The Queen's Guard

Jessica was eight when she first held a sword in her hands. She remembers how her small hands had curl around the hilt of the sword and the heavy weight of it in her palms, and when she faced her opponent, the instructor in the practice match, she had felt empowered and the burning desire to taste victory on her tongue.  

She’d lost the match that day, no surprise there when it was the first time she’d ever wielded a real sword, but Jessica had found herself in the midst of the swordfight and right then and there she put away her silk gowns and dancing shoes and replaced it with a sword in one hand and a knife in the other.

Jessica was borne to the highly decorated Admiral Jung, who made a name for himself in the Battle of Bultan, as his first daughter and since birth she’d been closely tied to the battlefield. Her mother, while pregnant with her, had followed her father on his military campaign and during the siege of the city of Plumet, she was going through a painful labor as the sky rained fire and brimstone and men died around her on the battlefield.  

Jessica came into the world with a loud angry cry as the last of the Green Banner rebellion died down. Her father came back to the base camp and rushed to her mother’s tent. He found his wife, a little shaken and exhausted but other than that she was perfectly fine, and with his new beautiful daughter in her arms.

She was given the name Jessica, from the old Achren tongue meaning ‘those who are victorious in battle’, in hoped that in her battles in life she would always come out of it victorious just like her father had that today.

From then on, Jessica lived up to her namesake and not once had she let any obstacle stop her from getting what she wanted. She, by her pleading to her father, was taught military arts and history, as much as she was also made to learn about court etiquettes and manners. Jessica walked both worlds, a dagger hidden between her thighs as she dance and gossip to the latest scandal in the Court.

Though she loved to dress up and attend the parties hosted by the nobility and important figures in Esse, she found that the Court's politic had a different kind of war going on than the one she read in the books. Instead of swords, they wield sharp tongues and biting words and their political machination and ambition to gain the Regis’ favor were ugly and distasteful to her.  

She let that life go and devoted herself to serving the Regis and her country, because she was more her father’s daughter than anyone had ever expected.

But her father, despite his fierce loyalty to the Regis, didn’t want that kind of laborious life for her. He had spent his entire life giving his all for his country and the Regis and he knew the kind of hardship and sacrifice he had to make every day to honor the Oath he made as a soldier of Esse.

Jessica was practically raised by her mother and rarely saw her father unless he came back to the capital between his campaign break. It wasn't till she was six when her father was giving a desk position in the Imperial Capital, did she get to spend more time with him but even then his priority is to the Regis first and foremost and everything else came second.  

Jessica’s father didn’t want that kind of burden on her but Jessica was thirteen when she decided that the best way she can serve the Regis is to raise up her sword in his name. Her father looked at her gravely and asked if that what she truly wanted. Jessica nodded her head and knew that this was it for her.

So a few days later, her father brought her to the Palace of the Midnight Sun and left her alone to stand before the Regis in an ornate throne room, where on top of an altar sat a young boy wearing a deep crimson robe with golden embroidery and tale mark of the three-claws dragon, the symbol of the Regis. On his face was a lavish blue and white domino mask with cylakone crystal outlining the mask and intricate lines detailing throughout.  

Jessica had only seen the Regis a few times at Court's function, wearing a different mask each time, but it was only from a far and this close she felt her legs trembled and she immediately fell on her knees. Her head was drawn down and her body was heavy with undeniable power washing over her. The air crackled with energy that rumbled and quaked throughout the room.

The Regis filled out the entire room with his presence and he practically bled magic out of his every pores. This was a person that she shouldn’t trifle with and she was reminded that magic was a power of the gods.    

Jessica was taught early not to rely solely on magic because to her father:

“Magic is unreliable and unpredictable at best, you can’t always count on it when you need it. Only those that are chosen by the gods are able to wield it destructive might without consequence but,” her father said, pausing for a moment to picked up a sword and throw it at her.

She hastily caught it in her hands as he continued, “this at least it won’t ever fail you.”

So Jessica was more of swordsman more than a magus, but she knew that the runes on her armed glowed a brilliant blue in the Regis’ presence and that this boy was, as legend tell it, was a descendant of the gods.

She dare not speak a word lest she offend the Regis and held her herself perfectly still, all the years trained in the Court about proper etiquette upon meeting the Regis was now keeping her from collapsing under the weight of his presence.

