Blood Ties (Chapter 3a)
Title: Blood Ties
Pairing: YunJae
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU
Length: Chaptered
Summary: They were born to different worlds: one to rule, the other to serve. A twist of fate united them in a bond that was not only taboo, it was forbidden. With danger constantly nipping at their heels, they must fight not only for their own survival but that of the people that depend upon them. Will their love survive the coming battle? Will they?
Tears slipped down Grace’s cheek as she cried silently, still gripping the cold, limp hand in both of hers.
“I’m sorry, Princess,” Dr. Murray whispered sadly.
She nodded silently.
“I’ll…”
“Please,” she murmured, clearing her throat when she heard how throaty her voice came out. “Don’t tell my father. He should hear it from me.”
Dr. Murray nodded his understanding. “Of course, Princess. I understand.”
“Can you…give me some time…alone with him?”
Dr. Murray nodded again. “I will go and begin the preparations.”
Bowing, he turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Grace’s tears flowed in earnest as soon as she knew that she was alone, her body bowed over the lifeless hand she now clutched to her chest, loud sobs wracking her frame.
What was she to do now? How could she go one without him?
She’d sat at his bedside day in and day out, so long as her father wasn’t around to scold her for putting her sisterly loyalty before her wifely duties, praying and begging him to come back to her, to not abandon her to a lifetime alone in this horrible world where she already had so few she could count on. The doctor had tried his best but by the time he’d procured the antidote, Jaejoong had already been within the poison’s grasp for almost a week, his heartbeat a mere shadow of its former self. The healer too had done what she could to prevent the inevitable. Despite what her father might think, the woman had shown Grace compassion and kindness, even comforting her during a fear-induced bout of tears, and seemed to genuinely care for Jaejoong. She’d even begun to suspect that she knew him somehow. In the end, the woman had reiterated her prediction from the very first day she’d visited Jaejoong.
“If he wants to come back,” she’d said again that very day when she was on her way out just before the doctor arrived, “he will. The choice is his to make. Trust that he’ll make the right one.” Then she’d smiled at Grace in a tender way that reminded her of a look mother would give to her child. “If it comforts you to know, it’s not his time yet.”
She’d taken those words to heart, using them as fuel to overcome the fear that clawed within her. Now, however, as she cried over her brother’s dead body, she accepted that it had probably been hopeless all along.
She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, leaning against the side of his bed, but by her stiff joints as she straightened up and the gravelly condition of her eyes, it had been some time. She took a few calming breaths to collect herself before looking down at her brother’s beautiful, frozen face, lamenting that she would never see his smile, their mother’s smile, again. She brought his arm up and kissed the back of his hand.
“Goodbye, baby.”
What happened next was something she would never forget nor be able to explain even if she lived for a thousand years.
She was just in the process of arranging Jaejoong’s hands over his sternum when she became aware of a strong, thumping sound at the very same time that he sat up, sending her scrambling back into her chair in shock.
A heartbeat.
He turned and made as if to climb out of the bed but as he swung one leg over the side, he froze, his hands rising to grip the sides of his head as his face contorted into a mask of pain, before he fell back onto his pillows.
“Jaejoong,” she whispered, still in shock.
He peered up at her. “My head is pounding, Gracie,” he whimpered, sounding much like he had as a child whenever something ailed him.
Hysteria threatened to bubble up her throat but she swallowed it back, doing her damndest to keep her wits about her.
“You shouldn’t move yet, sweeting. You’ve been lying in that bed for quite some time,” she said calmly, surprising herself.
The throbbing having abated slightly, Jaejoong dropped his hands and attempted to sit up slowly this time. “How long was I out?”
Grace cleared her throat, fingernails digging into her palms to keep herself centered. “Ten days. We were…starting to think that you weren’t ever going to wake up. You had me so worried, you naughty boy,” she scolded, attempting a light tone.
Jaejoong smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry.”
Grace eyed him closely, part of her expecting him to suddenly go back to being dead, her mind still struggling to come to grips with that fact that he wasn’t.
“Are you really…alright?” she asked tentatively.
Jaejoong frowned at his sister, taking stock of himself, assessing the aches and twinges in his body. He felt tired, his body heavy, and a hunger the likes of which he’d never experienced gnawed at him but his mind was sharp, especially considering how long Grace had said he’d been unconscious.
“I feel fine. Just need to get some food in me. But first, there’s something I need to do.”
He took his time inching towards the edge of the bed, swinging first one leg then the other over. Grace stood and, holding him around the waist with his arm slung over her shoulder, helped him stand.
