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.
Sleep ended abruptly with an unfamiliar voice saying a foreign word close to his ear. Junsu jerked awake and tried to remember where he was.
Just over a week ago, before he started his journey north, that would have been home with his family, in the room he’d grown up in with a view of the orchards. He would have woken up to the sound of his brother’s new horse whinnying in the stables below, or Yunho running through the hallway, tripping over one of his wooden toys and crying.
But that was not his home anymore. Not since his dinner with the Prince last night, not since he agreed to marry him. It felt like he had been away from his old home a long time, but also like everything had happened too fast.
This house…this palace was so big he couldn’t hear any sounds outside of his room, and next to his bed stood two women he’d never seen before. They wore plain, pale blue dresses and their long black hair was divided into two braids hanging over their shoulders.
The closest had clearly meant to wake him, as she smiled and said something that sounded like a ‘good morning’, simply going by intonation and context. Both women bowed. One of them was holding a bundle of clothes. Were they here to dress him?
“I take it you don’t speak Sorisian,” Junsu tried.
Their smiles wavered for a moment, but then the one who had spoken before said: “Come.”
Junsu felt a little self-conscious, getting out of bed in front of two strange women wearing just his old sleep tunic, and then even more so when they reached out to take it off him.
“Come,” the woman said again, which seemed to be the only relevant Sorisian she knew, and then something Cyran. “Atanek,” she seemed to call him. Junsu didn’t know what that meant, although he felt he’d heard the word before.
The women led him to the bath, which they'd filled already. Junsu wondered how he’d slept through that. Maybe these women were as quiet as Aya could be when she had followed him like a shadow.
Where was she now that he needed a translator?
“Aya?” Junsu asked as the women ushered him into the warm water. They both nodded enthusiastically. Junsu had no idea what that meant. Was Aya nearby? Then why wasn’t she showing herself? Junsu doubted the possibility of seeing him naked was enough to scare her off. Or had the women not understood his question?
They bathed him, almost like a baby, and combed his hair. Then they dressed him in blue and white, the Prince’s colours. There even was his sigil, the ice crystal crown, on Junsu’s chest. Junsu missed his father’s tree. Would he never get to wear it again? Surely, before they were officially married, he did not belong to the Prince’s family yet.
And was this what it would be like to live in the palace? Being bathed and dressed by servants every day? Junsu was aware his father’s household was small even by a simple Lord’s standards, but he hadn’t thought about all these differences he would have to get used to.
“Come, Atanek,” the women said, followed by: “Aya,” and encouraging smiles, which gave Junsu the feeling they were leading him to Aya. He liked that. Over the past few days Aya had become someone at least slightly familiar.
The palace was still a big maze to him. He didn’t bother trying to remember the way, instead looking at people. They ran into a few servants, dressed the same as the ones leading him. Junsu wondered if he would one day know everyone who worked here and what their tasks were. He wondered if the Prince even knew.
Just when Junsu was thinking about the Prince, he saw him, waiting by the closed doors at the end of the hallway they were heading down. The two women bowed deeply, but the Prince didn’t even seem to notice them. He smiled at Junsu.
What was going to happen next? For a moment, a sudden fear built in Junsu’s stomach that he had been dragged into the fastest marriage in history. But no, a royal marriage took more preparation, surely, and he hadn’t even met the queen yet. Was it that he was meeting her this morning? That was hardly a relief. The Prince could have at least given him some warning.
“What is going on?” he asked. He didn’t mean to sound as freaked out as he did.
The Prince’s smile faltered. “I forgot to tell you. I’m sorry. I decided to hold the ceremony to officially bind your guard to you as quickly as possible. I want you to be as well protected as possible.” He reached out to touch Junsu’s face but changed his mind and turned the gesture into an awkward pat on his shoulder. Junsu didn’t know what ceremony he meant, but Prince Changmin didn’t give him time to ask more questions. “Let’s go inside.”
