The Night Flyers *redux* 2/2
Pairing: BangUp/ZiDae
Rated: PG13
Length: 9K
Part One
If Yongguk thought his anger was high then he quickly learned to never cross an ancient dragon. Half of his arm hair and a large chunk of black hair from his head were singed before he could get away from Velos and to the safety of Tanit’s wing.
“He’s a traitor! He betrayed all of us!”
Velos growled low in his throat, sparks erupting from his nostrils. Yongguk was smart enough to stay quiet and hidden while the two beasts communicated silently above him.
An image of Jongup weeping into Tanit’s neck was burned into his eyes and he had to shake his head to rid himself of the snapshots Velos was sending him.
“Trickery.” He mumbled as another of Jongup watching him as he groomed Tanit popped up, the younger boy’s eyes crinkled with happiness and adoration. “Witchcraft. He knew you were watching and would try to help his cause later.”
This time even Tanit had lost her patience, her green and gold webbed wing spinning him out from the safety of its cocoon and straight into Velos’s path. The threat in his smoke colored eyes was visible. Either Yongguk fixed things with his human or he would pay with his life.
“If the king dies…” Yongguk closed his eyes, shoving his hair out of his face. “What do we do?”
Tanit moved closer, her hot tongue a welcome comfort that showed Yongguk she still loved him. They would figure it out together, she silently promised. Just like they always did.
---
The king’s funeral was a lavish affair. Every realm that they had relations with sent their kings and queens and the castle was full for the first time since Daehyun was born. The prince had been in hiding since the news of his father’s death was announced and no one was sure if he would even attend the service.
The queen made sure and let herself be seen on every occasion that she could, against the general’s wishes. She told Zico that it kept the kingdom’s spirits up to see her involved and in good moral. Jongup watched her smiling demurely at the king of one of their neighboring kingdoms and felt disgusted. No one saw the way her eyes flickered around the room and observed all the newcomers. Only he could see her fluffing her hair and lowering the neckline of her dress whenever an attractive prince drew near. She was already planning her next move. It was obvious she intended to unite yet another kingdom in her hands.
“How has patrol been lately, cousin?” Jaehyo leaned congenially against the pillar Jongup was hiding behind and held out an extra mug of ale at him.
“I wouldn’t know now would I.” Jongup bumped his shoulder against him and tried to move past, but Jaehyo was forceful and refused to yield. “Let me pass, Jaehyo.”
The mugs were sat down on the floor beside him as Jaehyo held Jongup still with one arm. “I don’t think you understand the importance of being seen as a family unit right now. Our aunt is just devastated at the loss of her husband and she’s also being ignored by her favorite nephew.” Jaehyo clucked his tongue in sorrow. “Your attitude towards us is starting to be noticed. And it’s not being looked at very favorably.” The hidden meaning in his words struck Jongup as Jaehyo sauntered back into the ballroom. He was either with the family or against them and his continued existence in this kingdom would depend on which side he ended up on.
He looked in vain for Yongguk among the throngs of people, but couldn’t spot his silky black hair or piercing dark eyes in the crowd. The six days between the king falling sick and his death was the loneliest week Jongup had ever experienced. He spent every minute in his bunk with the door bolted shut and only opening it for the meals Jaehyo left outside for him. Once he wondered if perhaps he was being poisoned as well. Then he realized that he didn’t really care if he was and continued to eat heartily until all of his plates were clean.
He missed Velos. The bond between them wasn’t as deep as the one between Yongguk and Tanit, they had only been bonded a short time compared to those two, but he still felt the pull towards his beast. Sometimes at night he could hear scratching on his outside wall and he knew it was Velos trying to draw him out, but if he went out there he would ultimately run into Yongguk and he couldn’t handle that after what his trainer accused him of.
When he saw Himchan making his way towards him he groaned and melted back further into the shadows. The last thing he needed was to see the person who tried to compete with him for Yongguk’s undivided attention.
“Come out, come out wherever you are.” Himchan sang into the corner, trying to spot Jongup in the dark. Jongup thanked whoever was in charge of lighting the room because they had missed this unused and dusty corner. He was well hid in the draperies and columns. “I know you’re in there. I just thought you’d want to know that Yongguk is here.”
Jongup felt his heart speed up at the news, but he wouldn’t make a move to let Himchan know it affected him. He just had to wait for the family to lose interest in him tonight and then he could go back to the safety of his small room.
Eventually Himchan huffed when he was ignored and stormed off, leaving Jongup alone once again. He let out a relieved breath and stepped out of the shadows so that he could try and slip out without being noticed. A tight grip on his elbow just a few steps into the crowd and he realized it was stupid to think that even though he was hidden that he wasn’t still being watched.
It wasn’t until they were clear of the throng of people that Jongup realized it was Yongguk who held so tightly onto him, the taller man dragging him down the empty hallways and towards the outside.
“Yongguk?” Jongup struggled hard, hands peeling at Yongguk’s shaking fingers. “I have nothing to say to you so let me go!”
With a growl from the taller man he was suddenly pressed so close into Yongguk’s warm body that he could feel his breath on the side of his cheek. “Did you know for a fact this was being staged, Jongup? Tell me honestly because I’ll know if you’re lying.”
He wanted to reply but both answers were wrong. Life was never black and white, good and bad. There were gray areas, there were smudges along the moral lines and where they were standing was right in the middle. Any little burst of wind and they could be pushed to either side. Jongup hoped he ended up on Yongguk’s side.
“Tell me!” Yongguk all but screamed in his face, shaking Jongup like a stuffed toy in his hands. “Were you in on the plan?”
“No.” That was the easiest question he could ever be asked. “I only went to one family meeting and that was all. You know this.”
Yongguk was obviously fighting with himself over what to believe. It wasn’t as if Jongup had kept his distrust of his family a secret, but what if he was just trying to make Yongguk believe he was innocent? What if he had been planning all along to appear naïve and worried just to keep Yongguk from suspecting him when the time came that the queen’s plans came to life?
“Velos and Tanit trust you.” Yongguk said it like the words tasted foul in his mouth. “They were angry at me for the way I treated you.” Fingertips pressed gently against the curve of Jongup’s collarbones and over the fluttering pulse in his neck and he stopped his breathing in case Yongguk snapped out of whatever calm emotion he was fighting to stay in. “Tell me I can trust you, Jongup. I need to hear it from your lips.”
He carefully encircled Yongguk’s wrists with his hands and leaned into his touch. “I would never do anything to hurt you or this kingdom.” No matter how much of the queen’s blood ran through his veins he knew that his loyalty didn’t belong to them. Yongguk and their two dragons were the only family he had and Jongup would do everything in his power to keep them safe. “It’s time for us to make a plan.”
Yongguk swallowed, eyes still locked onto Jongup. His shoulders slowly started to relax and in seconds he was slumped on top of Jongup, face buried into the frozen boy’s neck. “Okay.” He mumbled. The vibrations from his lips caused Jongup to flinch. “Let’s find Zico.”
---
When Zico saw them coming towards him he paled and motioned for them to follow him into an empty room. Inside he locked the door and checked behind the drapes before speaking.
“Please tell me you’re worried about the same things I’m worried about.”
Yongguk kept his hand around Jongup’s elbow and pulled him towards him until Jongup was snug against his side. “It’s us against the queen. Who are you fighting for, General?”
“I’m going to fight to give the crown back to Prince Daehyun. Where it belongs. Woe be to anyone that gets in my way.”
That was good enough for Yongguk, a smile crossing his lips as he nodded. “We need to get the prince out of the castle. Can you find a reason to lure him out?”
Zico’s cheeks turned pink. “I could think of something.”
They quickly formatted a makeshift plan that Jongup thought had about a thirty percent chance of working. It all depended on if the queen had more sleeper traitors hidden around the kingdom than they realized.
“The biggest problem with my aunt is that she is over-confident.” Jongup interrupted the two others, awkwardness pricking at his skin for making them stop their intense conversation. “She believes she’s untouchable and that no one will be brave enough to stand up to her.” He turned away from Yongguk’s stare and toward Zico. “I think she is so sure of herself that she didn’t feel the need to plan for extra reinforcements from the family she’s already brought over.”
Yongguk squeezed his fingers in support. “Thank you, Jongup. We trust that you know your aunt as good as you believe you do.” He folded up the papers their sketches and notes were on and slid them down the side of his boot. “Let’s get started tomorrow at dawn. We need to inform our dragons.”
“Will they be behind you?”
He nodded at Zico’s question, the first confident expression on his face in their entire conversation. “Tanit and Velos would follow us anywhere.”
When they had finished with Zico, they left the room separately so they wouldn’t all be seen together. Zico left first, promising that he would have Daehyun delivered to them safely by the end of the next day.
“Jongup…” Yongguk pulled him back from the door where he had been counting under his breath for his turn to slip out. “I’m sorry.” Yongguk’s face was buried in his styled hair, the perfectly slicked tresses mussed from the pressure of his lips. “I should have believed in you from the beginning.”
“I wouldn’t have trusted me either.” Jongup admitted, still holding himself straight. He didn’t want to risk melting into Yongguk’s arms only to be pushed away again. The memory of the disgust on Yongguk’s lips as he looked at him the last time they were together was still burned in his eyes.
Yongguk’s hands slid from his shoulders down over his sides and landing securely on his hips. “When you leave here go to my bunk.”
“W-What?”
“We need to stick together from now until our mission is finished. I don’t want your cousins to separate you from me.” Jongup tried his hardest to stop the full-body shudder as Yongguk nuzzled even closer against him, his nose brushing the tip of his ear and breath hot on his skin. “Go straight there. Don’t talk to anyone or get led astray.”
He nodded and quickly left the room without looking back at Yongguk. Just the few little touches were enough to cause his heart to pound wildly in his chest and his hands to ache to feel Yongguk’s skin under them.
The ballroom was still full to bursting with the queen’s guests so Jongup had a quiet trip to Yongguk’s room. The only other person he saw on his way was a servant trying to run back to the kitchen for another plate.
Jongup felt odd just letting himself into Yongguk’s private space so he waited outside the door for the other to meet him. They had all agreed to wait the length of six hundred counts before leaving the room so Jongup counted softly to himself. Once he reached six hundred and twenty two he heard footsteps coming towards him in the hallway.
The relief that he had made it safe and sound was evident on Yongguk’s face and in the caring way he wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “We can do this.” Yongguk pep-talked them as he led them into his room. “It’s for the good of the kingdom and it can be done.”