“You may stand up,” the Regis said in a soft but firm voice.

Jessica raised her head slowly and tried not to stare at him, but it was hard to believe that one so young held the weight of an entire nation of people in the palm of his hands.

“Thank you, your Majesty,” she said calmly as her heart throbbed wildly against her chest.

“I heard from your father that you wish to join the military,” he said, quickly getting right into the issue at hand.

“Yes, your Majesty, that is correct,” she replied, looking down at the marble floor nervously.

“Why do you wish to join the military?” he asked and the question startled her enough that she looked up at him.

“I’m sorry?” she asked stupidly.

“The military,” he repeated, “why are you interest in joining it when you can lead a hazard free life in Court.”

“I--” Jessica started then paused, trying to formulate her feelings into words, “I want to do something with my life outside of these confine walls. I know that Esse would have nothing to do with those outside the Atra Ocean but I wish to see the world and make my mark on it. The Court life bored me to tears and I want to have a purpose. I just don’t want to be somebody pretty trinket of a wife when I could be so much better than that.”

He was silent for couple of seconds and with his mask on, Jessica couldn’t get a read on him and that make it harder for her to tell if she had cross the line by saying she is joining the military because she wanted to get out of Esse and not because she wanted to serve him.

“Did you know that though our involvement in the Atra Ocean keep us occupied for a while but outside it there are hundreds of nations struggling to survive against the gargantuan might of the Continent? Many had asked us for aid but we had to turn them away because we don’t associate our self with outsiders and it isn’t our business. We turned a blind eye to their plight because we are stagnate in our isolation, that the world could burn and we wouldn’t care because as long as Esse is left standing it’s fine,” the Regis said, sounding so old and tired beyond his years and surprising her with the abrupt change of topic.

“I--no I didn’t, your Majesty,” she said awkwardly, not quite sure how to approach this.

“That kind of mentality is going kill millions,” he said, abruptly standing up and the wind rushed in from nowhere and swirled inside the room. The tension in the air was almost crippling.

He walked down the steps of the altar and approached Jessica.

“I don’t intend to have millions of innocent dying under my watch. I want change the world and change Esse for better, even if it mean crushing old beliefs and traditions but I can’t do it alone,” the Regis said, extending a blavk glove hand out to her, “so will you help me, Jessica?”

Jessica was hit by an old memory of a time when she stood ignorant:

"Why don’t we have a patron god?" she asked her father one day in the privacy of his study room.

"That’s because we’re already serving one," he replied, without a pause from his paperwork.

Jessica titled her head curiously. “Who?” she demanded.

“The Regis of course,” he stated.

She rose up from her chair and said, “But the Regis isn’t a god, father!

Her father paused and looked at her with narrowing gaze that cut right through her. Jessica backed down in her seat and shifted nervously in it.  “Careful with your words, Jessica, because that sound a lot like treason,” he said flatly.

“I’m sorry, father,” she mumbled, completely chasten.  

Her father sighed. “The Regis carry our burden and he bleed for this country more than anyone else and we give back to him by being his sword and shield. Remember, Jessica, the reason we exist now is because of what the previous Regis had sacrificed to save us and now the current one still bared that cross.”

She knew the story, the history, the legend, but Jessica doesn’t think that the past has any role in the present and just because what was done for them thousands of years ago doesn’t mean that they should give it all to the Regis that is now. He doesn’t deserve their utmost loyalty when it was his predecessor that did all the work. “Father, I don’t--” she began.

“One day, you will understand why this country fealty to the Regis runs thicker than blood,” he said.

And Jessica could only nod.

At that time Jessica didn’t understand her father strong devotion to the Regis and she couldn’t find any reason to give herself to the Regis when he hadn’t given her a reason to do so.

But right now, this boy who carried an entire world on his shoulders was looking toward the future with dogged determination to make something good out of it and he wanted her along for the ride and she couldn’t find it in with herself to deny it.

This was what she was looking for all along. Something worth fighting for.  

“Yes, your Majesty. I wish to help you on your quest,” she said, smiling brightly as she takes his hand.   