“Where are you going? You shouldn’t be up and about yet, especially since you d…”
She bit her tongue, cutting off her words. No, she wouldn’t, couldn’t, tell him. No one could ever know. Dying and coming back to life was unheard of, even for people as special as they were. She was thankful that she’d told the doctor to let her give her father the news but now she needed to make sure that he kept his silence.
“I know who did it,” Jaejoong said with conviction, not noticing how abruptly she’d stopped speaking. “I know who tried to kill me.”
Grace gasped, eyes-wide as she looked up at him. “What? Who?”
Jaejoong gritted his teeth. “You’ll know soon enough, as soon as we get to father. Help me dress.”
It took some doing but they managed to get him into a loose shirt, trousers and boots. After brushing his teeth and combing his hair, courtesy of Grace, he felt a bit more like himself. They were just about to leave the room when he noticed that something important, his most prized accessory, was missing.
“Where’s Yunho?” he asked, looking around the room as if he expected Yunho to suddenly appear.
“He’s been arrested for attempted murder,” she said gently.
It was Jaejoong’s turn to gasp. “What?!” he exclaimed. “Yunho would never…”
“We know… That is to say Father knew that but we haven’t been able to find the culprit and he wanted to avoid any sort of public disturbance so he ordered Yunho be detained in the interim.”
Jaejoong growled softly. Politics. It was the part of being King that he hated the most, the main area that he and his father constantly butted heads over. They could and would never see eye to eye when it came to certain things.
“Let’s go get him,” he finally said. “He deserves to be there when the real criminal is brought to justice.”
Yunho lay on his bunk, staring up at the stone ceiling above, one hand thrown over his eyes.
His tears had dried, his sobs dying along with them, but the pain was still fresh in his heart, choking him.
He’d been happy to see his mother when she’d come by earlier, his only visitor besides Grace the entire time he’d been detained, but one look at her face had told him what he’d been hoping he would never hear.
And then he’d felt it.
Emptiness.
That place in his heart where Jaejoong lived was suddenly, conspicuously empty. He’d never told Jaejoong but there was a part of him that was as tuned into Jaejoong’s life-force as he was to his own. It was how he always knew what mood his Prince was in and what he needed from him. But now…there was nothing.
“Shhh,” she’d soothed, stroking his hand through the barred window of the cell. “It’s not over yet. He’s not gone yet. He can come back.”
Can, not will, meaning that it was up to Jaejoong to decide if he wanted to. Yunho tried to think of reasons why Jaejoong would want to return to this life but there weren’t many. His sister, certainly, but there wasn’t much else. His beloved Prince led the saddest existence of anyone he’d ever known. Being set free from this life might be too tempting to resist.
After his mother had left, he’d lain on his bunk crying silently, biting into the flesh of his arm to ensure that not a sound could be heard in the room outside. His grief was his own. He wouldn’t give those entitled bastards the satisfaction of seeing his pain. They wouldn’t understand it, anyway. They would assume that he was bemoaning his ill fate, not knowing that something much more life-shattering had occurred.
“Yunho?”
He dropped his arm and sat up slowly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Someone was probably coming to tell him what he already knew: that Jaejoong was dead.
It was only when he started to stand that he realized that the voice sounded familiar.
Looking up sharply, he jumped to his feet and raced to the door, mouth agape as his mind struggled to accept what his eyes were seeing.
“Jaejoong!”
Jaejoong smiled tenderly, happiness coursing through him as he set eyes on his friend for the first time in over a week, although he hadn’t known that until a half hour ago. Somehow, even unconscious, he’d missed him.
His heart had clenched when he’d stepped up to the small, barred window and seen Yunho lying on the cot. The room was clean and he knew that he was being treated well but Yunho had looked so lonely and…broken. Sadness and defeat seemed to cloud him. Now, however, as he looked into his shocked face, he could see relief in Yunho’s eyes. He must have been so worried.
He gently laid his hands over Yunho’s where they had curled on top of the window’s edge. “I came to bust you out,” he joked.
Yunho laughed, eyes shining with tears of joy. He sobered a bit when reality hit him once again.
“They think I tried to kill you.”
Jaejoong nodded. “I know,” he said regretfully. “I’m sorry it took me so long to wake up.”
Wake up?, Yunho thought, wondering if he’d imagined what he’d thought he’d felt. It had been so real and yet…here Jaejoong was, clearly not dead. He hadn’t felt him come back either and yet…upon examination of that part of his heart that belonged to Jaejoong and Jaejoong only, he realized that he was there again, as if he’d never left.