The room was small and sparse with just a small straw bed and a table with a water jug beside it. Yongguk’s few clothes were hidden in a closed chest on the opposite wall. The rough wool blanket looked so itchy that Jongup winced just to look at it folded up on the edge of the bed.
“We could have gone back to my quarters. The room is larger and I have a fur-lined blanket.”
Yongguk shrugged, pulling his boots off and placing them neatly under the bed. “I like things simple. No frills, no fuss.” He patted the edge of the bed for Jongup to sit by him. “Tomorrow everything changes, Jongup. No more playing nice with the royals. Can you do that?”
Jongup bit his lip and wondered if Yongguk knew the absurdity of his question. Of course Jongup could cut off all ties with his family. Even his parents back in their home realm were of no consequence to him. As soon as he had been the right age for schooling they had sent him off and he had only seen them for important celebrations. They had seven other children besides him and since he was in the middle he’d always been overlooked and ignored. It used to pain him to know his parents had no use for him, but now he considered it a blessing. He had no one left behind that the queen could hurt.
No one but Yongguk.
His eyes roamed over Yongguk’s caring expression and trusting eyes and fell on the large hand rubbing circles into his skin.
“I’ll do anything you ask of me.”
When Jongup fell asleep that night it was securely under Yongguk’s arm and he drifted off to the scent of Yongguk’s chest and for the first time since Jaehyo had shown up at the castle he felt safe.
---
The general fulfilled his mission the next day by dragging a whining Daehyun after him and meeting in the woods just like they had decided.
The prince was obviously annoyed at being pulled from his bedroom still in his nightclothes and he spent the first hour of their meeting pouting and clinging to Zico’s arm every time attention was drawn away from him.
“This plan of yours is useless.” He spat as he pulled briars out of his shirt. “The queen isn’t going to stop what she’s doing just because a few people are upset over it. She killed my father and she’ll kill all of you, too.”
Jongup could see the way his lips tightened to white as the prince mentioned his father and silently commended him for doing his best to keep his emotions in check. He thought Daehyun would make an excellent king once they reinstated him in the court.
“We’re cowards if we at least don’t try.” Yongguk was quickly losing his patience with the prince so Jongup rubbed the palms of his fingers softly over his nape to calm him down. He was their leader in this and they needed for him to stay focused and push them towards their goal. With a sigh Yongguk leaned into the gentle touch and let Jongup rub his tenseness away. “The queen has to be stopped, Daehyun. If we don’t attempt it then we stay forever in a castle where we live in constant fear that we’ll be next. She wouldn’t have allowed the king’s heir to live. You would have been next on her list.”
Daehyun buried his face into Zico’s neck, his shoulders shaking. “I want to be the one to take her life.” His voice was muffled, but once again he managed to push everything aside and force himself to stay as calm as possible. Zico discreetly handed him a rag from his bag to clean his face with. “Do you think there are more people in the castle that we can depend on?”
Yongguk immediately thought of his brother and realized that his sudden disappearance would turn attention to him. “Junhong...” He turned to Jongup with a horrified expression. “Jongup, my brother.”
“He’ll be fine, Yongguk. They won’t hurt anyone unless they threaten their right to rule. Jaehyo’s worked with Junhong enough to know that he’s innocent.” The words did little to ease Yongguk’s mind. He had been so concerned with getting Jongup and the crowned prince out of harm’s way that he had thought of nothing else.
Having Jongup’s hand in his, warm and soft and safe, was what he concentrated on to lower his panic. Jongup was safe, Jongup was with him, they couldn’t get to him. They both knew that he would be high up on the list of people in the castle to take control of once the rebellion started. Jongup knew too much about the queen and their family. If he wasn’t with them then he was against them and that would be enough to have him killed.
The grip on Jongup’s hand got impossibly tight.
“I won’t let them hurt you.” The murmur was soft enough that Jongup could barely hear it but it still ricocheted through his ears like a blast. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“I know you will.” He whispered back, squeezing Yongguk’s hand gently. “We’re a team.”
---
The nights had been growing colder as the kingdom quickly headed towards the winter. With the four of them huddled in two small mounds near the meager fire they managed to stay warm throughout the night, but none would call it comfortable exactly. Jongup fell asleep with his face smashed against Yongguk’s worn for two day’s tunic, the scratchy wool blanket that he had hated on Yongguk’s bed tucked in tightly around his neck. The only thing that gave him the slightest bit of comfort during that long night was Yongguk’s arm snug and secure around his waist. They had already silently decided that neither would leave the other’s side until this was over and Yongguk included sleeping in that vow. If Jongup shifted even an inch he was pulled back towards him by a bleary-eyed Yongguk.
“Did you sleep any?” Jongup stretched and rubbed his eyes before wincing at the sight of an exhausted Yongguk above him. His eyes were circled with smudges of black and stress lines were forming in his brow that Jongup’s fingers itched to smooth out. “You didn’t have to stay awake all night. We’re safe enough out here.”
Yongguk shook his head. “Never assume you’re safe. Night Flyer rule number sixteen.”
“You have a lot of rules.”
“Rules keep the kingdom safe.” Yongguk growled under his breath. “Look what happened when the queen broke them. Now everyone is in danger.”
From across the fire they heard Daehyun whining as he woke up, lips pulled down in another pout. “This is the first time I’ve ever woken up without at least four servants surrounding me.” He leaned against Zico and yawned widely. “I much prefer the servants.”
Zico rolled his eyes. “No hired help here Your Highness. Now get up. I brought you some clothes. We need to head for the meeting point.”
This was news to Daehyun who suddenly looked alert and terrified. “Meeting point? Who are we meeting? How do you know who we can trust?”
“Because I trust them.” Yongguk broke in, his face set in stone. “Let’s go.”
They headed out again after damping down the fire and covering it as best as they could. There was no reason to believe they had been followed, but Zico and Yongguk didn’t want to take any chances.
Their two leaders led them through the forest while Jongup and Daehyun tripped behind them. After the fourth stumble and mumbled curse Jongup reached out to steady Daehyun and help him walk through the unfamiliar terrain easier.
“I’ve never been in the woods.” The prince admitted. He motioned down towards his clunky boots that Zico had pulled from his own closet. “And I don’t think anyone in my family even owns anything remotely like these.”
Jongup looked him over and had to admit he made a humorous sight with Zico’s spare training outfit on.
“You’ll get used to them.” He promised, helping Daehyun over a fallen tree. They watched the other two walk untroubled through the landscape, Yongguk’s head bent down to hear Zico better. “What do you think they’re planning up there?”
Daehyun snorted. “Your guess is as good as mine. I just woke up to a hand over my mouth and Zico two inches from my face and ordering me to be quiet and trust him. I have no idea what we can possibly do to stop the queen.”
“And you went along with him? Just like that?” Jongup knew that if he was a royal he wouldn’t be able to believe anything that was said to him. Everyone wanted something from the royal family and schemers and thieves abounded.
“Zico is…” Daehyun thought for a moment on the appropriate way to describe it. “Once when I was little and my real mother, my birth mother didn’t pass on until I was twelve, wanted me to learn proper decorum. I had to take daily classes with this governess who I still say hated me. If I accidentally forgot to straighten my back all the way when I walked she would slap my shoulders with a stick. And when I forgot which fork to use for the right course then I went to bed hungry. Zico was old enough to go into training with the guards and I had seen him around the castle a few times. He heard her berate me when I grabbed the dessert fork once again for the main course.” Jongup watched as Daehyun smiled fondly in the direction of the general. “Later that evening he knocked on the hidden escape door in my room. When I opened it he had his dinner held out to me and he told me to smile because the kingdom would need a joyful king one day.”
As if he knew he was being talked about, Zico turned to check on them, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he grinned at Daehyun.
“He was the only person in the castle that I trusted besides my father.” Daehyun’s smile dimmed for a second. “But now it’s just him. He’s always steered me in the right direction and I won’t start to distrust him now.”
Jongup wished he had someone like that growing up. Their kingdom was full of family and he always had his numerous siblings and cousins around but it wasn’t anything he particularly enjoyed. He would have been happy with just one person that he could count on, just a single soul that put him first.
Yongguk appeared at his side causing Jongup to jump in surprise. He must have lost his concentration as he was mentally cycling through every person he remembered back home.
“You two okay?” He pulled Jongup out of Daehyun’s pinching grip and slid his larger hand down Jongup’s goose bumped shoulder. “Zico wanted to talk to you, Daehyun. I’ll stay back here with Jongup.”
They set off again, giving the others a wide enough berth to pass for privacy. Jongup didn’t miss the way Daehyun leaned in comfortably under Zico’s arm and his shoulders released all the tension he’d been carrying.
“I’m starving.” Jongup didn’t like complaining but it had been since a small breakfast the day before that he’d had food and they’d been walking for miles. “We can’t fight on empty stomachs, Yongguk. We need our strength.”
“We’re almost there.” Yongguk’s arm slipped down his back and settled around his hip. His hold was strong and it helped Jongup continue to move towards the meeting place.
When they entered the abandoned field far from the castle, Jongup let out a tired breath and ran towards the only thing in the world that could bring a smile to his lips after the last two days.
“Velos!” His beast’s rough tongue flicked angrily over him, making sure he was all in one piece. A deep rumbling growl was sent towards Yongguk for the ragged way his human looked.
“Oh come off it. You knew I wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Jongup’s perfectly fine. You’ve known me longer, why aren’t you worried about me?” A huff of fire singed his boots, making Yongguk curse under his breath and jump backwards into Tanit’s wing. “Sweetheart, I really hate him sometimes.”
A soothing tongue lapped at his toes through the charred boots and he thanked the stars once again that he was given the most nurturing bird.
“I spoke to your beasts before I met with Daehyun.” Zico spoke up behind them, interrupting their reunion. “I gave them the location of a bag of food I had hidden in advance. Did you two bring it?”
Tanit looked behind her to the middle of the field where Jongup could see a strip of blue cloth floating upwards in the wind. The bag contained enough food for the four of them to finally sit back in content and a bit more to tide them over until they got back to the castle.
Daehyun eyed the monstrous beasts with wonder and a tiny bit of fear. “I’ve never been this close to one before.” He whispered to Jongup as he chewed quietly on an apple. “Are they friendly?”
“No.” Yongguk overheard them, his smile the brightest Daehyun had seen it since they set out on their journey. “They’re little demons. Don’t let them fool you.” Tanit slapped him playfully with the tip of her wing and the others were amazed to hear a loud bark of laughter come from Yongguk’s lips.
