As Kris and Jang-mii wandered out of the grove of stardust elms and down the white stone pathways towards the heart of the unicorn kingdom where they had left Lay and his father, the atmosphere of the woods had clearly changed. What had once been calm, peaceful tranquility had evolved into an aura of celebration; the air was alive with song, the characteristic strings and flutes the unicorns enjoyed. Though unicorns seldom deigned to take human form, they were wonderful minstrels and loved the rare occasions that they could play music. Kris cocked his head to the side slightly as he listened to the notes floating on the air, a small smile formed on his face. He had traveled far and wide across the wilds, and heard countless minstrels perform, but nothing compared to the beautiful music echoing in the magical woods that the mystical horse brings called home. He glanced down at the princess to find that she shared a similar sentiment.

“It's the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard,” she murmured as her eyes widened slightly in wonder. Kris smiled gently, pleased with how much she was enjoying herself. The music grew louder as they approached the center of the wooded area, and accompanying the serene ballads were several voices singing in a foreign language. Like all the creatures of the wilds, unicorns spoke the Common Tongue, but they had their own ancestral language as well. Kris could pick apart bits and pieces, as Lay had taught him the basics in the many years they had known each other.

“They're singing about you,” he remarked with a small smile to the princess, and her black hair whirled as she gasped and looked up at him in mild shock.

“Really? What are they saying?” she asked excitedly, her cheeks flushing pink at the idea the unicorns had immortalized her in song. Kris narrowed his eyes slightly as he attempted to discern what the minstrels were saying about the young princess. After a minute of listening intently, he smirked slightly.

“It seems that the unicorn king has done his research. It's a chronicle of your time in the wilds,” he explained with a wry smile. “Everything from the time I interrupted the wedding to your arrival here. It's incomplete. By the time it's finished, it'll be quite the song,” he chuckled softly. Jang-mii blushed, quite flattered, and listened to the strange music that she could not understand. Kris did the same with a small smile, and then it slowly faded as the song switched gears; now, the subject of the song was himself, of his curse and his long, lonely life in the sense woods of the wilds. He subconsciously tightened his grip on the princess' hand. It was just yet another reminder of his cruel reality, of his life in exile. Jang-mii noticed the sad expression on his face, and stopped to reach up and place a hand on his cheek.

“Kris? What's wrong?” she asked him worriedly, and he forced a small smile on his face. He didn’t want to ruin her fun on account of his brooding, so he just shook his head slightly.

“Nothing. I was just thinking,” he responded innocently, and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him but thankfully she did not call him on his lie. Just enjoy the time you have instead of sulking, he told himself firmly as they continued onward toward the center of the village. As they drew close, Kris heard feverish footsteps striking the white pavement, and it wasn’t long before Lay came walking briskly down the path. His face was flushed and he was breathing hard, indicating that he had likely just made an escape from his father.

“Oh! There you guys are. I was wondering where you had run off to,” Lay smiled before glancing over his shoulder with a deep frown, concerned that he had been followed. He glanced back at them with a weary smile. “Jeez, that old man damn near talked my ear off. ‘You need to come home and face your responsibility, Lay. You’re a disgrace to unicorns, Lay. Why do you love these humans so much, Lay?’” he snorted mockingly as he slid his hands into the pockets of his white trousers and scuffed the pathway with his shoe. “’Scuse me if I want to see the world,” he muttered, and Kris smiled slightly in sympathy and reached out to clap the moody unicorn on his shoulder.

“You and your family drama,” he mused, and the unicorn just hunched his shoulders and glared at him with his lips pursed. After a moment of sulking, he noticed that the two royals were laden with the rich white pollen of the elms they had just visited.

“Oh! Jang-mii! You got to see the stardust elms?” he beamed, brightening instantly. The princess nodded eagerly, and then, likely remembered what had exactly occurred in that small grove, blushed and looked in embarrassment at Kris. Lay blinked and looked between the two of them, confused, but before the unicorn could put two and two together grabbed him by the shoulders and whirled him about.

“Is your father ready for us yet?” he inquired as he pushed the unicorn along the path, and Lay groaned and dragged his feet, not keen on the idea of returning to the celebration and facing the insistence of his regal father. He just continued to obediently trudge along the path as the dragon-prince ushered him along the pristine pathways to the large gathering space where the unicorns held their feasts for various celebrations and festivals and whatnot. It was adjacent to one of the flowers fields, a large patio of white stone with a long table made of the signature silvery wood. The table was already laden with food and much of the small forest's inhabitants had already taken their places in the many chairs lining the long table. The king, naturally, sat in an ornate chair at the head of the table, and Lay stomped over to take his place as a prince to the right of the old king. Jang-mii was given the place of honor to his left, and Kris sat beside her.