Shaking off his thoughts, he turned his hands palm-up and curled his fingers into Jaejoong’s.
“I don’t think your father will let me out until we’ve caught the one responsible.”
Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening. “I already know who it is.”
Yunho’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. “You do?”
Jaejoong nodded.
“Wow…”
Yunho was quiet as he absorbed that information and neither one said anything until Grace cleared her throat, reminding them that she was there.
“Eh-hem, I think we’d better get this show on the road,” she advised, pretending that she had not witnessed what seemed more like an intimate moment between long-lost lovers than a Prince and his subject. “Word will spread that you’re up and about soon so if you want to catch your suspect unawares, you’d best get to it.”
Color tainted both men’s cheeks as they released their grip on the other.
Yunho had been so beside himself with joy that he’d forgotten to rein in his emotions and behaviour like he usually did in public. Grace wasn’t just anyone and he trusted her almost as much as he trusted her brother but he still didn’t think it proper to be too informal in her presence.
Yunho moved away from the door as Jaejoong unlocked it. When he stepped outside, he took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. The air itself didn’t smell or feel any different but he couldn’t deny that he felt like shackles had been lifted off his body, his form once more buoyant and free.
But, he reminded himself, before he got too caught up in celebrating his freedom, there was still one thing left to do
Smiling, he turned to Jaejoong. “Let’s go catch us a killer.”
Jaejoong ignored the surprised gasps and soft murmurs that erupted in the great hall as he made his way down the center aisle, his gaze and purpose fully concentrated on his destination.
Pale, blue-gray eyes met and held his. Shock registered first, unsurprisingly, but then came acceptance. Jaejoong wasn’t surprised by that reaction. What was the use of denying what had been done when it was obviously of no use?
Leaning heavily on Yunho, his body still affected by the poison that was slowly working its way out of his system, he painstakingly made his way up the steps of the platform until he stood before the royal table.
King Gregori hadn’t moved, which didn’t surprise him at all. His father wasn’t one for huge reactions. His eyes were narrowed however, moving over his son’s body assessingly. The rest of the table were on their feet, making their way towards him.
All but one.
Looking into those cold, unapologetic eyes, Jaejoong asked simply, “Why?”
Silence fell upon the hall, confusion settling on curious faces and all those present cocked their ears to hear every word.
Maynard looked around, eyes swinging back and forth between the two, panic evident as he sputtered, “Wha…what’s going on here?”
Rising slowly from his seat, Gregori fixed steely blue eyes on Jaejoong. “Are you sure?”
Jaejoong momentarily looked over at his father, nodding before he refocused on his gaze on his would-be executioner.
“It was the only way,” his killer replied, shrugging nonchalantly.
Maynard swallowed rapidly, moving closer to his son. “Dylan…what’s going on?”
“For what?” Jaejoong beseeched, pain leaking into his voice. “Why would you do such a thing, Cousin?”
Dylan’s gaze briefly flickered to his right before returning to Jaejoong’s.
Jaejoong glanced in that direction and saw Amélie looking at him anxiously, her hands twisting in the folds of her satin dress.
“You had only to say the word and I would have stepped aside,” Jaejoong responded to Dylan’s unspoken answer.
Embarrassed colour bloomed in Amélie’s cheeks but Jaejoong’s concentration was once again focused on his cousin.
“Jaejoong…”
Dylan’s bitter laugh cut his father off. “I’m sure… Really, Cousin, how could I ever hope to compete with you, the Prince? Despite your assertions, there was no way that the contract would be voided, that your father would allow it to be. Not unless you were out of the picture. Permanently.”
“Dylan…” Maynard tried again.
“Shut up!” Dylan snapped. “I’m not going to lie and pretend to be the sainted son that I’ve never been. A man owns up to what he’s done and I don’t regret it.”
A stab of pain tore through Jaejoong’s heart, hearing his cousin speak so plainly about what he’d attempted, not showing even the slightest bit of remorse. They’d always gotten along, as well as two people in their positions could in any event. He’d sensed some resentment on Dylan’s part from time to time but there were reasons for that and he understood it. In all of their years together in the palace, he’d never once suspected that his cousin was capable of killing him, that he would even want to, which is why he’d been shocked when, before the blackness had swallowed him, he’d heard his cousin’s voice in his head urging him to die.
Then again, he’d never picked up on Dylan’s apparent affection for Amélie either. Perhaps he didn’t know his cousin quite as well as he’d thought.
A sharp cry and howl of pain reminiscent of a wounded animal broke him out of his reverie. He spun around to see a girl writhing on the stone floor, clutching her head in her hands.