Yongguk took the time when everyone was drowsy and full of food and sunning in the weak glare above them to finally let his eyes rest on his apprentice. Being around Jongup was like being in a lightning storm. Every hair on his body stood on end and he felt like a coil that had been wound too tight, like he would unroll at any moment and his blood pulsated in his veins with the need to let instinct take over. Lately he had been too busy focusing on readying him for the Flyers and then on the queen’s plotting, but Jongup was always there, always nearby in the corner of his eye and Yongguk was getting tired of pretending he didn’t notice him.
He thought that maybe he was tired of a lot of things.
“Hey.” Jongup cracked open an eye and forced his lips up when he saw Yongguk’s eyes on him, beckoning for him to come sit. “C’mere.”
“I’m so tired.”
Jongup nodded, eyes already closed again and cheek held up by a dirty fist. “Me too.”
Even if they weren’t talking about the same things, even if he knew Jongup couldn’t even begin to understand all of the many things Yongguk was consumed with, that was okay. Because Jongup’s breath was hot against his jaw and Jongup’s half-asleep form was curled towards him in trust and because Jongup just was.
---
It was nightfall when they set out for the castle. Yongguk was trained to fly his best in the heavy black sky and felt all of his senses come alive a lot quicker than they would have during the day. Daytime attacks meant exposure and more people in the kingdom to be hurt. Coming at them when the inhabitants were safe in their beds was the only way Zico would agree to a plan. He wanted to minimize the casualties as much as possible.
Since Daehyun and Zico hadn’t been trained on the dragons they were split up and Yongguk bit back a snarl when their general climbed onto Velos behind Jongup, thighs tight around his apprentice.
“Calm down there, boy.” Daehyun held onto his shoulder and jumped up when Tanit leaned down for him. “Zico’s not that stupid.”
He didn’t dignify that with an answer and ignored Daehyun’s surprised shriek as Tanit lifted off, wings spread to the sides and beating rapidly to get them into the air. Jongup was already above them whooping with joy to be back on his beast. When Yongguk had reached his level they shared a quick grin of understanding between them that no one but a fellow Flyer could understand.
“Are you ready?”
Yongguk nodded, but didn’t reply over the roaring of the four giant wings drumming around them.
This look that Jongup gave him was softer, the worry marring his brow. They turned towards the kingdom, ready to go back and face their futures and see their plans through to the end.
The castle grew larger and larger in the distance until they were so close that Yongguk could see the sanctuary, the beasts inside restless and charging across the fields with pent up energy. Everyone knew the dragons belonged to no man. They were an ancient breed, more accustomed to taking orders from the turn of the wind, but over time an understanding between the two species had grown and Yongguk knew they would follow their orders to stay grounded until they couldn’t stand it anymore. Respect was the only trait humans and beasts had in common and it was such a thin cord holding them together. Yongguk worried that their treatment under the queen would cause them to revolt and they would never get their trust back again.
Suddenly and without warning Tanit sent Yongguk a series of memories of long ago battles where she fought alongside Velos and hundreds of other dragons in a night much like this one. If Zico wasn’t behind him holding on he probably would have slumped off her back. The images of bloodied and skinned dragons had the measly supper he had consumed earlier coming back up his throat. The beasts were no stranger to bloodshed and war.
“That’s not going to happen tonight, old girl.” He murmured, scratching her neck lovingly. “I won’t let anything happen to any of us.”
She flashed him one last time a scene of Jongup sitting between her and her mate, head thrown back in unexplainable laughter. His eyes were closed and crinkled and he looked so happy that Yongguk’s heart stuttered painfully a little knowing that he was dragging his apprentice into this fight.
“Not him either.” Yongguk promised her, eyes darting over to Velos because he knew Jongup’s dragon could hear him, too. “For sure not him.”
---
The skies around the castle were devoid of life and cold under the silent moon. Yongguk and Jongup glided quietly around the grounds several times just to make sure there was no one about. It was a given that the other dragons in the sanctuary were alerted of their presence but it was too early to see if they were willing to help if needed. They were simply too large to fit in the castle and if they brought them out then their cover would be blown. Velos and Tanit were already noticeable enough for Yongguk. He gave the command to land not far from the drawbridge and then ordered them to leave before they were seen and possibly hurt.
“If we don’t succeed then the queen won’t let you back in the sanctuary anymore.” Yongguk held Tanit’s muzzle gently in his palms and looked into her silver colored eyes. “If they see you out here they’ll try to kill you.”
Beside him, Jongup was silent as he processed the images Velos sent him of beautiful sunsets over unfamiliar mountains covered with snow but littered with bones and skulls. Brown fingers of dust and wind and anger that emerged from the sky and pressed into the ground, destroying everything in their paths so that new settlements could emerge. Yellow colored beasts with thick hair surrounding their necks, faces flecked with blood from the carcasses underneath him.
They were wonderful and terrifying at the same time, the death of beauty but also the beginnings of others ends. Jongup didn’t understand why Velos thought these were what he needed to see in order to fight the best he could.
“But what do they mean?”
Tanit was busy lapping at Yongguk’s smudged face, but was better versed at human’s ability to comprehend their way of communicating so she sent her own explanation.
A mother in the throes of childbirth, body unable to handle the strain and heart failing. The red infant angry and wrinkled, but alive even if its birth brought death to its mother.
“This world is cruel…” Jongup thought hard to find the meaning in their lesson. “But good things happen in the midst of it all?”
Tanit’s tongue slithered across his hand in answer.
“I know we’ll be forced to do horrible things in there. It has to happen for Daehyun to rule his kingdom, but I don’t know how I can do it.”
Yongguk didn’t know what the two dragons had sent Jongup, he hadn’t seen the same images. He listened to Jongup work out the moral of their teaching on his own, nodding when he finished. “We stick together and nothing can get between us. That’s how we do it.”
They let Zico and Daehyun finish their moment away from them. Daehyun’s arms shook as he unwound himself from around Zico and wiped his slick cheeks on his sleeve. “I’m ready.” He told them. He looked up at the only home he had ever had and stood a little straighter. “Don’t forget: I want to be the one to kill her.”
The four walked into the castle together before separating into their two groups to search Jongup’s family out. The royal chambers were too obvious. Jongup knew his aunt would play this out as a game and would have planned for their return and rebellion.
A tight grip on his elbow and a warm breath in his ear whispering “I’ll see you when it’s all over” was all Jongup got as a goodbye from Yongguk but he wasn’t expecting anything more. They had already shared their goodbyes when they had left Velos and Tanit alone together on the grass. There was nothing else needed to say.
No matter how much Zico growled and snarled at Yongguk he refused to budge about letting the two stay together in their search. He knew Zico would concentrate too much on Daehyun’s safety and his own would be put in jeopardy and if he messed up and left the prince defenseless then this whole plan was for nothing.
Yongguk and Daehyun headed towards the servants quarters while Zico and Jongup made their way around the royal courts. Most of the castle was empty now that the funeral for the king was over and the visiting royals had all departed. It didn’t take them long to check the main rooms and the two ballrooms.
They had no idea of knowing how the other’s search was going and it drove the both of them crazy with curiosity. The castle was too large and the walls were too thick to hear any commotion more than two halls away. For all they knew the other’s had been caught already.
“You know her better than anyone.” Zico’s voice was tight with tension as they closed another door in their search. “Where do you think she’d be?”
Jongup stood still and thought while Zico shuffled impatiently on the balls of his feet in front of him. His aunt wanted only one thing and that was to rule independently. Where would she be that would help her reach that goal? With a gasp of clarity he grasped his wrist and tugged him down the halls and towards the bedrooms. He knew exactly where his aunt would be.
“Daehyun’s bedroom?” Zico frowned at the door Jongup led him to. “Are you sure?”
He nodded, pushing open the door without giving them time to rethink it. As soon as they stepped inside he let out a ragged breath. “Hello Aunt.”
---
The layout of the castle was confusing, but Daehyun had lived there his entire life so every time Yongguk got lost in a corridor he was unfamiliar with Daehyun was able to pinpoint their exact location and clear up the confusion.
“This is hopeless. We’re just going in circles.” Daehyun was used to being handed everything on a silver platter and his patience was at the end of its rope. “For all we know the queen and her family aren’t even here.”
“You thought wrong.”
They spun around and Yongguk crouched defensively in front of his prince. “Who’s there?”
A mocking laugh, high and breathy and familiar, sounded from the shadows of the hall. It wasn’t until the figure stepped into the flickering candlelight that Yongguk realized where he’d heard that voice.
“Jaehyo.”
“The one and only.” The smiling boy was smaller than Yongguk and his lifetime in the royal family had made him as soft and unathletic as Daehyun, but he had one thing that separated him from the rest and put a chill of fear in Yongguk’s bones.
Even though he wasn’t bred for fighting, Jaehyo’s mad personality made him intimidating. And that made him the most dangerous person Yongguk had ever been next to.
---
“Hello Jongup.” His aunt smiled serenely from her seat behind Daehyun’s desk. “Please come in and chat for a bit. You’re excused, General.” Zico moaned and slumped to the ground before he had even seen Himchan sneaking up on their side with a heavy stone in his hand. “Take him out, Himchan darling.”
Jongup watched as his cousin dragged away the only ally he had at the moment. “He’s a good man, Aunt. Please don’t hurt him.”
She waved his concerns away. “We will retrain him until we are confident that he suits our needs, don’t worry. General Zico has been a great warrior for this kingdom and I won’t let harm come to anyone that serves me.” Her wide eyes batted in mock innocence. “And what about you, Jongup? Are you here to pledge allegiance to our kingdom?”
He breathed raggedly, fingers scratching at the wall behind him for purchase. Yongguk hadn’t prepared him for coming upon his aunt by himself. There was no training for this. “Why are you doing this?”
With a click of her tongue she picked up the knife lying on the desk in front of her and pouted her blood red lips at him. “You could have had everything. I would have made you a prince.”
Daehyun’s smiling face popped into his head making Jongup wonder what the queen had planned to do to get rid of him and put Jongup on his throne.
“You used to be so gentle.” He remembered growing up and being closer to her than his own parents. “We took butterfly hunts together and you taught me how to capture and release them without hurting anything. What happened?”
His aunt’s carefully composed expression cracked, just a hairline fracture, just a half second to show him that the woman he loved was still in there somewhere.
“Aunt, please-“
“You’re either a member of this family or you’re an enemy.” The cold mask slipped back on and the fury in her eyes made Jongup take a tentative step back. “Jaehyo warned me you couldn’t be counted on. He said you were weak. But I believed in you, Jongup. I brought you here before everyone else because I loved you the most and I knew you would just need a little bit more time to see that claiming this kingdom is for the good of our family. But you repeatedly shunned us, refused to dine as a family, constantly chose that peasant over your own blood!”
