.”
“I know,” the Prince said without looking at him. “That’s why I agreed to it. We’re almost at the market. What are you looking for?”
Junsu thought about fur boots again. That idea seemed very tempting right now, but he shouldn’t spend all his money on himself.
The street was more crowded here. The empty space around them shrunk slightly, but people still kept their distance, until suddenly a tall man stepped forward and blocked their way.
Joon made to draw his sword, but Aya held him back with a hand on his arm and a shake of her head.
It was the man who yelled at Junsu yesterday. The little girl appeared from behind him. She looked a little shy but determined as she stepped forward. Junsu smiled at her. He hoped she was not afraid of him now.
The Prince said something in Cryan and the man bowed and said something back.
“This man says his daughter has something to show you,” the Prince said to Junsu. “Do you know them?”
Junsu was surprised by how quickly the Prince switched between the two languages. He hadn’t heard him speak Cryan before, and his Sorisian sounded so natural that he hadn’t even imagined him speaking anything else.
The little girl was right in front of him now, drawing his attention. “I know them,” he said, and he crouched down to seem less intimidating to her.
She held out a small ivory figurine. Junsu immediately saw that it was a fox. Its eyes were tiny shards of a bright blue crystal. She pointed at its ears and smiled widely. It was true that they were a little cat-like. Junsu smiled back.
“Pretty,” he said in Cryan, hoping he’d remembered it right.
She pushed the little fox against his hand, urging him to take it.
Junsu looked up at the Prince, who didn’t quite manage to hide his surprise in time. Yes, Junsu thought, I know a little something about your language too. A little.
“Can you tell her I don’t have enough gold to buy such a pretty figurine?” he asked.
The girl said something before the Prince had time to translate.
“She says it’s a gift,” he said. “Because she screamed at you yesterday even though you’re not a bad man.” He gave Junsu a questioning look.
Junsu pulled two gold pieces from the pouch on his belt. “I can’t just take it for free. It’s too beautiful.”
The girl shook her head.
“She doesn’t want the gold,” the Prince said. “It’s a gift. You should accept it.”
The girl pushed the little fox into his hand and walked back to stand beside her father.
Junsu didn’t like it. He wanted to pay her for it, but maybe this was another important custom he did not know about. He stood up and admired the delicately carved animal from up close.
He wouldn’t give it to Yunji, because she had asked for a cat. He knew she would settle for a fox if she had to, but he wanted to do better than that. Yunho would probably appreciate this gift more. But maybe he’d give it to Mina first so she could save it until her son was old enough to not randomly put small things in his mouth.
The girl’s father bowed deeply for the second time and said something again. Junsu recognised an apology.
The Prince frowned and looked at him. “He apologises for the misunderstanding yesterday and he wants to know if you are hurt.”
“Tell him not to worry about it,” Junsu said.
The Prince moved closer, standing beside him. “Did this man hurt you?”
“No.”
“He says he grabbed you and worries he was too rough. Show me your arms.”
Junsu thought everyone was overreacting. He looked to Aya for help, but she showed her support for the Prince with a nod.
Junsu sighed and pulled up his sleeves. There was a light bruise just above one of his wrists.
The Prince took his hand and inspected it. “Did he do this?”
Junsu shrugged. “You grabbed me there, too. I couldn’t say which of you caused it.”
The Prince let go of his hand and looked guilty for a second. Then he turned to the man and said something that sounded like a dismissal.
The man looked relieved. He bowed again, towards Junsu this time, and walked away.
“I don’t know what happened,” the Prince said, “but you should be careful. It is an offence punishable by death to injure a member of the royal family, even if it is just a bruise.”
Junsu was shocked. “You wouldn’t put a man to death over something like this.”
The Prince’s eyes hardened. “When we get married and someone hurts you, I will.”
If, Junsu thought. If we get married.
But he was starting to understand what it meant to be seen by the Prince’s side like this. In one day an entire city had gone from looking down on him to treating him like royalty.
“Your hands are cold,” the Prince said. “We need to buy you something warm to wear before we do anything else.”
Junsu wrapped his arms around his own body. He wanted to protest, but the thought of being warm again was just too tempting.
Suddenly, someone was shouting again, and soon more people followed. These weren’t shouts of admiration, Junsu didn’t need to understand the language for that. They sounded worried, almost panicked. He looked to the Prince for help, but he seemed busy trying to listen to what everyone was saying at once.
Aya translated for him instead. “A ship from the south has arrived in the harbour, with news from Soris. There is bad weather in your country.”
“Winter is coming from the south this year,” Joon said. His Cryan accent was heavier than Aya’s. It made the words sound even more grim.
“What does that mean?” Junsu asked.
“When the winter starts with storms in the south, it will be a long and harsh one,” Aya explained. “The last time that happened was nine years ago.”
Junsu’s heart sank. He remembered that winter. He had been ten, Junho seventeen. Hail storms badly damaged the orchards ahead of harvest. His father divided all the food they had equally over the villages. What Junsu mostly remembered from that winter was the cold, his parents yelling at each other, and hunger.
NEXT
Previous