“Your accomplice?” Gregori asked wryly, casting a glance at his nephew.
The girl, the maid who had spilled the wine on Jaejoong, had apparently been trying to sneak out of the great hall while everyone’s attention had been trained on the drama atop the platform.
Well, clearly not everyone’s attention.
Unfortunately for her, there was only one way in and one way out of the great hall.
“Silence!” Gregori ordered, and the ear-splitting cries dwindled to pathetic mewls.
“Father…” Jaejoong began but stopped when Gregori raised a hand to quiet him.
“What part did you play in all of this?” Gregori asked the squirming form on the floor.
Despite already having an idea of what the girl was about to reveal, Jaejoong still felt pity for her. She had no doubt only been a pawn in Dylan’s plan, nothing more.
“He…gave me the…poison and told me to put it in the Prince’s wine,” she answered haltingly, taking shallow, shuddering breaths in between. “He said that I should spill the first glass on the Prince so that it would seem like an obvious distraction and that whoever gave him the second glass would be blamed.”
Jaejoong looked over at his cousin, a mixture of sadness and horror apparent on his face. To think that his cousin would go to such lengths…
“Why would you do such a thing for him?” Gregori questioned. “What’s in it for you?”
“I…” She trailed off and a second later, an ear-splitting scream echoed around the room.
“Father!” Jaejoong censured. Regardless of whatever crimes the girl had committed, no one deserved to be tortured that way.
Gregori rarely used his power, and never in front of such a large crowd. The fact that he’d made an exception that day told Jaejoong that he was putting on a show, using what had happened as a warning to anyone else who might have thoughts about betraying the royal family.
Jaejoong had never been on the receiving end of his father’s particular skill - one of two that he knew of - but he’d seen him use it before and he knew that by the time he was done, the girl would wish she was dead, if she could even think straight at that point. From what he’d heard told, the pain was beyond excruciating, the pressure so intense that it felt like the person’s skull was being crushed.
Since the screams had died down to wretched sobs, Jaejoong assumed that his father had eased up a bit.
“Answer the question,” Gregori demanded.
Sniffling loudly, she said softly, “I…I love him. We’ve secretly been seeing each other for months. He lay with me, made promises to me. He said that…the throne is rightly his, that he is the rightful heir, and that this was the only way for us to be together. When he became king, he could change the laws so that we could be married.”
Gregori laughed harshly. “And you believed that? Stupid girl…”
Gregori turned to his nephew and was impressed by the defiance in his eyes and the erect, courageous stance of his body.
It’s a real pity, he thought. He would’ve made a fine soldier in battle.
“I know that it doesn’t need to be said but for formality’s sake, I’ll say it anyway. For conspiring and attempting to kill the Prince of our land, your own cousin, you shall be put to death.”
Maynard clutched desperately at his sleeve. “Brother, please. I beg of you to reconsider.”
Gregori ignored him, not even sparing a moment to shake him off. “You shall meet the dawn. Your sentence will be carried out at sunrise.”
“Gregori, please!”
“Silence!” Gregori snapped, tearing his arm away from his brother’s clutches. “I suggest you make use of what little time you have left and say your goodbyes.” Looking over at his personal guards, he nodded towards Dylan. “Take him away.”
Jaejoong silently watched as his cousin was led away, head high and unapologetic, while Uncle Maynard stumbled behind him, unable to come to grips with the fact that his son, all that he had left of his beloved, departed wife, was going to be dead at the crack of dawn. Ordinarily, he would beg for mercy on the part of the innocent or downtrodden, as he had for Yunho all those years ago, but his cousin was neither. He’d forfeited his life the moment he’d decided to end Jaejoong’s. For once, he would stand by and quietly watch the laws of their people be carried out.
In the wake of his cousin and his accomplice being carted off, the adrenaline that had been fueling Jaejoong’s body seemed to have been completely exhausted and he sagged against Yunho, allowing his trusted friend to support him.
“Are you okay?” Yunho murmured, speaking for the first time since they’d entered the room.
He and Grace had watched what unfolded in awe and disbelief. He didn’t question how Jaejoong had known that his cousin was the culprit, though. There were things about himself that Jaejoong never talked about. Yunho had his suspicions but he was content to keep them to himself. If and when Jaejoong decided that he wanted to share his secrets with him, he would be more than willing to listen.
“Just tired,” Jaejoong replied wearily. “Take me to my room, please.”
With Yunho’s support, and Grace on his other side holding his hand tightly, Jaejoong allowed himself to be carried away, closing the door on what he’d decided to think of as no more than an unfortunate event.