“He is not a peasant.”
She caught the tremor in his voice and knew she’d finally touched on a nerve. “No. Of course he’s not, is he. Not to you.” Milky white fingers draping in rubies and sapphires slid teasingly across the blade in her fist. “He put up quite the fight you know. When we caught him. Two members of my guard lost their lives trying to subdue him. You certainly picked quite the beast, Jongup.”
Fury pounded through his veins and licked at his fingertips. He burned to unleash on the smirking woman across the room but she held a six inch blade in her grip and he had nothing but an empty sword sheath.
“Maybe I’ll let you watch while Jaehyo cuts out his heart.” She sighed and tapped her chin in thought. “But then you will have no reason to help us anymore. Perhaps I should keep him around and bring him out sometimes to motivate you.” Her fist rapped on the desk and she yelled for whoever was waiting outside to enter.
Jongup jerked forward as Jaehyo and Himchan bookended a battered and exhausted Yongguk and threw him at the queen’s brocaded slipper covered feet. “Yongguk!”
A sword was held at his throat when he tried to cross the room and go to him.
“I would highly recommend staying still.” Jaehyo warned him, pushing the blade into his skin so hard that Jongup worried that merely swallowing would cause it to cut him open. “Aunt always loved you the best, but I had no such weakness.”
“Hurt him and I will kill you.” Yongguk growled until Himchan tugged on the ropes binding his wrists in warning.
They shared a moment of silent eye contact where Yongguk tried to tell him to stay strong and remember the end game and Jongup wanted to scream everything he’d kept silent about that he wanted Yongguk to know.
“So, my sweet boy,” Yongguk flinched as the knife in the queen’s hand flipped around to trace down his cheek. “Have we come to an agreement?”
Everything he should have said died in his throat at the panicked look Yongguk gave him. This was a decision that could take a life, a life that Jongup cared about.
But he knew that even if he was alive that Yongguk would never forgive him for not fighting. Jongup owed him for all that he’d done for him. Not just training him to be a Flyer, but for opening his eyes to a life that wasn’t glamorous and royal, but was hard work and respect and worth it. For caring about him when he had no one.
He took a deep breath and kept his eyes on Yongguk’s when he answered.
“No Aunt.” He watched Yongguk’s lips curl up in pride. “We most certainly do not.”
---
It was clear to Yongguk how this would play out. Jaehyo would use the sword in his hands to cut across the trembling flesh it was pressed against and then he would turn to Jongup and drive it through his heart. Game over, everyone loses. Their kingdom, his home would be under the queen’s rule forever and the people inside of it would lose themselves in her.
Yongguk saw it all happen in the few heartbeats after Jongup’s answer, as he kept his stare locked onto Jongup’s, watched the anguish in the dark brown orbs as his apprentice realized what was happening at the same moment.
“I’m sorry, Jongup.” His shoulders slumped in defeat and he swallowed the real words he wanted to say. “But you would have made a horrible Flyer.”
Jongup tried to laugh but the movement caused the sword to pinch his skin and a drop of blood dripped onto his tunic. They both knew that Yongguk’s words lacked punch and were really just to mask their terror at what was going to be unfolding.
“You’re just a terrible teacher.” Jongup’s voice was thick with bravely held back tears. He opened his mouth to say more, but shut it, realizing there was nothing else to add.
The glee in Jaehyo’s eyes at the knowledge that he was going to get to shed his most hated cousin’s blood wasn’t noticed, but Jongup could feel it in the way his body vibrated with excitement.
“Your deaths will not be in vain. It will serve to show the rest of the kingdom that falling in line with me is what’s best for everyone.” The queen waited for Jongup to look at her, she wanted to see the regret in his eyes before Jaehyo slid the sharp sword across his vein and dropped him to the floor. But Jongup was already lost with Yongguk as they said their final goodbyes in the span of a breath. “Goodbye Nephew.”
A gurgling sound caught everyone’s attention as soon as she opened the heavy wooden doors to leave before Jaehyo could fully fulfill his orders. Jongup craned his head to see what the cause was but all he could see was the back of his aunt’s blue velvet and jeweled dress, her long black hair plaited and wound around her head.
“What’s wrong?” Jaehyo turned in alarm, forgetting all about Jongup for the moment. Even Himchan was alarmed at the sound and dropped Yongguk to the floor with a dull thud. “Aunt?”
The queen stumbled back into the room and clawed frantically at her chest, wet screams pouring from her lips.
“Aunt!” Himchan and Jaehyo rushed to her side and pulled carefully at the dagger stuck between her ribs as Jongup saw the opportunity to cut Yongguk free from his bonds and pull him to his feet.
Daehyun stood in the doorway with a grin as he watched the queen’s eyes slowly dimming and her body falling into Jaehyo’s arms. “That was for my father.” He pulled a sword out of his sheath and impaled a frozen Himchan in the chest. “And that was for me.”
The only enemy left was Jaehyo and Yongguk pushed Jongup gently behind him with a sly smile on his lips. “You and Daehyun go find Zico. Take my sword. I’ll take care of this.”
They left to the sounds of Jaehyo’s screams echoing through the halls and a loud roar of anger that Jongup hoped he would never have to hear again from Yongguk. Daehyun was shaking and pale when Jongup led him out into the inner courtyards and he wouldn’t cease his mumbling of Zico’s name no matter how many times Jongup shushed him.
“Where are the queen’s guards?” Jongup murmured, keeping his eyes out for attackers as he circled the hysterical prince on the ground. “We should have seen some already…” The only things out of the ordinary that they could see on the grounds were large patches of black grass and cinders flying in the wind. “The dragons!” Jongup grinned and craned his head to look for the hulking masses of their beasts in the dark sky.
As if they knew he was distracted, a duo of guards burst from the side doors with swords held high in the air. Jongup raised Yongguk’s sword up and prepared for battle but felt a rush of relief instead when Zico charged out of the shadows behind them and took the two down with a highly practiced arc of his blade. “Zico!”
Daehyun’s head popped up at the name. “Where? Zico?” As soon as he saw Zico’s bruised cheeks and bloodstained tunic he let out a strangled cry and jumped up in shock. They embraced joyfully and both laughed loudly as Zico swung the prince around.
After waiting for what felt like forever and with Jongup wondering worriedly if he should go back in to search for Yongguk, the only person he wanted to see limped slowly into the courtyard towards him. He stopped too far away from Jongup and waited patiently for a sign of what his apprentice wanted him to do. “They are all gone.” He finally said quietly. Jongup noticed him trying to hide scraped knuckles behind his back. Knowing it was Jaehyo’s blood on them turned his stomach. For as much as he hated his cousins they were still blood and they had grown up together. “I found Junhong organizing the kitchen helpers and trying to lead a troop to find the queen as well. He’s okay.” His face sagged and Jongup saw the intense relief in his eyes that his brother was safe. “How is the prince? When they caught me I ordered him to run so they wouldn’t capture him, too.”
They looked behind them at Daehyun complaining angrily at Zico about how sore his feet were and how stupid Zico was to get hurt and that it would take weeks for the bruising on his face to go down so that he looked decent again.
“I think he’s okay.” Jongup smiled at him and held a hand out. “Come here.”
Yongguk didn’t need any more encouragement, arms already stretching out to grab the smaller man and pull him into his embrace. “We did it.” He still didn’t sound as if he believed his own words and had to repeat them several times to let it sink in. “The castle belongs to Daehyun again.”
“-and if you think I’m going to let you into my coronation with that split lip then you have another thing coming, General. Don’t think that just because you lead dozens of men every day that you have a fighting chance at controlling me, I don’t care how good of friends we are-“
---
Prince Daehyun was crowned King Daehyun only a few days after the siege at the castle. The body count was low and only included the queen’s family and guards so it was considered a success in the eyes of the kingdom. They had always adored their prince and accepted him as king easier than the queen’s self-imposed ruling. Junhong apologized profusely to Jongup for befriending Jaehyo and letting him into the kitchen and refused to listen to Jongup’s insistence that it wasn’t his doing at all.
The only thing that was different was Yongguk’s refusal to train Jongup anymore as a Flyer.
“You don’t need trained anymore.” Yongguk ignored the sullen look on the other’s face and patted Tanit on the hind leg. “You’re an official Night Flyer now, same schedules as the rest of them.”
“But…” He didn’t want to come out and say that he enjoyed their days training together.
Yongguk snuck a glance at him and bit back a smile. “In fact, I was thinking of taking on another apprentice to build up the ranks. Zico’s younger brother is almost of age and he told Zico he wanted to be a Flyer.” The venom in Jongup’s eyes almost caused a laugh to burst through but Yongguk managed to keep his humor in check. “Yeah, Jihoon would make a great Flyer. I just hope I get to him before Taeil does because he has no patience for an apprentice.”
Jongup sputtered angrily and twenty-seven ways to get rid of this “Jihoon” boy ran through his head in the time it took Yongguk to finally lose it and laugh so hard he dropped Tanit’s saddle on his foot.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t take it anymore. Your face is the color of a berry!” Yongguk ruffled Jongup’s hair affectionately before realizing what he was doing and stepped back to self-consciously adjust his ponytail. “I’m being truthful, Jongup. You really are a great Flyer. There’s nothing more I can teach you.”
“But I liked it.” Jongup spoke up, cheeks turning red with embarrassment. “Training with you every day.” He chewed on his lips and refused to meet Yongguk’s eyes. “I looked forward to it.”
“Jongup…” His touch on Jongup’s chin as he tipped it up to look at him was as gentle as his voice. “You misunderstood me when I said your training was over. I said we no longer needed to meet every day to practice. I didn’t say that we would no longer meet.”
“Oh.” Jongup’s swallow was dry and uncomfortable. “So… So I’ll still see you every day?”
Yongguk hummed a reply. His thumb stroked over Jongup’s lip, tugging it out from between his teeth. “Well, maybe not every day. Tanit might start to get jealous.” He fell onto Jongup with an oomph as Tanit snorted smoke out of her nose and slapped him forward with her tail in annoyance. “Okay I take that back then. Every day.” His teeth were blinding in the sun and his face looked more relaxed and happy than Jongup had ever seen it and he realized that this moment, right now, was what Velos had been trying to teach him back at the beginning of the siege.
In order to see the beauty in life you had to endure the pain to get there. Doing the right thing was never black or white, it had to be fought for, there had to be need and effort and sometimes blood. But sometimes you ended up on the side of the line that you wanted.