Through the doors was a big hall, the biggest Junsu had seen in the Palace so far, lined with white pillars and with a domed ceiling. The walls were hung with tapestries displaying hunting scenes at sea and in snowy landscapes. On a pedestal at the opposite end stood a large throne constructed of dark wood and bone. Beautiful white fur made it look like a soft and inviting place to sit, but everything else about it spoke of great power.
This was not a room that fit the image of a nation of simple hunters that engaged in a bit of trade, it was a throne room that wouldn’t look out of place in the King’s palace at the Golden Shore.
Junsu realised he didn’t know the actual wealth of Cryan. He knew the palace was more than impressive, the capital comparable Soris’, but he had no idea what was out there on the mainland, further north. And he wondered how expensive hides and whale oil would have to be to support only the things he’d seen so far.
The throne was empty, so maybe he wouldn’t meet the queen just yet. The only other people in the room were about twenty guards lined up in front of the pillars. Junsu recognised them by their uniforms and short hair. And kneeling in front of the throne, with her back towards them, he recognised Aya.
“It’s a simple ceremony,” the Prince told him as they walked towards her. “It’s tradition, and it reminds our guards of their responsibility. I have my doubts because of what happened to you under Aya’s care, but still, my mother picked her. And you seem fond of her. Ultimately the choice is yours.”
What ceremony? What choice? If Junsu was about to make a choice, it would be really useful to him to know what that entailed.
The Prince stopped walking. “Stand in front of the throne,” he instructed. “But don’t sit on it,” he warned, as if Junsu would ever consider himself to be at the same level as a king.
Junsu slowly walked around Aya, who hadn’t moved or acknowledged their presence in any way, and made his way to the steps leading up to the pedestal. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed up the steps, so he stopped there and turned around.
The room was quiet. The guards on either side were like statues, staring straight ahead. Aya was kneeling with her head bowed, only the Prince was looking at him. Junsu could hear himself breathe.
“Aya Anak,” the Prince spoke suddenly in a solemn voice. “You have held vigil in front of my mother’s throne and rekindled your devotion to our family. Now, speak the traditional vows and then repeat them in Sorisian so my future consort can understand.”
Junsu looked at Aya, curious and a bit nervous. Aya’s body unfroze, but she didn’t stand up. Without hesitation she pulled a bone knife from her tunic and cut the palm of her left hand. It happened so fast Junsu had no way to stop her. When he gasped and started forward, the Prince raised a hand and shook his head.
Aya looked up at him, their eyes met and she smiled reassuringly even as she squeezed her hand into a fist and her blood dripped down onto the stone floor in front of her.
She spoke a few sentences, clear and steady, in Cryan. Then she paused and said: “I have willingly spilled my blood for you. Never will I hesitate to do it again. I swear to protect you with my life. Please accept me as your servant.”
Junsu didn’t want her to spill more blood for him, let alone give her life. But he understood that his answer in this situation would be more significant than a simple stating of his opinion.
What if he said no? The Prince would probably find another guard for him and the same thing would happen. If it was a valued tradition, it wasn’t something Junsu could just change by saying he didn’t like it. And what would happen to Aya? Would she lose her job?
Junsu didn’t want Aya to disappear, and she’d already spilled her blood for him.
“I accept,” he said.
Aya smiled. She stood up and bowed. All the other guards in the room turned towards him and bowed with her. It made Junsu feel uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as the look on the Prince’s face when he stepped towards Aya just as she was straightening up.
She turned towards him as soon as she noticed and bowed again.
“This is a warning,” the Prince said. His voice was cold as ice. “Don’t ever let him get hurt again, or much worse will happen to you.”
Aya bowed deeper. “It won’t happen again,” she said, clear and confident. Junsu didn’t understand how she managed to keep her voice so steady. His own heart was beating in his throat.
The Prince looked at him then, his expression neutral again. “You haven’t had breakfast yet,” he said, as if it hadn’t been his order to drag Junsu out of bed and straight into this crazy ritual. “Come, we’ll eat together.”
