HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEE!!!!!!

The Throne

The nickering of horses shattered the peaceful night. 

Jungkook sat up from his pallet and pulled a dagger out from beneath his bedroll, flicking his eyes to the curtained alcove where Baekhyun slept at night. Moonlight filtered in through the bamboo shades, painting the darkened room with small patches of silvery white here and there. Jungkook stood up and hurriedly changed into his usual leathers and grabbed his bow and arrows.

It wasn't every day that galloping of horses could be heard so near the palace, and Jungkook was taking no risks. It might be just a farmer taking his horses and delivering late produce or a group of soldiers doing night training, but things happened, and Jungkook didn't want him to  be the one to cause it by being negligent. Better safe than sorry.

Jungkook snuck out of the room, making sure to bolt the door securely behind him and signal to the trustworthy guards patrolling Baekhyun's living quarters. Baekhyun had a separate building from the palace, a huge wooden house with rooms for his personal servants and his own armada of his handpicked guards. Jungkook had been around long enough to know who could be trusted and who couldn't. Baekhyun's guards were all honest, down-to-earth young men.

At least, most of them were.

He tiptoed out into the courtyard carefully, hiding from the palace guards that reported back to the King of Goguryeo instead of Baekhyun. There was a clear barrier between both groups, and Jungkook didn't want to cause trouble between them. The painfully obvious rift had always been a source of headache for Baekhyun, but it didn't stop him from treating his men better than most. Jungkook had witnessed their interactions, and he couldn't even say that he envied them. Those guards were treated like brothers, not servants.

Jungkook wished he could be a brother to Baekhyun, instead of being treated like a baby sister, protected from the worst of courtiers and ladies by Baekhyun's influence.

Wishful thinking, Jungkook scoffed at himself. If everything happened the way I wanted it to I'd be at home eating chips with Jiminie.

But no, I'm still here.

Jungkook swung himself over the walls of the palace, landing on the grassy field on the other side of the palace, met with a beautiful scene of the full moon, hanging from the sky and surrounded by twinkling stars. The sky was midnight blue, but Jungkook could see the small traces of purple streaking through, signaling the arriival of dawn. The constellations were fading, covered by the brilliant orange and reds of the oncoming sunrise.

And the silhouettes of riders over the horizon looked like vengeful Valkyries, coming along with the sun to extract punishment from sinners in the name of gods.

Wait, riders? Jungkook shook his head, clearing the painting-like picture out of his head. Why are riders coming from the direction of Silla?

He drew his bow and aimed an arrow, the riders nearing with every second that passed, but Jungkook didn't release the arrow, drawn taut; An instinct told him to wait, and watch. It was five men, dressed in full armor, and the lead rider seemed strangely familiar. The posture, the sleek movements of his body as he rode at full speed to where Jungkook stood, bow pulled back and ready to shoot.

The horses came to an abrupt halt a small distance from Jungkook, and he couldn't help but shiver as the man dismounted and faced him. A feeling of sickening realization flashed over him, a slash of paranoia mixed with uncertainty: Did he recognize this man?

The rider just stood there, watching him, and the place was silent, Jungkook's arrow aimed at his heart. The wind ruffled their hair, long raven locks drifting in the cool summer breeze as they faced each other.

"Jungkook," The man spoke, pulling off his mask to reveal Mingyu's handsome face, twisted in pain and sorrow. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Mingyu?" Jungkook froze in place, the hand holding up his bow shaking slightly but aim steady. "Is it you? Why are you here? What do you want?"

"I missed you," Mingyu dared a step forward, holding his hands up in surrender. "I missed Shinhwa, too. You left without a word, a warning, anything, and I had to get the truth from Chanyeol. It is not what a friend does, Jungkook."

"It wasn't what you did," Jungkook lowered his bow warily, his guard still high and suspicious. "I wanted to leave and see what the world was like out there, beyond Silla, beyond the palace."

'Or you wanted to shatter my brother," Mingyu gulped, a spark of rage flaring to life in his dark eyes. "He has slaughtered hundreds, and he is now the King, with no bounds to his power. Father is desperately ill, Namjoon is dead, Seokjin is in exile, and Yugyeom is in the prison, locked up for attempted treason. A lot has happened since you left for Goguryeo, Jungkook."

'What do you want me to do?" Jungkook whispered, voice shaking. "I can't go back if he's like this."

"You are the Black Rose," Mingyu looked away. "And now you must take the throne of his queen and placate the anger."

"Queen?" Shinhwa looked at Jungkook, and the back at Mingyu. She had been given a tearful reunion with her beloved, but now they were supposed to explain, and Baekhyun wasn't letting Jungkook go without a good one. Jungkook shuffled his feet in discomfort, trying to find a good explaination for him to be able to leave, but a part of him wanted him to stay.

Mingyu spared him the pain. "She is the Black Rose, your highness. Her rightful place is by the King of Silla's side, as the Queen of Silla. She was gifted the title by the old king, my father, himself, Baekhyun."

"And why does the title connect to the throne?" Baekhyun was icily cold, and Jungkook didn't need to read minds to know Baekhyun was angry. Furious, even. Baekhyun never showed his temper, hardly ever snapping, but now it was unparalleled fury in those usually gentle eyes, and coiled energy in his tense muscles, ready to spring at Mingyu any moment now. Jungkook moved, flicking his eyes toward Shinhwa, who nodded tersely.

"The Black Rose was the title of the first Queen of Silla, my ancestor, and she was the first Wonhwa." Mingyu breathed in and out steadily, nervousness masked by his cool appearance. "She shaped Silla into what it is now, and my father foresaw that Jiyeon would be of the same power, a person who would make a difference, someone to reshape history and make this world better. Jiyeon is the rightful Queen, and she has always been the only woman strong enough to claim the throne for herself." Jungkook met Mingyu's eyes, worry and sadness mixing into one horrible mess inside his guts.

He didn't want to go back, but with Mingyu here now, it wasn't like he had much of a choice.

Shinhwa nodded at him, but Baekhyun wasn't backing down that easily. "And why shouldI let her back? You have my husband as a political hostage, it is only right that we have one of our own, and who better than your future queen? She is someone of status, someone with sway over your empire, and I would be a fool to let her go like that."

"Your highness-" Mingyu's resolve flickered briefly, like a candle threatening to go out, and Jungkook knew, somehow, that Mingyu would fail to truimph against