And if you were really lucky, you ended up on the same side as the people you loved.
Rated: PG13
Length: 9K
Part One
If Yongguk thought his anger was high then he quickly learned to never cross an ancient dragon. Half of his arm hair and a large chunk of black hair from his head were singed before he could get away from Velos and to the safety of Tanit’s wing.
“He’s a traitor! He betrayed all of us!”
Velos growled low in his throat, sparks erupting from his nostrils. Yongguk was smart enough to stay quiet and hidden while the two beasts communicated silently above him.
An image of Jongup weeping into Tanit’s neck was burned into his eyes and he had to shake his head to rid himself of the snapshots Velos was sending him.
“Trickery.” He mumbled as another of Jongup watching him as he groomed Tanit popped up, the younger boy’s eyes crinkled with happiness and adoration. “Witchcraft. He knew you were watching and would try to help his cause later.”
This time even Tanit had lost her patience, her green and gold webbed wing spinning him out from the safety of its cocoon and straight into Velos’s path. The threat in his smoke colored eyes was visible. Either Yongguk fixed things with his human or he would pay with his life.
“If the king dies…” Yongguk closed his eyes, shoving his hair out of his face. “What do we do?”
Tanit moved closer, her hot tongue a welcome comfort that showed Yongguk she still loved him. They would figure it out together, she silently promised. Just like they always did.
---
The king’s funeral was a lavish affair. Every realm that they had relations with sent their kings and queens and the castle was full for the first time since Daehyun was born. The prince had been in hiding since the news of his father’s death was announced and no one was sure if he would even attend the service.
The queen made sure and let herself be seen on every occasion that she could, against the general’s wishes. She told Zico that it kept the kingdom’s spirits up to see her involved and in good moral. Jongup watched her smiling demurely at the king of one of their neighboring kingdoms and felt disgusted. No one saw the way her eyes flickered around the room and observed all the newcomers. Only he could see her fluffing her hair and lowering the neckline of her dress whenever an attractive prince drew near. She was already planning her next move. It was obvious she intended to unite yet another kingdom in her hands.
“How has patrol been lately, cousin?” Jaehyo leaned congenially against the pillar Jongup was hiding behind and held out an extra mug of ale at him.
“I wouldn’t know now would I.” Jongup bumped his shoulder against him and tried to move past, but Jaehyo was forceful and refused to yield. “Let me pass, Jaehyo.”
The mugs were sat down on the floor beside him as Jaehyo held Jongup still with one arm. “I don’t think you understand the importance of being seen as a family unit right now. Our aunt is just devastated at the loss of her husband and she’s also being ignored by her favorite nephew.” Jaehyo clucked his tongue in sorrow. “Your attitude towards us is starting to be noticed. And it’s not being looked at very favorably.” The hidden meaning in his words struck Jongup as Jaehyo sauntered back into the ballroom. He was either with the family or against them and his continued existence in this kingdom would depend on which side he ended up on.
He looked in vain for Yongguk among the throngs of people, but couldn’t spot his silky black hair or piercing dark eyes in the crowd. The six days between the king falling sick and his death was the loneliest week Jongup had ever experienced. He spent every minute in his bunk with the door bolted shut and only opening it for the meals Jaehyo left outside for him. Once he wondered if perhaps he was being poisoned as well. Then he realized that he didn’t really care if he was and continued to eat heartily until all of his plates were clean.
He missed Velos. The bond between them wasn’t as deep as the one between Yongguk and Tanit, they had only been bonded a short time compared to those two, but he still felt the pull towards his beast. Sometimes at night he could hear scratching on his outside wall and he knew it was Velos trying to draw him out, but if he went out there he would ultimately run into Yongguk and he couldn’t handle that after what his trainer accused him of.
When he saw Himchan making his way towards him he groaned and melted back further into the shadows. The last thing he needed was to see the person who tried to compete with him for Yongguk’s undivided attention.
“Come out, come out wherever you are.” Himchan sang into the corner, trying to spot Jongup in the dark. Jongup thanked whoever was in charge of lighting the room because they had missed this unused and dusty corner. He was well hid in the draperies and columns. “I know you’re in there. I just thought you’d want to know that Yongguk is here.”
Jongup felt his heart speed up at the news, but he wouldn’t make a move to let Himchan know it affected him. He just had to wait for the family to lose interest in him tonight and then he could go back to the safety of his small room.
Eventually Himchan huffed when he was ignored and stormed off, leaving Jongup alone once again. He let out a relieved breath and stepped out of the shadows so that he could try and slip out without being noticed. A tight grip on his elbow just a few steps into the crowd and he realized it was stupid to think that even though he was hidden that he wasn’t still being watched.
It wasn’t until they were clear of the throng of people that Jongup realized it was Yongguk who held so tightly onto him, the taller man dragging him down the empty hallways and towards the outside.
“Yongguk?” Jongup struggled hard, hands peeling at Yongguk’s shaking fingers. “I have nothing to say to you so let me go!”
With a growl from the taller man he was suddenly pressed so close into Yongguk’s warm body that he could feel his breath on the side of his cheek. “Did you know for a fact this was being staged, Jongup? Tell me honestly because I’ll know if you’re lying.”
He wanted to reply but both answers were wrong. Life was never black and white, good and bad. There were gray areas, there were smudges along the moral lines and where they were standing was right in the middle. Any little burst of wind and they could be pushed to either side. Jongup hoped he ended up on Yongguk’s side.
“Tell me!” Yongguk all but screamed in his face, shaking Jongup like a stuffed toy in his hands. “Were you in on the plan?”
“No.” That was the easiest question he could ever be asked. “I only went to one family meeting and that was all. You know this.”
Yongguk was obviously fighting with himself over what to believe. It wasn’t as if Jongup had kept his distrust of his family a secret, but what if he was just trying to make Yongguk believe he was innocent? What if he had been planning all along to appear naïve and worried just to keep Yongguk from suspecting him when the time came that the queen’s plans came to life?
“Velos and Tanit trust you.” Yongguk said it like the words tasted foul in his mouth. “They were angry at me for the way I treated you.” Fingertips pressed gently against the curve of Jongup’s collarbones and over the fluttering pulse in his neck and he stopped his breathing in case Yongguk snapped out of whatever calm emotion he was fighting to stay in. “Tell me I can trust you, Jongup. I need to hear it from your lips.”
He carefully encircled Yongguk’s wrists with his hands and leaned into his touch. “I would never do anything to hurt you or this kingdom.” No matter how much of the queen’s blood ran through his veins he knew that his loyalty didn’t belong to them. Yongguk and their two dragons were the only family he had and Jongup would do everything in his power to keep them safe. “It’s time for us to make a plan.”
Yongguk swallowed, eyes still locked onto Jongup. His shoulders slowly started to relax and in seconds he was slumped on top of Jongup, face buried into the frozen boy’s neck. “Okay.” He mumbled. The vibrations from his lips caused Jongup to flinch. “Let’s find Zico.”
---
When Zico saw them coming towards him he paled and motioned for them to follow him into an empty room. Inside he locked the door and checked behind the drapes before speaking.
“Please tell me you’re worried about the same things I’m worried about.”
Yongguk kept his hand around Jongup’s elbow and pulled him towards him until Jongup was snug against his side. “It’s us against the queen. Who are you fighting for, General?”
“I’m going to fight to give the crown back to Prince Daehyun. Where it belongs. Woe be to anyone that gets in my way.”
That was good enough for Yongguk, a smile crossing his lips as he nodded. “We need to get the prince out of the castle. Can you find a reason to lure him out?”
Zico’s cheeks turned pink. “I could think of something.”
They quickly formatted a makeshift plan that Jongup thought had about a thirty percent chance of working. It all depended on if the queen had more sleeper traitors hidden around the kingdom than they realized.
“The biggest problem with my aunt is that she is over-confident.” Jongup interrupted the two others, awkwardness pricking at his skin for making them stop their intense conversation. “She believes she’s untouchable and that no one will be brave enough to stand up to her.” He turned away from Yongguk’s stare and toward Zico. “I think she is so sure of herself that she didn’t feel the need to plan for extra reinforcements from the family she’s already brought over.”
Yongguk squeezed his fingers in support. “Thank you, Jongup. We trust that you know your aunt as good as you believe you do.” He folded up the papers their sketches and notes were on and slid them down the side of his boot. “Let’s get started tomorrow at dawn. We need to inform our dragons.”
“Will they be behind you?”
He nodded at Zico’s question, the first confident expression on his face in their entire conversation. “Tanit and Velos would follow us anywhere.”
When they had finished with Zico, they left the room separately so they wouldn’t all be seen together. Zico left first, promising that he would have Daehyun delivered to them safely by the end of the next day.
“Jongup…” Yongguk pulled him back from the door where he had been counting under his breath for his turn to slip out. “I’m sorry.” Yongguk’s face was buried in his styled hair, the perfectly slicked tresses mussed from the pressure of his lips. “I should have believed in you from the beginning.”
“I wouldn’t have trusted me either.” Jongup admitted, still holding himself straight. He didn’t want to risk melting into Yongguk’s arms only to be pushed away again. The memory of the disgust on Yongguk’s lips as he looked at him the last time they were together was still burned in his eyes.
Yongguk’s hands slid from his shoulders down over his sides and landing securely on his hips. “When you leave here go to my bunk.”
“W-What?”
“We need to stick together from now until our mission is finished. I don’t want your cousins to separate you from me.” Jongup tried his hardest to stop the full-body shudder as Yongguk nuzzled even closer against him, his nose brushing the tip of his ear and breath hot on his skin. “Go straight there. Don’t talk to anyone or get led astray.”
He nodded and quickly left the room without looking back at Yongguk. Just the few little touches were enough to cause his heart to pound wildly in his chest and his hands to ache to feel Yongguk’s skin under them.
The ballroom was still full to bursting with the queen’s guests so Jongup had a quiet trip to Yongguk’s room. The only other person he saw on his way was a servant trying to run back to the kitchen for another plate.
Jongup felt odd just letting himself into Yongguk’s private space so he waited outside the door for the other to meet him. They had all agreed to wait the length of six hundred counts before leaving the room so Jongup counted softly to himself. Once he reached six hundred and twenty two he heard footsteps coming towards him in the hallway.
The relief that he had made it safe and sound was evident on Yongguk’s face and in the caring way he wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “We can do this.” Yongguk pep-talked them as he led them into his room. “It’s for the good of the kingdom and it can be done.”
The room was small and sparse with just a small straw bed and a table with a water jug beside it. Yongguk’s few clothes were hidden in a closed chest on the opposite wall. The rough wool blanket looked so itchy that Jongup winced just to look at it folded up on the edge of the bed.