“I see you have enjoyed our stardust elm grove,” the unicorn king mused as he regarded the two pollen-laden royals. Both turning pink, they attempted to brush off as much of the fluffy white particles as they could while staring in embarrassment at the empty silver plates before them.

“Yes. It was more than I ever could have imagined it would be,” Jang-mii answered with a shy smile, running her fingers through her jet-black hair. “This entire place is magnificent… It's truly an honor to have been able to enjoy it. I’m grateful for the opportunity,” she continued and bowed her head respectfully to the old man. He chortled and his beard while regarding the young woman. His eyes were sparkling with amusement. She just has this old coot wrapped around her pretty little finger. Unicorns have always been fond of maidens, particularly pure ones, he thought, and then turned pink as he recalled how he had blemished that purity not less than an hour ago. He turned slightly and covered his mouth with a hand, unable to keep from smirking with satisfaction at the memory. God, that felt good, he thought with a slight, dreamy sigh, and didn’t even notice that the old man had addressed him until Jang-mii smacked the back of her hand against his shoulder.

“What?” he blurted and whipped around, then turned as red as his hair when he realized the three of them were staring at him. Dear God, I hope neither of them read my mind, he thought with a small groan. “Sorry. I was just admiring things and wasn’t paying attention,” he lied with a strained smile.

“He asked about the pendant,” Jang-mii explained quietly, and he looked down at the necklace hanging around his neck.

“Oh! Yes. It's quite to my liking. It was a very kingly gift,” he answered hastily and looked back up at the king. He was still quite astonished that he had been giving the unassuming pendant at all, and he was still greatly humbled.

“Wonderful. I am pleased,” the old man mused, apparently unaware of the discomfort of the two royals as he waved a hand. “Now, I am sure that you have worked up quite an appetite, so let's eat, shall we?” he smirked in amusement, and Kris flushed further and sunk down in his seat slightly. You have no idea… he thought in slight notification. At the king's bequest, attendants came around the table with trays laden with food. Unicorns are vegetarians by nature, being the horse beings that they were, but to appease their human guests they also had a fair selection of meats. Kris' eyes widened slightly as a large slab of steak was set down on his plate, and he couldn’t keep his mouth from watering. He couldn’t remember the last time he had had a proper meal; he simply subsisted on the game he and Lay killed to satiate his massive dragon bulk. As he put it in his mouth, he actually came close to tears, he was so overjoyed. I had forgotten what it tastes like, he thought miserably. It saddened him to think that it would not last; he could feel the healing magic in the pendant weakening with each passing minute.

It wasn’t long before the unicorn lord asked the question that had long been on his mind.

“Princess… Forgive me if I am presumptuous, but what do you intend to do about Prince Baekhyun?” the old king asked pointedly. At the sudden inquiry, Jang-mii swallowed her food nervously and straightened up, turning mildly pale. Kris reached under the table and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He was relieved to see the color return to her face.

“Yes…” she murmured, staring forlornly down at her plate. “It is clear to me now that what Baekhyun desires is my throne and my country's resources, and is willing to use whatever means necessary to obtain those things. He is willing to ravage villages and kill my citizens in an attempt to force me to do as he wishes… But if I do, my country and everyone- no, everything- will suffer. Baekhyun is not above trying to take my country by force, and admittedly, the odds are stacked in his favor. He has an impressive army and the capability to build war machines, while my country's military is a militia compared to his… If there is a way to solve this problem peacefully, I must pursue it, but I am afraid that our only course of action will be war. That will devastate the country,” she sighed miserably, and when she looked up, she looked the saddest that Kris had ever seen her. “Perhaps the only thing I can do to save this country is marry him after all, in order to keep him in check somehow.”

“You can't do that!” Kris shouted, so upset that he actually banged his fist on the table. He flushed when all eyes him, and all conversation halted. Even the minstrels ceased playing their instruments to stare at him in surprise. He slunk down in the chair and remained silent until the buzz of conversation and the music resumed, and he bit down on his lip. He hadn’t meant to make such a scene, but he had grown furious at such a notion. He had heard rumors of Baekhyun's fondness of women, and the phantasms dancing in his head made his vision turn red with fury. “You can't,” he repeated more quietly, looking at her pointedly. “I will not permit you to marry that bastard under any circumstances.”

“Kris, this is about my country, my people,” she moved to interject, but she snapped shut and meekly slunk down as his eyes flashed angrily.

