"Then you just slip your knife underneath and peel back."

My mouth fell open as I watched Jongin skin a rabbit with ease. We had been gathering food and supplies the entire morning from the rocky hills and after hours, one of his snares had finally caught something. Now I was massaging my aching arms and watching him skin the animal.

"How can you just...but...it was just..." I was at a loss for words. The rabbit had been alive a few minutes ago and now I was staring at both the inside and the outside of the animal, sitting in two different piles.

Jongin shrugged and began building a fire. "I warned you not to watch."

I shivered as I replayed the image in my head. Dead men, dead animals. I would have to get used to this very quickly.

I dusted off my skirt, already annoyed that the hem was ripping from being snagged by branches. It had only been a day and threads were popping out. So this was the quality of a low-class seamstress.

"We're gonna be heading north," Jongin informed me. "I heard those people who are after you came from the southeast."

"We're not going to sleep in tree trunks anymore, are we?" I kneaded my poor shoulders that were sore. We had been sleeping in cramped, hollow tree trunks the past two nights to avoid the cold ground.

I watched Jongin bite his lip as he teared off a leg of the rabbit, making me gag. He set it near the fire before giving me a reply. "If we find another town by tonight, we could stay there. I'll need to sell the skin anyway." He held up the grey rabbit pelt and I grimaced.

"Can we stay there the whole night this time?" I asked.

Jongin laughed lightly. He didn't laugh very often but I noticed that his shoulders always shook slightly whenever he did. "If you can keep your hands off the ale."

I was about to make a comeback when Jongin stopped moving and just stared out into the trees. I knew this was his way of listening and I followed in suit. Finally, I heard the distant sounds of men's laughter and the clicking of horse hooves.

In the time that I took to fasten my cloak, Jongin had already cleared everything and ushered me to stand beside a tree.

We weren't far from a trail and Jongin peeked out occasionally as the sounds of chatter came closer. There weren't very many of them, maybe ten at most, but I still had an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

I stayed with my back pressed against the tree as Jongin stood beside me with his head turned to the direction of the trail.

"," he hissed as he whipped his head back. I looked up and saw that he had closed his eyes, probably frustrated about some mistake he'd made.

I touched his hand and he looked down at me. He knew I was wondering what was going on but he wasn't ready to tell me yet.

The sounds had stopped suddenly and since I wasn't given any updates, I looked out at my own discretion. Meeting the stare of a man on horseback, I immediately regretted my move.

"Whoever you are, come out from there," a deep voice called from the trail.

Jongin put a finger to his lips to silence me before stepping out from behind the cover of the tree trunk. I was left alone to hide by myself with only their voices to give me any direction.

They exchanged their pleasantries before Jongin went closer to the path and farther from my tree. I couldn't make out what they were saying anymore.

How had they noticed us? There was shrubbery between the road and our hiding spot that should've shielded us. Maybe they had spies hiding in the trees. I reached my hand up to make sure my hood covered my face properly. Perhaps those spies were part of the enemy.

was right. Though I didn't recall seeing the man on the horse wearing red, I was still worried. I had noticed that he had yellow hair which definitely meant he wasn't normal.

"Whoever's still back there, please show yourself." I heard the deep voice again and I wondered if he was referring to me.

The hairs on my neck stood up straight as I felt fingers around my arm but I relaxed when I saw Jongin by my side. He gave me a little nod before pulling me out.

"Is that a lad?" I didn't dare look up as we approached the horses. This man had yellow hair. He must've been harnessing witchcraft.

"No, sir. This is my sister," Jongin said in a polite voice, something that I'd never heard since the first day I’d met him. I only remember him calling me by my titled name once but I liked that Jongin didn’t treat me as a person who had power over him just because I was a princess. It helped me get closer to him.

But the men in front of us weren’t people I wanted to befriend. I didn't know if I was supposed to curtsy either so I stayed still.

"Ah." The man took a moment to hush his comrades who were whispering amongst themselves. "Show me your face, young lady."

Jongin's fingers got a bit tighter around my arm and I knew not to pull down my hood. "Sorry sir, but my sister's face is horribly scarred. She wishes not to disturb your grace."

In front of a chorus of scoffs, the man spoke. "Very well." I heard him step down from his horse and approach me. His men gasped and Jongin let go of his grip on me.

I saw the shiny shoes of a prince standing in front of me and the long legs covered by clean white pants. The man took my hand and bent over to plant a kiss on it. I saw the yellow hair again and in a breath. Then he turned his head up and I nearly fainted.

This man was beyond handsome.

"My name is Prince Wu Yifan," he greeted me before standing up straight. "Pleased to meet you, Miss."

I lifted my head a little to get another look at him but only saw the crest of his family emblem on his jacket. He was the prince of the castle I had stayed at.

He could've been one of my potential suitors!

 

I didn’t dare look up any higher. I wasn’t short but he seemed to tower over all of us and I feared my hood would fall off if I turned my head up.

I reached out for Jongin's hand to keep my steady and found his fingers clenching hard onto mine.

"I'm not surprised you feel protective of her," the prince said with an air of aristocracy. "From what I could see, she's very beautiful."

If I hadn't been under a disguise, I would've squealed. Instead, I settled for a deep blush. I was so thankful that none of the men could see me.

Jongin and the prince had a light conversation about the next town and a good place to stay while I stayed in my own world. If only these stupid bad guys weren't after me, I'd probably be back at the castle being courted by this Prince Wu Yifan. How delightful that would be.

Suddenly, I snapped back into reality when I heard my name.

"We're out looking for Princess Han Eun Kyo," the prince said with a sigh. "I feel like it's my responsibility since it was in my castle where she was abducted."

"What leads do you have?" Jongin pried for more information, probably wanting to learn about the bad guys.

"Nothing really. We never caught anybody so now we're on a blind search for the princess."

I wanted to show my face just to ask him how they had not caught the intruders. They had barged right into my room with guns! Now it's going to be a while before they find any of those men in red uniform. Jongin had killed a bunch of them and the rest were probably running for their lives. It would take time to send any reinforcements.

"Well, better not waste any time." The prince got back on his horse and grabbed the reins. "We'll help you out of this forest and then we'll have to be on our way."

I almost voiced my protest but held back when the horses began moving and Jongin pulled me along to follow the crowd.

"Keep it together," he hissed when we trailed behind the others.

I looked over and saw him stoically watching the horses. "What do you mean?"

Jongin shook his head with a sigh and turned to stare straight at me. I thought my disguise was pretty useful but he looked at me like he could see right through me. "Nothing."

 

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happy chinese new year, everybody! ^_^