“We could have gone back to my quarters. The room is larger and I have a fur-lined blanket.”
Yongguk shrugged, pulling his boots off and placing them neatly under the bed. “I like things simple. No frills, no fuss.” He patted the edge of the bed for Jongup to sit by him. “Tomorrow everything changes, Jongup. No more playing nice with the royals. Can you do that?”
Jongup bit his lip and wondered if Yongguk knew the absurdity of his question. Of course Jongup could cut off all ties with his family. Even his parents back in their home realm were of no consequence to him. As soon as he had been the right age for schooling they had sent him off and he had only seen them for important celebrations. They had seven other children besides him and since he was in the middle he’d always been overlooked and ignored. It used to pain him to know his parents had no use for him, but now he considered it a blessing. He had no one left behind that the queen could hurt.
No one but Yongguk.
His eyes roamed over Yongguk’s caring expression and trusting eyes and fell on the large hand rubbing circles into his skin.
“I’ll do anything you ask of me.”
When Jongup fell asleep that night it was securely under Yongguk’s arm and he drifted off to the scent of Yongguk’s chest and for the first time since Jaehyo had shown up at the castle he felt safe.
---
The general fulfilled his mission the next day by dragging a whining Daehyun after him and meeting in the woods just like they had decided.
The prince was obviously annoyed at being pulled from his bedroom still in his nightclothes and he spent the first hour of their meeting pouting and clinging to Zico’s arm every time attention was drawn away from him.
“This plan of yours is useless.” He spat as he pulled briars out of his shirt. “The queen isn’t going to stop what she’s doing just because a few people are upset over it. She killed my father and she’ll kill all of you, too.”
Jongup could see the way his lips tightened to white as the prince mentioned his father and silently commended him for doing his best to keep his emotions in check. He thought Daehyun would make an excellent king once they reinstated him in the court.
“We’re cowards if we at least don’t try.” Yongguk was quickly losing his patience with the prince so Jongup rubbed the palms of his fingers softly over his nape to calm him down. He was their leader in this and they needed for him to stay focused and push them towards their goal. With a sigh Yongguk leaned into the gentle touch and let Jongup rub his tenseness away. “The queen has to be stopped, Daehyun. If we don’t attempt it then we stay forever in a castle where we live in constant fear that we’ll be next. She wouldn’t have allowed the king’s heir to live. You would have been next on her list.”
Daehyun buried his face into Zico’s neck, his shoulders shaking. “I want to be the one to take her life.” His voice was muffled, but once again he managed to push everything aside and force himself to stay as calm as possible. Zico discreetly handed him a rag from his bag to clean his face with. “Do you think there are more people in the castle that we can depend on?”
Yongguk immediately thought of his brother and realized that his sudden disappearance would turn attention to him. “Junhong...” He turned to Jongup with a horrified expression. “Jongup, my brother.”
“He’ll be fine, Yongguk. They won’t hurt anyone unless they threaten their right to rule. Jaehyo’s worked with Junhong enough to know that he’s innocent.” The words did little to ease Yongguk’s mind. He had been so concerned with getting Jongup and the crowned prince out of harm’s way that he had thought of nothing else.
Having Jongup’s hand in his, warm and soft and safe, was what he concentrated on to lower his panic. Jongup was safe, Jongup was with him, they couldn’t get to him. They both knew that he would be high up on the list of people in the castle to take control of once the rebellion started. Jongup knew too much about the queen and their family. If he wasn’t with them then he was against them and that would be enough to have him killed.
The grip on Jongup’s hand got impossibly tight.
“I won’t let them hurt you.” The murmur was soft enough that Jongup could barely hear it but it still ricocheted through his ears like a blast. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“I know you will.” He whispered back, squeezing Yongguk’s hand gently. “We’re a team.”
---
The nights had been growing colder as the kingdom quickly headed towards the winter. With the four of them huddled in two small mounds near the meager fire they managed to stay warm throughout the night, but none would call it comfortable exactly. Jongup fell asleep with his face smashed against Yongguk’s worn for two day’s tunic, the scratchy wool blanket that he had hated on Yongguk’s bed tucked in tightly around his neck. The only thing that gave him the slightest bit of comfort during that long night was Yongguk’s arm snug and secure around his waist. They had already silently decided that neither would leave the other’s side until this was over and Yongguk included sleeping in that vow. If Jongup shifted even an inch he was pulled back towards him by a bleary-eyed Yongguk.
“Did you sleep any?” Jongup stretched and rubbed his eyes before wincing at the sight of an exhausted Yongguk above him. His eyes were circled with smudges of black and stress lines were forming in his brow that Jongup’s fingers itched to smooth out. “You didn’t have to stay awake all night. We’re safe enough out here.”
Yongguk shook his head. “Never assume you’re safe. Night Flyer rule number sixteen.”
“You have a lot of rules.”
“Rules keep the kingdom safe.” Yongguk growled under his breath. “Look what happened when the queen broke them. Now everyone is in danger.”
From across the fire they heard Daehyun whining as he woke up, lips pulled down in another pout. “This is the first time I’ve ever woken up without at least four servants surrounding me.” He leaned against Zico and yawned widely. “I much prefer the servants.”
Zico rolled his eyes. “No hired help here Your Highness. Now get up. I brought you some clothes. We need to head for the meeting point.”
This was news to Daehyun who suddenly looked alert and terrified. “Meeting point? Who are we meeting? How do you know who we can trust?”
“Because I trust them.” Yongguk broke in, his face set in stone. “Let’s go.”
They headed out again after damping down the fire and covering it as best as they could. There was no reason to believe they had been followed, but Zico and Yongguk didn’t want to take any chances.
Their two leaders led them through the forest while Jongup and Daehyun tripped behind them. After the fourth stumble and mumbled curse Jongup reached out to steady Daehyun and help him walk through the unfamiliar terrain easier.
“I’ve never been in the woods.” The prince admitted. He motioned down towards his clunky boots that Zico had pulled from his own closet. “And I don’t think anyone in my family even owns anything remotely like these.”
Jongup looked him over and had to admit he made a humorous sight with Zico’s spare training outfit on.
“You’ll get used to them.” He promised, helping Daehyun over a fallen tree. They watched the other two walk untroubled through the landscape, Yongguk’s head bent down to hear Zico better. “What do you think they’re planning up there?”
Daehyun snorted. “Your guess is as good as mine. I just woke up to a hand over my mouth and Zico two inches from my face and ordering me to be quiet and trust him. I have no idea what we can possibly do to stop the queen.”
“And you went along with him? Just like that?” Jongup knew that if he was a royal he wouldn’t be able to believe anything that was said to him. Everyone wanted something from the royal family and schemers and thieves abounded.
“Zico is…” Daehyun thought for a moment on the appropriate way to describe it. “Once when I was little and my real mother, my birth mother didn’t pass on until I was twelve, wanted me to learn proper decorum. I had to take daily classes with this governess who I still say hated me. If I accidentally forgot to straighten my back all the way when I walked she would slap my shoulders with a stick. And when I forgot which fork to use for the right course then I went to bed hungry. Zico was old enough to go into training with the guards and I had seen him around the castle a few times. He heard her berate me when I grabbed the dessert fork once again for the main course.” Jongup watched as Daehyun smiled fondly in the direction of the general. “Later that evening he knocked on the hidden escape door in my room. When I opened it he had his dinner held out to me and he told me to smile because the kingdom would need a joyful king one day.”
As if he knew he was being talked about, Zico turned to check on them, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he grinned at Daehyun.
“He was the only person in the castle that I trusted besides my father.” Daehyun’s smile dimmed for a second. “But now it’s just him. He’s always steered me in the right direction and I won’t start to distrust him now.”
Jongup wished he had someone like that growing up. Their kingdom was full of family and he always had his numerous siblings and cousins around but it wasn’t anything he particularly enjoyed. He would have been happy with just one person that he could count on, just a single soul that put him first.
Yongguk appeared at his side causing Jongup to jump in surprise. He must have lost his concentration as he was mentally cycling through every person he remembered back home.
“You two okay?” He pulled Jongup out of Daehyun’s pinching grip and slid his larger hand down Jongup’s goose bumped shoulder. “Zico wanted to talk to you, Daehyun. I’ll stay back here with Jongup.”
They set off again, giving the others a wide enough berth to pass for privacy. Jongup didn’t miss the way Daehyun leaned in comfortably under Zico’s arm and his shoulders released all the tension he’d been carrying.
“I’m starving.” Jongup didn’t like complaining but it had been since a small breakfast the day before that he’d had food and they’d been walking for miles. “We can’t fight on empty stomachs, Yongguk. We need our strength.”
“We’re almost there.” Yongguk’s arm slipped down his back and settled around his hip. His hold was strong and it helped Jongup continue to move towards the meeting place.
When they entered the abandoned field far from the castle, Jongup let out a tired breath and ran towards the only thing in the world that could bring a smile to his lips after the last two days.
“Velos!” His beast’s rough tongue flicked angrily over him, making sure he was all in one piece. A deep rumbling growl was sent towards Yongguk for the ragged way his human looked.
“Oh come off it. You knew I wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Jongup’s perfectly fine. You’ve known me longer, why aren’t you worried about me?” A huff of fire singed his boots, making Yongguk curse under his breath and jump backwards into Tanit’s wing. “Sweetheart, I really hate him sometimes.”
A soothing tongue lapped at his toes through the charred boots and he thanked the stars once again that he was given the most nurturing bird.
“I spoke to your beasts before I met with Daehyun.” Zico spoke up behind them, interrupting their reunion. “I gave them the location of a bag of food I had hidden in advance. Did you two bring it?”
Tanit looked behind her to the middle of the field where Jongup could see a strip of blue cloth floating upwards in the wind. The bag contained enough food for the four of them to finally sit back in content and a bit more to tide them over until they got back to the castle.
Daehyun eyed the monstrous beasts with wonder and a tiny bit of fear. “I’ve never been this close to one before.” He whispered to Jongup as he chewed quietly on an apple. “Are they friendly?”
“No.” Yongguk overheard them, his smile the brightest Daehyun had seen it since they set out on their journey. “They’re little demons. Don’t let them fool you.” Tanit slapped him playfully with the tip of her wing and the others were amazed to hear a loud bark of laughter come from Yongguk’s lips.