“I’d like a moment with my guard first,” Junsu said. Prince and future husband or not, there was only so much being dragged around he was willing to accept in the early morning.
The Prince seemed surprised, but he didn’t protest. “I’ll be in my dining room,” he said. “Guards.”
Most of the guards in the room formed a neat line and followed the Prince out of the doors, two stayed behind, guarding the throne.
“Thank you for accepting me,” Aya said. “Because of you, the Prince gave me another chance.”
Junsu looked at her hand. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
Aya pulled a strip of white fabric from her pocket and skilfully wrapped it around her hand. “This is nothing,” she said, “easier than the average day in training.”
Junsu couldn’t understand how someone could willingly go through something like that, although he did secretly envy her strength and skill with her weapon. It would be nice to be able to protect himself better.
But he couldn’t forget the way the Prince had treated her just now.
“Haven’t you lived and trained here for most of your life?” he said. “Why would the Prince suddenly doubt your abilities because of something that happened because a stupid idiot like me made the mistake of running away from you?”
Aya didn’t seem hurt by that at all. She smiled. “I think it shows how much he wants you to be safe.”
“You make it sound so positive. I think it was incredibly rude.”
“It’s not rudeness,” Aya said. “It’s just who he is. He is not mean, but he is… You are a lucky man, to have melted his heart.”
Junsu didn’t think he’d done anything special to have ‘melted the Prince’s heart’, and he also didn’t think the Prince would still be so ‘melted’ if he knew how Junsu really felt about being here.
“Don’t you regret working so hard only to be stuck guarding an idiot like me?” he asked.
“This is what I was meant to do,” Aya said. “This is what I’ve worked hard for. My new dream, remember?”
Her old dream had been travelling the world, just like his. Of course Junsu remembered.
“It only became your new dream because you couldn’t have the old one,” he said.
Aya looked at him. “That doesn’t make it a lesser dream.”
Junsu didn’t say anything to that, because he didn’t want Aya to feel like he was looking down on her. He had already put his life above hers by accepting her as his guard, which repulsed him even if she’d wanted him to do it.
Breakfast was laid out on the table already, but the Prince had waited for him to arrive before he started eating. Junsu ignored his greeting and tried the porridge.
“Did I do something wrong?” the Prince asked.
“You could have explained the ceremony to me beforehand, I don’t like being thrown into situations like that,” Junsu said without looking up. “And Aya isn’t to blame for me being attacked. You shouldn’t be so hard on her.”
There was a long silence. Junsu realised he may have gone too far. There was etiquette for talking to a Prince, even if you were engaged to him, and this directness had to be breaking several rules.
“Look at me,” the Prince said.
Junsu looked up. Prince Changmin didn’t seem angry, but then he wasn’t the best at displaying emotions.
“I didn’t know you felt that way,” the Prince said. “I’ll try to be more considerate of your unfamiliarity with our customs in the future. And I admire your honesty.”
He didn’t apologise for threatening Aya, but Junsu deemed it wise to leave it at this for now. He wasn’t in a good mood, and he didn’t want to accidentally say something that would truly anger the Prince and make his future life even harder than it already would be.
Honestly, he just didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be the future consort of the crown prince of Cryan. He didn’t want to be engaged to a man.
The Prince looked good today, as always. His hair was tied back, exposing the smooth skin of his neck. His blue eyes were truly mesmerising if you stared at them for too long, but his jawline was sharp, his shoulders broad and he just didn’t remind Junsu at all of his first love. She had become a standard he judged all women by, and since the Prince wasn’t even a woman, he scored low by default.
“Don’t you like the food?” the Prince asked.
Junsu realised he’d been staring and quickly looked away, trying to come up with an excuse. “No, I was just…thinking about how we’re dressed the same now. I feel very…Cyran.”