“No, Jang-mii, this is about you,” he growled. All that he could think about was that vile snake of a prince and what he would do to his beloved princess, largely just to spite Kris himself, and he just got angrier and angrier. “What do you think you would accomplish by marrying him? You would be a prisoner, Jang-mii.” As he said it, her shoulders slumped sadly as all hope left her. He sighed deeply as his anger dissipated, and he reached out to gently run a hand down her cheek. Though he had been embarrassed before, he really didn’t care at this point who was watching. He hated seeing the normally optimistic and bubbly girl so despondent. “I know it's difficult. I promise you, we will find a way to stop him,” he reassured her gently. She leaned into his hand, her sad, blue eyes gazing miserably up into his own. “If you marry him, Jang-mii, your country is as good as destroyed.”

“He's right,” Lay cut in, and Kris was immensely grateful for the unicorn's input. “There will be nothing you can do to prevent Baekhyun from doing what he wants. I’m afraid your only option is to go to war,” he sighed and rapped his fingers against the wooden table as he leaned his cheek in his hand. At this revelation, Jang-mii slumped miserably into the chair. 

“You’re right,” she admitted sadly. Kris lifted his hand to run his fingers through her soft hair. I hate this for her, he thought bitterly. I swear to all the gods, Baekhyun, I’ll cut you down before I let you lay one finger on any hair on her head. You can't have this country.

“It is indeed a troubling situation,” the unicorn lord sighed deeply, and then looked at the depressed princess. “I cannot comment on the correct course of action for this matter. That being said, young Jang-mii, I offer my assistance to you. Should you require anything of us, I will gladly oblige.” Kris' eyes widened in shock. It was one thing for the unicorn to treat Jang-mii with the level of respect that he had throughout the day, but an entirely different level to offer his assistance. Very rarely in the history of the unicorn kingdom had they offered assistance to the larger country they called home, and the fact that the king was openly swearing an oath of allegiance to the princess was very notable. The importance of this fact did not go unnoticed to Jang-mii.

“I thank you very much, My Lord,” she murmured gratefully and bowed her head. She seemed reassured to know that the immortal beings were behind her in her effort to save her kingdom, and that soft smile that he so loved reappeared on her face once more.

The rest of the afternoon passed without much incident, and soon the trio of royals were standing beneath the curved birch trees that marked the entrance to the unicorns' hallowed home.

“Is there nothing I can say to make you stay, my son?” the unicorn king sighed wearily as Lay stood beside Kris, one hand resting on the hilt of the sword strapped about his waist. He smirked slightly and glanced at the young dragon-prince.

“No, Father. I gave Kris my word that I would help him stop that lording whelp, and I intend to follow through,” he mused, and once again Kris was grateful for his friend. I’ll need him in the coming days… He was fairly certain that this story would end in war, and Kris could think of no one better to fight alongside him and help him disgrace that spoiled brat.

“And so it shall be,” the king sighed wearily and ran a hand over his face, seemingly tired from dealing with his incessantly rebellious son. “Very well, then. I wish you luck on your endeavors,” he said politely to Kris and Jang-mii, and they both bowed their hands gratefully. As he did so, the pendant swung out into open air, and Kris realized that he had very little time left before he reverted back to his dragon form. As he rose, he lifted the necklace from about his neck and tucked it securely in the pocket of his tunic. As the healing magic faded from his system, he felt that familiar feeling that he dreaded more than anything in the world, and his fingers twitched.

“If you'll excuse me,” he sighed and bowed his head to the king once more before stalking off further down the path to an area suitable to hold his bulk. Almost immediately, his knees buckled and he landed on his hands and knees in the dirt road, and he groaned as he felt the dark curse working its havoc on his body. The groan gradually transitioned into a low growl as he morphed into his massive dragon form. He was surprised, however, to find that it felt less painful than what it used to be, especially compared to the intense pain that he had experienced earlier that day when he had transformed into a human. He lifted his head to stare out over the forest canopy as he exhaled deeply, smoke pouring out of his gigantic maw. Something is off. It's different, he thought with unease as he stared at the setting sun sinking below the green tree line. Still, there was no time to ponder the notion, for as he turned his head he saw the princess and the unicorn coming down the path. He laid down in the grass so that they could clamber up to his back before he spread his wings wide and took off into the sky. He sailed across the golden sky, his red scales shining with the soft light and turning him a burnt orange. He felt Jang-mii slide her slim arm around his neck, and he glanced back at her to find her smiling softly.

“I’m sorry I upset you,” she whispered softly as she his red scales lovingly. “I just want to save my country…”

“We will, Jang-mii,” Lay reassured, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Kris and I won't rest until Baekhyun is no danger to your country.” Jang-mii nodded and rested her head against the back of his neck, continuing to gently him. Kris returned his attention back to the darkening sky, his eyes narrowed as he coasted the winds.

You can boast as much as you like, Baekhyun. You can flaunt your power and mass an army in the tens of thousands… But nothing will be able to protect you from me. Not your pride, not your power, not your army. I will make you suffer for the pain you have caused Jang-mii, he swore angrily as he soared off into the coming night.

You can't have her.