Yongguk took the time when everyone was drowsy and full of food and sunning in the weak glare above them to finally let his eyes rest on his apprentice. Being around Jongup was like being in a lightning storm. Every hair on his body stood on end and he felt like a coil that had been wound too tight, like he would unroll at any moment and his blood pulsated in his veins with the need to let instinct take over. Lately he had been too busy focusing on readying him for the Flyers and then on the queen’s plotting, but Jongup was always there, always nearby in the corner of his eye and Yongguk was getting tired of pretending he didn’t notice him.
He thought that maybe he was tired of a lot of things.
“Hey.” Jongup cracked open an eye and forced his lips up when he saw Yongguk’s eyes on him, beckoning for him to come sit. “C’mere.”
“I’m so tired.”
Jongup nodded, eyes already closed again and cheek held up by a dirty fist. “Me too.”
Even if they weren’t talking about the same things, even if he knew Jongup couldn’t even begin to understand all of the many things Yongguk was consumed with, that was okay. Because Jongup’s breath was hot against his jaw and Jongup’s half-asleep form was curled towards him in trust and because Jongup just was.
---
It was nightfall when they set out for the castle. Yongguk was trained to fly his best in the heavy black sky and felt all of his senses come alive a lot quicker than they would have during the day. Daytime attacks meant exposure and more people in the kingdom to be hurt. Coming at them when the inhabitants were safe in their beds was the only way Zico would agree to a plan. He wanted to minimize the casualties as much as possible.
Since Daehyun and Zico hadn’t been trained on the dragons they were split up and Yongguk bit back a snarl when their general climbed onto Velos behind Jongup, thighs tight around his apprentice.
“Calm down there, boy.” Daehyun held onto his shoulder and jumped up when Tanit leaned down for him. “Zico’s not that stupid.”
He didn’t dignify that with an answer and ignored Daehyun’s surprised shriek as Tanit lifted off, wings spread to the sides and beating rapidly to get them into the air. Jongup was already above them whooping with joy to be back on his beast. When Yongguk had reached his level they shared a quick grin of understanding between them that no one but a fellow Flyer could understand.
“Are you ready?”
Yongguk nodded, but didn’t reply over the roaring of the four giant wings drumming around them.
This look that Jongup gave him was softer, the worry marring his brow. They turned towards the kingdom, ready to go back and face their futures and see their plans through to the end.
The castle grew larger and larger in the distance until they were so close that Yongguk could see the sanctuary, the beasts inside restless and charging across the fields with pent up energy. Everyone knew the dragons belonged to no man. They were an ancient breed, more accustomed to taking orders from the turn of the wind, but over time an understanding between the two species had grown and Yongguk knew they would follow their orders to stay grounded until they couldn’t stand it anymore. Respect was the only trait humans and beasts had in common and it was such a thin cord holding them together. Yongguk worried that their treatment under the queen would cause them to revolt and they would never get their trust back again.
Suddenly and without warning Tanit sent Yongguk a series of memories of long ago battles where she fought alongside Velos and hundreds of other dragons in a night much like this one. If Zico wasn’t behind him holding on he probably would have slumped off her back. The images of bloodied and skinned dragons had the measly supper he had consumed earlier coming back up his throat. The beasts were no stranger to bloodshed and war.
“That’s not going to happen tonight, old girl.” He murmured, scratching her neck lovingly. “I won’t let anything happen to any of us.”
She flashed him one last time a scene of Jongup sitting between her and her mate, head thrown back in unexplainable laughter. His eyes were closed and crinkled and he looked so happy that Yongguk’s heart stuttered painfully a little knowing that he was dragging his apprentice into this fight.
“Not him either.” Yongguk promised her, eyes darting over to Velos because he knew Jongup’s dragon could hear him, too. “For sure not him.”
---
The skies around the castle were devoid of life and cold under the silent moon. Yongguk and Jongup glided quietly around the grounds several times just to make sure there was no one about. It was a given that the other dragons in the sanctuary were alerted of their presence but it was too early to see if they were willing to help if needed. They were simply too large to fit in the castle and if they brought them out then their cover would be blown. Velos and Tanit were already noticeable enough for Yongguk. He gave the command to land not far from the drawbridge and then ordered them to leave before they were seen and possibly hurt.
“If we don’t succeed then the queen won’t let you back in the sanctuary anymore.” Yongguk held Tanit’s muzzle gently in his palms and looked into her silver colored eyes. “If they see you out here they’ll try to kill you.”
Beside him, Jongup was silent as he processed the images Velos sent him of beautiful sunsets over unfamiliar mountains covered with snow but littered with bones and skulls. Brown fingers of dust and wind and anger that emerged from the sky and pressed into the ground, destroying everything in their paths so that new settlements could emerge. Yellow colored beasts with thick hair surrounding their necks, faces flecked with blood from the carcasses underneath him.
They were wonderful and terrifying at the same time, the death of beauty but also the beginnings of others ends. Jongup didn’t understand why Velos thought these were what he needed to see in order to fight the best he could.
“But what do they mean?”
Tanit was busy lapping at Yongguk’s smudged face, but was better versed at human’s ability to comprehend their way of communicating so she sent her own explanation.
A mother in the throes of childbirth, body unable to handle the strain and heart failing. The red infant angry and wrinkled, but alive even if its birth brought death to its mother.
“This world is cruel…” Jongup thought hard to find the meaning in their lesson. “But good things happen in the midst of it all?”
Tanit’s tongue slithered across his hand in answer.
“I know we’ll be forced to do horrible things in there. It has to happen for Daehyun to rule his kingdom, but I don’t know how I can do it.”
Yongguk didn’t know what the two dragons had sent Jongup, he hadn’t seen the same images. He listened to Jongup work out the moral of their teaching on his own, nodding when he finished. “We stick together and nothing can get between us. That’s how we do it.”
They let Zico and Daehyun finish their moment away from them. Daehyun’s arms shook as he unwound himself from around Zico and wiped his slick cheeks on his sleeve. “I’m ready.” He told them. He looked up at the only home he had ever had and stood a little straighter. “Don’t forget: I want to be the one to kill her.”
The four walked into the castle together before separating into their two groups to search Jongup’s family out. The royal chambers were too obvious. Jongup knew his aunt would play this out as a game and would have planned for their return and rebellion.
A tight grip on his elbow and a warm breath in his ear whispering “I’ll see you when it’s all over” was all Jongup got as a goodbye from Yongguk but he wasn’t expecting anything more. They had already shared their goodbyes when they had left Velos and Tanit alone together on the grass. There was nothing else needed to say.
No matter how much Zico growled and snarled at Yongguk he refused to budge about letting the two stay together in their search. He knew Zico would concentrate too much on Daehyun’s safety and his own would be put in jeopardy and if he messed up and left the prince defenseless then this whole plan was for nothing.
Yongguk and Daehyun headed towards the servants quarters while Zico and Jongup made their way around the royal courts. Most of the castle was empty now that the funeral for the king was over and the visiting royals had all departed. It didn’t take them long to check the main rooms and the two ballrooms.
They had no idea of knowing how the other’s search was going and it drove the both of them crazy with curiosity. The castle was too large and the walls were too thick to hear any commotion more than two halls away. For all they knew the other’s had been caught already.
“You know her better than anyone.” Zico’s voice was tight with tension as they closed another door in their search. “Where do you think she’d be?”
Jongup stood still and thought while Zico shuffled impatiently on the balls of his feet in front of him. His aunt wanted only one thing and that was to rule independently. Where would she be that would help her reach that goal? With a gasp of clarity he grasped his wrist and tugged him down the halls and towards the bedrooms. He knew exactly where his aunt would be.
“Daehyun’s bedroom?” Zico frowned at the door Jongup led him to. “Are you sure?”
He nodded, pushing open the door without giving them time to rethink it. As soon as they stepped inside he let out a ragged breath. “Hello Aunt.”
---
The layout of the castle was confusing, but Daehyun had lived there his entire life so every time Yongguk got lost in a corridor he was unfamiliar with Daehyun was able to pinpoint their exact location and clear up the confusion.
“This is hopeless. We’re just going in circles.” Daehyun was used to being handed everything on a silver platter and his patience was at the end of its rope. “For all we know the queen and her family aren’t even here.”
“You thought wrong.”
They spun around and Yongguk crouched defensively in front of his prince. “Who’s there?”
A mocking laugh, high and breathy and familiar, sounded from the shadows of the hall. It wasn’t until the figure stepped into the flickering candlelight that Yongguk realized where he’d heard that voice.
“Jaehyo.”
“The one and only.” The smiling boy was smaller than Yongguk and his lifetime in the royal family had made him as soft and unathletic as Daehyun, but he had one thing that separated him from the rest and put a chill of fear in Yongguk’s bones.
Even though he wasn’t bred for fighting, Jaehyo’s mad personality made him intimidating. And that made him the most dangerous person Yongguk had ever been next to.
---
“Hello Jongup.” His aunt smiled serenely from her seat behind Daehyun’s desk. “Please come in and chat for a bit. You’re excused, General.” Zico moaned and slumped to the ground before he had even seen Himchan sneaking up on their side with a heavy stone in his hand. “Take him out, Himchan darling.”
Jongup watched as his cousin dragged away the only ally he had at the moment. “He’s a good man, Aunt. Please don’t hurt him.”
She waved his concerns away. “We will retrain him until we are confident that he suits our needs, don’t worry. General Zico has been a great warrior for this kingdom and I won’t let harm come to anyone that serves me.” Her wide eyes batted in mock innocence. “And what about you, Jongup? Are you here to pledge allegiance to our kingdom?”
He breathed raggedly, fingers scratching at the wall behind him for purchase. Yongguk hadn’t prepared him for coming upon his aunt by himself. There was no training for this. “Why are you doing this?”
With a click of her tongue she picked up the knife lying on the desk in front of her and pouted her blood red lips at him. “You could have had everything. I would have made you a prince.”
Daehyun’s smiling face popped into his head making Jongup wonder what the queen had planned to do to get rid of him and put Jongup on his throne.
“You used to be so gentle.” He remembered growing up and being closer to her than his own parents. “We took butterfly hunts together and you taught me how to capture and release them without hurting anything. What happened?”
His aunt’s carefully composed expression cracked, just a hairline fracture, just a half second to show him that the woman he loved was still in there somewhere.
“Aunt, please-“
“You’re either a member of this family or you’re an enemy.” The cold mask slipped back on and the fury in her eyes made Jongup take a tentative step back. “Jaehyo warned me you couldn’t be counted on. He said you were weak. But I believed in you, Jongup. I brought you here before everyone else because I loved you the most and I knew you would just need a little bit more time to see that claiming this kingdom is for the good of our family. But you repeatedly shunned us, refused to dine as a family, constantly chose that peasant over your own blood!”