The Prince’s eyes dropped to Junsu’s tunic. “It must feel strange to you,” he said, “They actually are old clothes of mine. I apologise. But you had to wear something for the ceremony that showed your connection to the royal family. Your maids are making new clothes for you as we speak. Your father’s sigil and colours will be incorporated. They look good on you.
“My maids?” Junsu asked. “The women who woke me up today?”
“Yes,” the Prince said. “From now on Aya’s only task will be protecting you, she won’t run errants, draw baths or mend your clothes. Naturally, you need maids for that.”
Of course, yes, naturally. Junsu had managed fine without any personal maids before. Now he would have two. That would take some getting used to. He hoped the poor women wouldn’t get bored. At least he probably wouldn’t overwork them.
“I noticed they don’t speak Sorisian,” he said.
The Prince cut off a piece of sausage to eat with his bread. “Do you want me to find you servants who speak your language?”
“No,” Junsu said. “I think this is a good way to start working on my Cryan. It was just a bit awkward this morning. I might need a new teacher. I already got a lesson from Aya, but if she’s going to be busy guarding me…”
The Prince put down his food and just looked at him for a while. “Most Sorisians are too proud to learn foreign languages. They trade with us but expect us to adapt to their customs instead of the other way around.”
“You thought I wouldn’t be willing to learn the language of the land I’m going to be living in?” Junsu asked, incredulous.
The Prince shook his head. “I already knew you were different. I just…I have hope our marriage will change things for the better.”
“Me too,” Junsu said. He quickly ate a spoonful of the porridge, which tasted a little salty but decent enough, to hide how he really felt about the prospect of marriage.
“About that,” the Prince said. “I’m sending a ship with gold and furs to your family, as my wedding gift to you. You should write them a letter. I’ll have it delivered to the captain tomorrow evening, as he’ll set sail the morning after that, so finish it by then.”
Junsu felt a little better as he finished eating, thinking about sending a message to his family and possibly getting word back. He should probably ask what the plans for the marriage were, like when it would be held, and what a Cryan wedding ceremony was like - did it involve blood? But he also wanted to avoid those questions for as long as he could, because it would make everything feel so final. Maybe he’d ask during breakfast tomorrow and write the letter then.
The Prince had excused himself after breakfast, probably to do some ruling or whatever it was princes did, but he’d promised to come find him before lunch for a tour of the palace.
Junsu decided to wander around on his own until then. He assumed his ban from visiting any other rooms than his own had been lifted by now. He did make sure to ask Aya the directions to the rooms of the late king, so he could avoid those.
He didn’t move very fast, currently intrigued by the scenes displayed on the beautiful tapestries. There were hunting scenes on ice and snow, lots of ships, all the different types of little boats he’d seen down in the harbour, and also some landscapes with mountains and forests, houses, families and lovers.
A curious detail was a bright blue light that appeared in the sky in some of them. Junsu wondered if this was just the Cryan way of depicting the sun, until he found one that showed both the sun and the blue light. Aya followed him as he examined them, not in the shadows like before, but visible, like he’d asked her. She didn’t walk next to him though, always a few steps behind.
“Are you going to be all subservient again because of the ceremony?” Junsu asked.
“The ceremony means that from now on, I’m going to be whatever you ask me to be,” Aya answered. “I’m fully yours, not even the Prince can command me as he pleases.”
Junsu sighed. How could he command her not to blindly follow his commands?
“What does Atanek mean?” he asked instead.
“You said you were going to study Cryan and find out whether it is an insult or not on your own,” Aya said. “Asking me is cheating.”
Of course, that was why the word sounded familiar. It was what Aya had called him the day before.
“But my maids called me that this morning,” Junsu said. “So now I really want to know, and I don’t want to ask the Prince and sound stupid or possibly insult him.”
Aya laughed and then took pity on him. “Atanek is what we call our future king. You’ll be the king’s consort, but there is no separate word as there is in your language. Our king will regard you as his equal, and so will we.”
“Atanek,” the Prince’s voice sounded from behind them. Junsu turned around.
“Another thing I should have explained to you,” the Prince said.