Part 2
Pairing: YunJae
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU
Length: Chaptered
Summary: They were born to different worlds: one to rule, the other to serve. A twist of fate united them in a bond that was not only taboo, it was forbidden. With danger constantly nipping at their heels, they must fight not only for their own survival but that of the people that depend upon them. Will their love survive the coming battle? Will they?
Tears slipped down Grace’s cheek as she cried silently, still gripping the cold, limp hand in both of hers.
“I’m sorry, Princess,” Dr. Murray whispered sadly.
She nodded silently.
“I’ll…”
“Please,” she murmured, clearing her throat when she heard how throaty her voice came out. “Don’t tell my father. He should hear it from me.”
Dr. Murray nodded his understanding. “Of course, Princess. I understand.”
“Can you…give me some time…alone with him?”
Dr. Murray nodded again. “I will go and begin the preparations.”
Bowing, he turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Grace’s tears flowed in earnest as soon as she knew that she was alone, her body bowed over the lifeless hand she now clutched to her chest, loud sobs wracking her frame.
What was she to do now? How could she go one without him?
She’d sat at his bedside day in and day out, so long as her father wasn’t around to scold her for putting her sisterly loyalty before her wifely duties, praying and begging him to come back to her, to not abandon her to a lifetime alone in this horrible world where she already had so few she could count on. The doctor had tried his best but by the time he’d procured the antidote, Jaejoong had already been within the poison’s grasp for almost a week, his heartbeat a mere shadow of its former self. The healer too had done what she could to prevent the inevitable. Despite what her father might think, the woman had shown Grace compassion and kindness, even comforting her during a fear-induced bout of tears, and seemed to genuinely care for Jaejoong. She’d even begun to suspect that she knew him somehow. In the end, the woman had reiterated her prediction from the very first day she’d visited Jaejoong.
“If he wants to come back,” she’d said again that very day when she was on her way out just before the doctor arrived, “he will. The choice is his to make. Trust that he’ll make the right one.” Then she’d smiled at Grace in a tender way that reminded her of a look mother would give to her child. “If it comforts you to know, it’s not his time yet.”
She’d taken those words to heart, using them as fuel to overcome the fear that clawed within her. Now, however, as she cried over her brother’s dead body, she accepted that it had probably been hopeless all along.
She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, leaning against the side of his bed, but by her stiff joints as she straightened up and the gravelly condition of her eyes, it had been some time. She took a few calming breaths to collect herself before looking down at her brother’s beautiful, frozen face, lamenting that she would never see his smile, their mother’s smile, again. She brought his arm up and kissed the back of his hand.
“Goodbye, baby.”
What happened next was something she would never forget nor be able to explain even if she lived for a thousand years.
She was just in the process of arranging Jaejoong’s hands over his sternum when she became aware of a strong, thumping sound at the very same time that he sat up, sending her scrambling back into her chair in shock.
A heartbeat.
He turned and made as if to climb out of the bed but as he swung one leg over the side, he froze, his hands rising to grip the sides of his head as his face contorted into a mask of pain, before he fell back onto his pillows.
“Jaejoong,” she whispered, still in shock.
He peered up at her. “My head is pounding, Gracie,” he whimpered, sounding much like he had as a child whenever something ailed him.
Hysteria threatened to bubble up her throat but she swallowed it back, doing her damndest to keep her wits about her.
“You shouldn’t move yet, sweeting. You’ve been lying in that bed for quite some time,” she said calmly, surprising herself.
The throbbing having abated slightly, Jaejoong dropped his hands and attempted to sit up slowly this time. “How long was I out?”
Grace cleared her throat, fingernails digging into her palms to keep herself centered. “Ten days. We were…starting to think that you weren’t ever going to wake up. You had me so worried, you naughty boy,” she scolded, attempting a light tone.
Jaejoong smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry.”
Grace eyed him closely, part of her expecting him to suddenly go back to being dead, her mind still struggling to come to grips with that fact that he wasn’t.
“Are you really…alright?” she asked tentatively.
Jaejoong frowned at his sister, taking stock of himself, assessing the aches and twinges in his body. He felt tired, his body heavy, and a hunger the likes of which he’d never experienced gnawed at him but his mind was sharp, especially considering how long Grace had said he’d been unconscious.
“I feel fine. Just need to get some food in me. But first, there’s something I need to do.”
He took his time inching towards the edge of the bed, swinging first one leg then the other over. Grace stood and, holding him around the waist with his arm slung over her shoulder, helped him stand.