And with that she was quickly sent to a military school on top of Mount Rhein and was stationed there for seven years. She was taught everything she needed to win a war. There she met people who would become her longtime friends and greatest allies. Jessica devoted herself to her study and the Regis.

Waiting for the time she would be call upon and answer her duty.

When Jessica came back to the Imperial Capital after her schooling was done, she was placed under her father command the first few years. It was the most troubling time for her.

Though she quickly rose in rank with her skills and ability to pick up things fast, her father watchful eyes and overbearing protectiveness was suffocating. She wasn’t allowed to be put in the frontline and was stuck managing supplies route and shipment.

Her father hesitation to send her out into the battlefield frustrated her deeply. It eventually led to her storming into her father’s office and demanding an answer to it from him.

“Stop treating me like I’m incapable of doing anything by myself,” she shouted, so furious at his coddling her. Jessica was not a child anymore and she does not need her father hovering over her 24/7. It made her subordinates think she was an incompetent superior officer and that made her bitter. “I am a soldier, father!”

Her normally composed father abruptly rose from his chair and slammed his hands loudly down on the table. “You are also my daughter!” he yelled back.

Jessica stared at him in stunned silent.

“I never wanted this for you,” he said, shaking his head. “You could have been married and have kids by now.”

“That world is not for me,” she said, with a sad smile on her face. “I’m sorry father but I’m happy with who I am now. So please back down.”

With that she left the office and didn’t look back.

Jessica didn’t get any more inane works like running supplies but she also didn’t get missions that she wanted. Atra Ocean was in constant outbreak of war and she wanted to be out there helping people and doing something about it but she was stuck in the Imperial Capital doing nothing but having the Regis entertained her.

By this time, she knew the Regis well enough to find out his name and he had already started to expand on his grand master plan. When she wasn’t too busy sulking about her father, she was gathering key informations that further his plan. He sent her to places within Esse to do reconnaissance, stopping political corruption, and ending crime rings, basically his eyes, ears, and swords throughout Esse.

It was the only thing that kept her occupied even though she dreamed to go out of Esse and that soon came in the form of that fated mission given to her by the Regis. He had already stirred up enough trouble in the Court when he’d chosen to extend aid to Nave, violating their thousand years isolation set by his forefathers, and planned to marry an outsider who had no connection to Esse. It caused a huge uproar in the Imperial Capital and ricochet throughout the land. Nobody could make what the Regis was thinking and though they were unhappy with the prospect of a High Consort who had no clue about their culture or heritage in their midst but they couldn’t go against the absolute order of the Regis. So they grumpily agree to it even as they plan to undermine his authority every steps of the way.

Jessica had watched this in amusement because she knew Eunhyuk was up to something and he was unlike any other previous Regis she had read about. There was something about him that she knew deep inside that he was going to be the Regis to end all Regis. He was her king after all, and she would never choose to serve a lackluster king.  

A couple of days later, she get an order from him to the future High Consort from his land to Esse and if it was anyone else, Jessica would hate that person a little for making her play guard to some pamper prince but escorting the future High Consort would mean leaving Esse and Eunhyuk knew that.

So she readily agreed to it and left Esse for the first time in her life. Jessica thought a lot about many things, the places and people she’ll see but never about the Prince of Nave. He was the last thing on her mind.

So, Jessica didn’t expect much from the Prince and when she see the nervous and awkward boy in Lonei Port. She thought he wasn’t good enough for her Regis but that all change when he was able to tame a carcha narvis with a touch.

It had stunned everyone.

He wasn’t anything amazing or special but the way he was pushed back by the carcha navis at first and still stood up to prove everyone wrong, that kind of determination was surprising from someone who look like he might break if a wind blow on him.

Donghae lived to surprised her and she could have brush that off as a singular fortunate event but she didn’t count on him getting caught in battle with a Deep One during a storm in the middle of the ocean and came out of it unscathed.

Nor that he got her thrown in jail and dragged her into a rebellion that nearly had them killed by an angry mob of peasants. And that time with the assassination and pirates boarding their ship.

He continued to surprise her with his ability to gravitate toward trouble and little by little she saw his true personality shining through that stifling nervous wreck of a boy who doesn’t know what to make of himself.