“He is not a peasant.”
She caught the tremor in his voice and knew she’d finally touched on a nerve. “No. Of course he’s not, is he. Not to you.” Milky white fingers draping in rubies and sapphires slid teasingly across the blade in her fist. “He put up quite the fight you know. When we caught him. Two members of my guard lost their lives trying to subdue him. You certainly picked quite the beast, Jongup.”
Fury pounded through his veins and licked at his fingertips. He burned to unleash on the smirking woman across the room but she held a six inch blade in her grip and he had nothing but an empty sword sheath.
“Maybe I’ll let you watch while Jaehyo cuts out his heart.” She sighed and tapped her chin in thought. “But then you will have no reason to help us anymore. Perhaps I should keep him around and bring him out sometimes to motivate you.” Her fist rapped on the desk and she yelled for whoever was waiting outside to enter.
Jongup jerked forward as Jaehyo and Himchan bookended a battered and exhausted Yongguk and threw him at the queen’s brocaded slipper covered feet. “Yongguk!”
A sword was held at his throat when he tried to cross the room and go to him.
“I would highly recommend staying still.” Jaehyo warned him, pushing the blade into his skin so hard that Jongup worried that merely swallowing would cause it to cut him open. “Aunt always loved you the best, but I had no such weakness.”
“Hurt him and I will kill you.” Yongguk growled until Himchan tugged on the ropes binding his wrists in warning.
They shared a moment of silent eye contact where Yongguk tried to tell him to stay strong and remember the end game and Jongup wanted to scream everything he’d kept silent about that he wanted Yongguk to know.
“So, my sweet boy,” Yongguk flinched as the knife in the queen’s hand flipped around to trace down his cheek. “Have we come to an agreement?”
Everything he should have said died in his throat at the panicked look Yongguk gave him. This was a decision that could take a life, a life that Jongup cared about.
But he knew that even if he was alive that Yongguk would never forgive him for not fighting. Jongup owed him for all that he’d done for him. Not just training him to be a Flyer, but for opening his eyes to a life that wasn’t glamorous and royal, but was hard work and respect and worth it. For caring about him when he had no one.
He took a deep breath and kept his eyes on Yongguk’s when he answered.
“No Aunt.” He watched Yongguk’s lips curl up in pride. “We most certainly do not.”
---
It was clear to Yongguk how this would play out. Jaehyo would use the sword in his hands to cut across the trembling flesh it was pressed against and then he would turn to Jongup and drive it through his heart. Game over, everyone loses. Their kingdom, his home would be under the queen’s rule forever and the people inside of it would lose themselves in her.
Yongguk saw it all happen in the few heartbeats after Jongup’s answer, as he kept his stare locked onto Jongup’s, watched the anguish in the dark brown orbs as his apprentice realized what was happening at the same moment.
“I’m sorry, Jongup.” His shoulders slumped in defeat and he swallowed the real words he wanted to say. “But you would have made a horrible Flyer.”
Jongup tried to laugh but the movement caused the sword to pinch his skin and a drop of blood dripped onto his tunic. They both knew that Yongguk’s words lacked punch and were really just to mask their terror at what was going to be unfolding.
“You’re just a terrible teacher.” Jongup’s voice was thick with bravely held back tears. He opened his mouth to say more, but shut it, realizing there was nothing else to add.
The glee in Jaehyo’s eyes at the knowledge that he was going to get to shed his most hated cousin’s blood wasn’t noticed, but Jongup could feel it in the way his body vibrated with excitement.
“Your deaths will not be in vain. It will serve to show the rest of the kingdom that falling in line with me is what’s best for everyone.” The queen waited for Jongup to look at her, she wanted to see the regret in his eyes before Jaehyo slid the sharp sword across his vein and dropped him to the floor. But Jongup was already lost with Yongguk as they said their final goodbyes in the span of a breath. “Goodbye Nephew.”
A gurgling sound caught everyone’s attention as soon as she opened the heavy wooden doors to leave before Jaehyo could fully fulfill his orders. Jongup craned his head to see what the cause was but all he could see was the back of his aunt’s blue velvet and jeweled dress, her long black hair plaited and wound around her head.
“What’s wrong?” Jaehyo turned in alarm, forgetting all about Jongup for the moment. Even Himchan was alarmed at the sound and dropped Yongguk to the floor with a dull thud. “Aunt?”
The queen stumbled back into the room and clawed frantically at her chest, wet screams pouring from her lips.
“Aunt!” Himchan and Jaehyo rushed to her side and pulled carefully at the dagger stuck between her ribs as Jongup saw the opportunity to cut Yongguk free from his bonds and pull him to his feet.
Daehyun stood in the doorway with a grin as he watched the queen’s eyes slowly dimming and her body falling into Jaehyo’s arms. “That was for my father.” He pulled a sword out of his sheath and impaled a frozen Himchan in the chest. “And that was for me.”
The only enemy left was Jaehyo and Yongguk pushed Jongup gently behind him with a sly smile on his lips. “You and Daehyun go find Zico. Take my sword. I’ll take care of this.”
They left to the sounds of Jaehyo’s screams echoing through the halls and a loud roar of anger that Jongup hoped he would never have to hear again from Yongguk. Daehyun was shaking and pale when Jongup led him out into the inner courtyards and he wouldn’t cease his mumbling of Zico’s name no matter how many times Jongup shushed him.
“Where are the queen’s guards?” Jongup murmured, keeping his eyes out for attackers as he circled the hysterical prince on the ground. “We should have seen some already…” The only things out of the ordinary that they could see on the grounds were large patches of black grass and cinders flying in the wind. “The dragons!” Jongup grinned and craned his head to look for the hulking masses of their beasts in the dark sky.
As if they knew he was distracted, a duo of guards burst from the side doors with swords held high in the air. Jongup raised Yongguk’s sword up and prepared for battle but felt a rush of relief instead when Zico charged out of the shadows behind them and took the two down with a highly practiced arc of his blade. “Zico!”
Daehyun’s head popped up at the name. “Where? Zico?” As soon as he saw Zico’s bruised cheeks and bloodstained tunic he let out a strangled cry and jumped up in shock. They embraced joyfully and both laughed loudly as Zico swung the prince around.
After waiting for what felt like forever and with Jongup wondering worriedly if he should go back in to search for Yongguk, the only person he wanted to see limped slowly into the courtyard towards him. He stopped too far away from Jongup and waited patiently for a sign of what his apprentice wanted him to do. “They are all gone.” He finally said quietly. Jongup noticed him trying to hide scraped knuckles behind his back. Knowing it was Jaehyo’s blood on them turned his stomach. For as much as he hated his cousins they were still blood and they had grown up together. “I found Junhong organizing the kitchen helpers and trying to lead a troop to find the queen as well. He’s okay.” His face sagged and Jongup saw the intense relief in his eyes that his brother was safe. “How is the prince? When they caught me I ordered him to run so they wouldn’t capture him, too.”
They looked behind them at Daehyun complaining angrily at Zico about how sore his feet were and how stupid Zico was to get hurt and that it would take weeks for the bruising on his face to go down so that he looked decent again.
“I think he’s okay.” Jongup smiled at him and held a hand out. “Come here.”
Yongguk didn’t need any more encouragement, arms already stretching out to grab the smaller man and pull him into his embrace. “We did it.” He still didn’t sound as if he believed his own words and had to repeat them several times to let it sink in. “The castle belongs to Daehyun again.”
“-and if you think I’m going to let you into my coronation with that split lip then you have another thing coming, General. Don’t think that just because you lead dozens of men every day that you have a fighting chance at controlling me, I don’t care how good of friends we are-“
---
Prince Daehyun was crowned King Daehyun only a few days after the siege at the castle. The body count was low and only included the queen’s family and guards so it was considered a success in the eyes of the kingdom. They had always adored their prince and accepted him as king easier than the queen’s self-imposed ruling. Junhong apologized profusely to Jongup for befriending Jaehyo and letting him into the kitchen and refused to listen to Jongup’s insistence that it wasn’t his doing at all.
The only thing that was different was Yongguk’s refusal to train Jongup anymore as a Flyer.
“You don’t need trained anymore.” Yongguk ignored the sullen look on the other’s face and patted Tanit on the hind leg. “You’re an official Night Flyer now, same schedules as the rest of them.”
“But…” He didn’t want to come out and say that he enjoyed their days training together.
Yongguk snuck a glance at him and bit back a smile. “In fact, I was thinking of taking on another apprentice to build up the ranks. Zico’s younger brother is almost of age and he told Zico he wanted to be a Flyer.” The venom in Jongup’s eyes almost caused a laugh to burst through but Yongguk managed to keep his humor in check. “Yeah, Jihoon would make a great Flyer. I just hope I get to him before Taeil does because he has no patience for an apprentice.”
Jongup sputtered angrily and twenty-seven ways to get rid of this “Jihoon” boy ran through his head in the time it took Yongguk to finally lose it and laugh so hard he dropped Tanit’s saddle on his foot.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t take it anymore. Your face is the color of a berry!” Yongguk ruffled Jongup’s hair affectionately before realizing what he was doing and stepped back to self-consciously adjust his ponytail. “I’m being truthful, Jongup. You really are a great Flyer. There’s nothing more I can teach you.”
“But I liked it.” Jongup spoke up, cheeks turning red with embarrassment. “Training with you every day.” He chewed on his lips and refused to meet Yongguk’s eyes. “I looked forward to it.”
“Jongup…” His touch on Jongup’s chin as he tipped it up to look at him was as gentle as his voice. “You misunderstood me when I said your training was over. I said we no longer needed to meet every day to practice. I didn’t say that we would no longer meet.”
“Oh.” Jongup’s swallow was dry and uncomfortable. “So… So I’ll still see you every day?”
Yongguk hummed a reply. His thumb stroked over Jongup’s lip, tugging it out from between his teeth. “Well, maybe not every day. Tanit might start to get jealous.” He fell onto Jongup with an oomph as Tanit snorted smoke out of her nose and slapped him forward with her tail in annoyance. “Okay I take that back then. Every day.” His teeth were blinding in the sun and his face looked more relaxed and happy than Jongup had ever seen it and he realized that this moment, right now, was what Velos had been trying to teach him back at the beginning of the siege.
In order to see the beauty in life you had to endure the pain to get there. Doing the right thing was never black or white, it had to be fought for, there had to be need and effort and sometimes blood. But sometimes you ended up on the side of the line that you wanted.
And if you were really lucky, you ended up on the same side as the people you loved.