“Where are you going? You shouldn’t be up and about yet, especially since you d…”
She bit her tongue, cutting off her words. No, she wouldn’t, couldn’t, tell him. No one could ever know. Dying and coming back to life was unheard of, even for people as special as they were. She was thankful that she’d told the doctor to let her give her father the news but now she needed to make sure that he kept his silence.
“I know who did it,” Jaejoong said with conviction, not noticing how abruptly she’d stopped speaking. “I know who tried to kill me.”
Grace gasped, eyes-wide as she looked up at him. “What? Who?”
Jaejoong gritted his teeth. “You’ll know soon enough, as soon as we get to father. Help me dress.”
It took some doing but they managed to get him into a loose shirt, trousers and boots. After brushing his teeth and combing his hair, courtesy of Grace, he felt a bit more like himself. They were just about to leave the room when he noticed that something important, his most prized accessory, was missing.
“Where’s Yunho?” he asked, looking around the room as if he expected Yunho to suddenly appear.
“He’s been arrested for attempted murder,” she said gently.
It was Jaejoong’s turn to gasp. “What?!” he exclaimed. “Yunho would never…”
“We know… That is to say Father knew that but we haven’t been able to find the culprit and he wanted to avoid any sort of public disturbance so he ordered Yunho be detained in the interim.”
Jaejoong growled softly. Politics. It was the part of being King that he hated the most, the main area that he and his father constantly butted heads over. They could and would never see eye to eye when it came to certain things.
“Let’s go get him,” he finally said. “He deserves to be there when the real criminal is brought to justice.”
Yunho lay on his bunk, staring up at the stone ceiling above, one hand thrown over his eyes.
His tears had dried, his sobs dying along with them, but the pain was still fresh in his heart, choking him.
He’d been happy to see his mother when she’d come by earlier, his only visitor besides Grace the entire time he’d been detained, but one look at her face had told him what he’d been hoping he would never hear.
And then he’d felt it.
Emptiness.
That place in his heart where Jaejoong lived was suddenly, conspicuously empty. He’d never told Jaejoong but there was a part of him that was as tuned into Jaejoong’s life-force as he was to his own. It was how he always knew what mood his Prince was in and what he needed from him. But now…there was nothing.
“Shhh,” she’d soothed, stroking his hand through the barred window of the cell. “It’s not over yet. He’s not gone yet. He can come back.”
Can, not will, meaning that it was up to Jaejoong to decide if he wanted to. Yunho tried to think of reasons why Jaejoong would want to return to this life but there weren’t many. His sister, certainly, but there wasn’t much else. His beloved Prince led the saddest existence of anyone he’d ever known. Being set free from this life might be too tempting to resist.
After his mother had left, he’d lain on his bunk crying silently, biting into the flesh of his arm to ensure that not a sound could be heard in the room outside. His grief was his own. He wouldn’t give those entitled bastards the satisfaction of seeing his pain. They wouldn’t understand it, anyway. They would assume that he was bemoaning his ill fate, not knowing that something much more life-shattering had occurred.
“Yunho?”
He dropped his arm and sat up slowly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Someone was probably coming to tell him what he already knew: that Jaejoong was dead.
It was only when he started to stand that he realized that the voice sounded familiar.
Looking up sharply, he jumped to his feet and raced to the door, mouth agape as his mind struggled to accept what his eyes were seeing.
“Jaejoong!”
Jaejoong smiled tenderly, happiness coursing through him as he set eyes on his friend for the first time in over a week, although he hadn’t known that until a half hour ago. Somehow, even unconscious, he’d missed him.
His heart had clenched when he’d stepped up to the small, barred window and seen Yunho lying on the cot. The room was clean and he knew that he was being treated well but Yunho had looked so lonely and…broken. Sadness and defeat seemed to cloud him. Now, however, as he looked into his shocked face, he could see relief in Yunho’s eyes. He must have been so worried.
He gently laid his hands over Yunho’s where they had curled on top of the window’s edge. “I came to bust you out,” he joked.
Yunho laughed, eyes shining with tears of joy. He sobered a bit when reality hit him once again.
“They think I tried to kill you.”
Jaejoong nodded. “I know,” he said regretfully. “I’m sorry it took me so long to wake up.”
Wake up?, Yunho thought, wondering if he’d imagined what he’d thought he’d felt. It had been so real and yet…here Jaejoong was, clearly not dead. He hadn’t felt him come back either and yet…upon examination of that part of his heart that belonged to Jaejoong and Jaejoong only, he realized that he was there again, as if he’d never left.
Shaking off his thoughts, he turned his hands palm-up and curled his fingers into Jaejoong’s.