The time she spent with Donghae was the most exciting time in her life and she thought maybe there was a reason she was placed in the path of Donghae. Jessica doesn’t believe in a god except her own, and he is currently sitting in Esse’s throne room. She wonders if he had put the two of them together as part of his grand plan.

She doesn’t know, but when they finally arrived back in Esse and the entire land was filled with uneasiness over a boy they never meet and hardly wanted to know, Jessica went to visit the Regis.

Of course, what the Regis say to that completely floors her.

“Magistrate Iduln’s fraction is not pleased with me installing Donghae as the Imperial High Consort. He and his cohorts will do everything in their power to make sure Donghae won’t live to make it to our wedding date,” he says, and even with the white full face mask on him betraying nothing of his emotion, his voice is cool and compose.

Jessica still has a hard time reading him. She thinks Kyuhyun is better at understanding the Regis than her. So, she nods to that because she knows that just because the majority of the people doesn’t loudly disagree about it doesn’t mean they’re not secretly plotting someway to undermine the Regis’ order and kill off Donghae and put one of their daughters as the High Consort.

She read enough about how it played out in the past to be farmiliar with it, but there was never a case like Donghae in their midst. Then again there never been a future High Consort quite like Donghae. His gender not with standing.

“So, I am reinstating the Queen’s Guard and I want you to lead it,” the Regis throws in casually.  

Jessica freezes. The Queen’s Guard had been disbanded nearly a hundred years ago when nobody longer saw any use for them in the new age of ‘peace’ Esse is currently in. Which is a load of bull to her because the reason nobody attack the High Consort because the position ended being a political move to marry a female from one of the noble clans and keep them from stirring up trouble, and give them a taste of power without actually giving them a power. Meaning the position of High Consort was basically for show with no real power to it, but now with Eunhyuk as Regis, who went against every known conventions set hundreds years ago to married an outsider, not to mention a male one at that, and knowing him, he won’t let Donghae just be an idle High Consort.

So that’s why he made her Donghae to Esse. He wanted them to build a relationship that could lead him to trust her enough to guard Donghae, she thinks grimly. Eunhyuk’s cleverness, the way he could see ten moves ahead in a chess game, and his habit of using people in order to get his way is a constant challenge to work with but--

He is her King, her God, and her Lord and he had asked her to watch over the person that will one day lead Esse alongside him and even if she wasn’t bound by the oath she had sworn to him when she was thirteen, she would find herself to do it anyway because--

She sees a boy gripped with fear as he stand before a carcha navis and faced it with determination and unwillingness to compromise, and how he had fought with a Deep One with only a sword in one hand when he was plunged into the stormy sea, and when she got dragged into a country b with tension he fought for the people that wasn’t his and bleed on a land foreign as her own.

A part of her already latched on to Donghae already and that should worry her but she thinks it’ll be alright.

“You know the Council is not going to be happy with this,” she points out. An outsider with power within Esse? Impossible. Not without their side fighting tooth and nail to get Donghae there.

“I do not care,” he states matter a factly.   

Jessica grins. This is the man she swore her absolute loyalty toand she wasn’t wrong to do it.

“I need someone that I can trust to be close to Donghae and guide him through the turbulent climate of the Court. He is not use to dealing with the Court political and political machination. So, can you watch over him?” he asks of her.

She thinks of Donghae, the hesitant youth she meets for the first time and how surely the Regis had made a mistake to choose an outsider for such honorable position and the Court would eat him alive.

And then to the boy who faced down a mob of angry citizens who wanted anybody’s head l to answer their desperate need for justice and found his voice. He can be fearless, reckless and outspoken, and Jessica can’t wait for the day Donghae will sit next to the Regis and reign by his side, because if there’s anyone who can stand on equal footing with the divine Regis it might just be Donghae.

She doesn’t know what sort of crazy trouble he’ll drag them into next and one day she thinks, he may end up surprising them all with the real Donghae wrapped underneath that layer of insecurity and fear.

Donghae could be the best or the worst thing that could ever happen to Esse and she’s about to find out which.

"Of course, your Majesty," she says, her lips curling upward. “It’ll be my greatest pleasure.”

notes: i looooove jessica :DD. she's one of my fav in CD. \o/ and it's five am over here and i'm super tired so i don't have a lot to say except i need sleep for now.