“I’m learning,” Junsu said. “But yes, I do need help.”
The Prince almost smiled then, as if Junsu asking him for help made him happy. “I’ll teach you about your new home now. Follow me.”
They walked to the main entrance first, which was a good starting point, and worked their way through several wings and floors. The palace was so big that many rooms were not frequently used, but it meant that if the queen decided to hold a party - or a wedding - or was visited by the leaders of the lands Cryan traded with, there was enough space for all the guests.
Some rooms were not used at all anymore, but had an important history, like those of the late king, or the old throne room, which was empty and not as big or impressive as the new one, but it was a place where you could almost feel the weight of history and the ghostly presence of past generations. The Prince snorted and said he didn’t believe spirits could be stuck here instead of wandering around outside in the form of white bears, but Junsu had his doubts.
When they passed the hallway that led to the queen’s rooms, the Prince said: “We will have dinner with my mother this evening. She wants to meet you and there is much to discuss. She doesn’t usually keep to her rooms like she has for the past few days. She likes to control everything that happens in her kingdom. But she seemed to find it very important that I make this particular decision on my own.”
“I look forward to meeting her,” Junsu said, before he remembered that the Prince had a talent for spotting lies, but the Prince seemed not to have noticed.
There was an impressive library, two separate libraries in fact. Junsu stared at some of the book titles, thinking he still had a long way to go with his Cryan characters. The Prince led him up the stairs to the highest tower. The view was amazing.
“Down there you can see the city and the harbour and most of the bay,” Prince Changmin said, but you can’t see far out over the sea from here, which is why there are two separate watchtowers on either side of the bay. “You can just make out the one in the north in the distance, there.” He pointed. “The other one is on the other side of this hill the palace is built up against.”
It was true the hill with its trees blocked some of the view, but Junsu imagined it also protected the palace against the storms that sometimes raged at sea.
“What’s to the west?” he asked.
“The ice rivers,” the Prince said, “and more.”
Junsu wanted to ask what ‘and more’ meant, but the Prince had already moved on. They walked down the stairs again and went outside, into the courtyard.
A strong, cold wind was blowing, not quite a storm, more like the promise of one. Junsu was glad he was wearing his new boots, and the tunic with the Prince’s sigil was surprisingly warm for how thin it was. Still, he shivered and wished he was wearing a hat.
The Prince noticed. “We won’t stay out long, I just want to show you the stables.” He seemed not bothered by the cold at all. That annoyed Junsu. He forced himself to walk a little straighter and not hunch his shoulders like he wanted to.
What the Prince had called stables, it turned out, did not contain horses but dogs. They were white mixed with black, grey or brown dogs that made a lot of noise when they entered. Junsu covered his ears. They were smaller than wolves, although Junsu had only twice seen a wolf himself.
The dogs seemed to recognise the Prince, and the Prince greeted them back.
Junsu kept a safe distance. He wasn’t afraid, but cautious. The Prince spoke to some of the dogs in Cryan, and they barked happily in response.
Even dogs were better at understanding this language than he was. It really was time to change that.
They ended their tour in the kitchen, where lunch was being prepared. Junsu recognised the Sorisian girl he’d spoken to the day before and smiled and waved at her. She shot a quick glance at the Prince and then bowed at him.
“Do you know her?” the Prince asked.
“I only met her yesterday, but it’s nice that she’s Sorisian too,” Junsu said.
The Prince suddenly wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Junsu froze. “Already flirting with kitchen maids,” the Prince said jokingly. “Don’t forget that you are mine.”
‘He thinks this is funny,’ Junsu thought. ‘The idea that I could be interested in a woman.’ He wasn’t actually attracted to the kitchen maid, or any other woman in the palace, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that the Prince assumed that he could only possibly be interested in men, which was what Junsu had made him believe, which, with the Prince's arm wrapped around his shoulders, suddenly made him feel like he was trapped in a much smaller cage than the palace dogs.
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