“I don’t think your father will let me out until we’ve caught the one responsible.”
Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening. “I already know who it is.”
Yunho’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. “You do?”
Jaejoong nodded.
“Wow…”
Yunho was quiet as he absorbed that information and neither one said anything until Grace cleared her throat, reminding them that she was there.
“Eh-hem, I think we’d better get this show on the road,” she advised, pretending that she had not witnessed what seemed more like an intimate moment between long-lost lovers than a Prince and his subject. “Word will spread that you’re up and about soon so if you want to catch your suspect unawares, you’d best get to it.”
Color tainted both men’s cheeks as they released their grip on the other.
Yunho had been so beside himself with joy that he’d forgotten to rein in his emotions and behaviour like he usually did in public. Grace wasn’t just anyone and he trusted her almost as much as he trusted her brother but he still didn’t think it proper to be too informal in her presence.
Yunho moved away from the door as Jaejoong unlocked it. When he stepped outside, he took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. The air itself didn’t smell or feel any different but he couldn’t deny that he felt like shackles had been lifted off his body, his form once more buoyant and free.
But, he reminded himself, before he got too caught up in celebrating his freedom, there was still one thing left to do
Smiling, he turned to Jaejoong. “Let’s go catch us a killer.”
Jaejoong ignored the surprised gasps and soft murmurs that erupted in the great hall as he made his way down the center aisle, his gaze and purpose fully concentrated on his destination.
Pale, blue-gray eyes met and held his. Shock registered first, unsurprisingly, but then came acceptance. Jaejoong wasn’t surprised by that reaction. What was the use of denying what had been done when it was obviously of no use?
Leaning heavily on Yunho, his body still affected by the poison that was slowly working its way out of his system, he painstakingly made his way up the steps of the platform until he stood before the royal table.
King Gregori hadn’t moved, which didn’t surprise him at all. His father wasn’t one for huge reactions. His eyes were narrowed however, moving over his son’s body assessingly. The rest of the table were on their feet, making their way towards him.
All but one.
Looking into those cold, unapologetic eyes, Jaejoong asked simply, “Why?”
Silence fell upon the hall, confusion settling on curious faces and all those present cocked their ears to hear every word.
Maynard looked around, eyes swinging back and forth between the two, panic evident as he sputtered, “Wha…what’s going on here?”
Rising slowly from his seat, Gregori fixed steely blue eyes on Jaejoong. “Are you sure?”
Jaejoong momentarily looked over at his father, nodding before he refocused on his gaze on his would-be executioner.
“It was the only way,” his killer replied, shrugging nonchalantly.
Maynard swallowed rapidly, moving closer to his son. “Dylan…what’s going on?”
“For what?” Jaejoong beseeched, pain leaking into his voice. “Why would you do such a thing, Cousin?”
Dylan’s gaze briefly flickered to his right before returning to Jaejoong’s.
Jaejoong glanced in that direction and saw Amélie looking at him anxiously, her hands twisting in the folds of her satin dress.
“You had only to say the word and I would have stepped aside,” Jaejoong responded to Dylan’s unspoken answer.
Embarrassed colour bloomed in Amélie’s cheeks but Jaejoong’s concentration was once again focused on his cousin.
“Jaejoong…”
Dylan’s bitter laugh cut his father off. “I’m sure… Really, Cousin, how could I ever hope to compete with you, the Prince? Despite your assertions, there was no way that the contract would be voided, that your father would allow it to be. Not unless you were out of the picture. Permanently.”
“Dylan…” Maynard tried again.
“Shut up!” Dylan snapped. “I’m not going to lie and pretend to be the sainted son that I’ve never been. A man owns up to what he’s done and I don’t regret it.”
A stab of pain tore through Jaejoong’s heart, hearing his cousin speak so plainly about what he’d attempted, not showing even the slightest bit of remorse. They’d always gotten along, as well as two people in their positions could in any event. He’d sensed some resentment on Dylan’s part from time to time but there were reasons for that and he understood it. In all of their years together in the palace, he’d never once suspected that his cousin was capable of killing him, that he would even want to, which is why he’d been shocked when, before the blackness had swallowed him, he’d heard his cousin’s voice in his head urging him to die.
Then again, he’d never picked up on Dylan’s apparent affection for Amélie either. Perhaps he didn’t know his cousin quite as well as he’d thought.
A sharp cry and howl of pain reminiscent of a wounded animal broke him out of his reverie. He spun around to see a girl writhing on the stone floor, clutching her head in her hands.
“Your accomplice?” Gregori asked wryly, casting a glance at his nephew.
The girl, the maid who had spilled the wine on Jaejoong, had apparently been trying to sneak out of the great hall while everyone’s attention had been trained on the drama atop the platform.
Well, clearly not everyone’s attention.
Unfortunately for her, there was only one way in and one way out of the great hall.
“Silence!” Gregori ordered, and the ear-splitting cries dwindled to pathetic mewls.
“Father…” Jaejoong began but stopped when Gregori raised a hand to quiet him.
“What part did you play in all of this?” Gregori asked the squirming form on the floor.
Despite already having an idea of what the girl was about to reveal, Jaejoong still felt pity for her. She had no doubt only been a pawn in Dylan’s plan, nothing more.
“He…gave me the…poison and told me to put it in the Prince’s wine,” she answered haltingly, taking shallow, shuddering breaths in between. “He said that I should spill the first glass on the Prince so that it would seem like an obvious distraction and that whoever gave him the second glass would be blamed.”
Jaejoong looked over at his cousin, a mixture of sadness and horror apparent on his face. To think that his cousin would go to such lengths…
“Why would you do such a thing for him?” Gregori questioned. “What’s in it for you?”
“I…” She trailed off and a second later, an ear-splitting scream echoed around the room.
“Father!” Jaejoong censured. Regardless of whatever crimes the girl had committed, no one deserved to be tortured that way.
Gregori rarely used his power, and never in front of such a large crowd. The fact that he’d made an exception that day told Jaejoong that he was putting on a show, using what had happened as a warning to anyone else who might have thoughts about betraying the royal family.
Jaejoong had never been on the receiving end of his father’s particular skill - one of two that he knew of - but he’d seen him use it before and he knew that by the time he was done, the girl would wish she was dead, if she could even think straight at that point. From what he’d heard told, the pain was beyond excruciating, the pressure so intense that it felt like the person’s skull was being crushed.
Since the screams had died down to wretched sobs, Jaejoong assumed that his father had eased up a bit.
“Answer the question,” Gregori demanded.
Sniffling loudly, she said softly, “I…I love him. We’ve secretly been seeing each other for months. He lay with me, made promises to me. He said that…the throne is rightly his, that he is the rightful heir, and that this was the only way for us to be together. When he became king, he could change the laws so that we could be married.”
Gregori laughed harshly. “And you believed that? Stupid girl…”
Gregori turned to his nephew and was impressed by the defiance in his eyes and the erect, courageous stance of his body.
It’s a real pity, he thought. He would’ve made a fine soldier in battle.
“I know that it doesn’t need to be said but for formality’s sake, I’ll say it anyway. For conspiring and attempting to kill the Prince of our land, your own cousin, you shall be put to death.”
Maynard clutched desperately at his sleeve. “Brother, please. I beg of you to reconsider.”
Gregori ignored him, not even sparing a moment to shake him off. “You shall meet the dawn. Your sentence will be carried out at sunrise.”
“Gregori, please!”
“Silence!” Gregori snapped, tearing his arm away from his brother’s clutches. “I suggest you make use of what little time you have left and say your goodbyes.” Looking over at his personal guards, he nodded towards Dylan. “Take him away.”
Jaejoong silently watched as his cousin was led away, head high and unapologetic, while Uncle Maynard stumbled behind him, unable to come to grips with the fact that his son, all that he had left of his beloved, departed wife, was going to be dead at the crack of dawn. Ordinarily, he would beg for mercy on the part of the innocent or downtrodden, as he had for Yunho all those years ago, but his cousin was neither. He’d forfeited his life the moment he’d decided to end Jaejoong’s. For once, he would stand by and quietly watch the laws of their people be carried out.
In the wake of his cousin and his accomplice being carted off, the adrenaline that had been fueling Jaejoong’s body seemed to have been completely exhausted and he sagged against Yunho, allowing his trusted friend to support him.
“Are you okay?” Yunho murmured, speaking for the first time since they’d entered the room.
He and Grace had watched what unfolded in awe and disbelief. He didn’t question how Jaejoong had known that his cousin was the culprit, though. There were things about himself that Jaejoong never talked about. Yunho had his suspicions but he was content to keep them to himself. If and when Jaejoong decided that he wanted to share his secrets with him, he would be more than willing to listen.
“Just tired,” Jaejoong replied wearily. “Take me to my room, please.”
With Yunho’s support, and Grace on his other side holding his hand tightly, Jaejoong allowed himself to be carried away, closing the door on what he’d decided to think of as no more than an unfortunate event.
Part 2