……Chapter 26…..

The sparkling pearlescent aqua path had lit their way through the grass and wild angelic flowers then through a stretch of forest and out into the open once more as they came to the edge of the heavenly emerald garden. With a direct route it only took them 24 hours instead of the 2 days it took Heechul to abandon them in Emerald Fields and left them to forget and perish.  As the orange evening sun began to set the path brightened as it lead them out from where they had been trapped for two and half months and into the night under the stars…..

They travelled through a few villages along the way; they made sure to stay out of sight of human eyes when they passed through. Thirsty, they had stopped to drink rain water that was collected in a barrel outside one of the local hanok’s in a hillside village they had been sneaking through. Minho kept a watchful eye proudly for any passersby while perched on the sloped roof while the others lapped at the cool fresh water below him. From up high he could see the aqua highlighted pearlescent trail leading down the rolling hills and into the valley where in the distance at the base of Bugaksan Mountain lay the SHINee City. As he viewed the slumbering city surrounding the heart of the kingdom: The Royal Palace, a small smile of determination and relief washed over him. Chief Choi whispered down proudly to them that they were almost home.

Two hours later in the middle of the night they had finally made it; they stealthily wondered around and behind merchant stalls under the blanket of night throughout SHINee City. With heaven literally watching out for them and guiding them, they approached the gigantic wall surrounding the royal grounds; the heavenly path, once it touched the wall, it followed along the outer wall to the left, away from the Main Gates to the right keeping them away from being seen. The animals crouched down between the wall and the back of a merchant building. Face to face with the stone wall they looked to the right in the direction of the main gate before following the path to the left; they could see in the distance Leeteuk’s guards guarding the main entrance. The flag above the gate was no longer pearl aqua but the color of Leeteuk’s clan: pearl sapphire blue.  The sight invoked the tokki’s blood to boil; with a livid huff he turned away in the correct direction and hopped along the tall outer wall; just as livid, the others all shot each other a look of anger; Taemin furrowed his brows. “Come on, no time to waist.” They crept along until they came to the back of the SHINee Palace.

The palace is made up of 300 buildings thus going around the grounds not only kept them out of sight but also gave them a shortcut. “How do we get inside?” Kibum said, staring at the huge wall as they neared the back of the Palace compound. But as soon as he asked an aqua rectangle appear on the stones and dissolved leaving an entrance in the wall. Looking at the opening Jinki tilted his head; his ear flopped sideways “Thank you umma” He whispered to himself and hopped forward. Once King Jinki stepped through the wall the trail faded, no longer needed, it disappeared under their feet as the rest followed the leader into the rear of the Queen’s Garden.  The wall sealed up once the last animal was through.

They walked through the flowers of the royal family’s private garden and Taemin and Jinki began to feel relaxed and more focused passing “their” tree; they glanced to one another with a warm smile as they walked over the spot Jinki proposed to the younger. The King spoke softly “As my Queen, yeobo, this garden is yours now.”

“I will cherish it always.” The kitten purred cutely nudging his little head into Jinki’s side as they walked side by side. The hate they harbored towards Leeteuk and Heechul for murdering his parents faded as the twin heavenly garden replenished their pure hearts with love and warmth.

The other three smiled seeing them happy again. As they followed behind, Kibum whispered to the other three “We should build hyung-nims parents a shrine back here once this is all over or something. The King and his wife should never be forgotten.  Perhaps a nice peaceful plaque at least in remembrance or maybe a new gazebo. The queen loved her pretty gazebos...something special for hyung and Taemin to visit.”

Minho and Jonghyun smiled “That is a lovely idea. They’ll love it.”

……

They reached the entrance and snuck out of the archway leaving the secret garden, the back of the Queen’s Quarters came into view. Jinki held back his tears; he took a deep breath and continued on passing his mothers building. There was an eerie silence as they walked and weaved stealthy between the buildings until finally they reached The Crown Prince quarters.

They couldn’t open a door with their paws so they walked to the side of the chambers. The cat jumped up onto the platform and pushed on the window with his little paw. The windows slowly swung open. Taemin saw Jinki’s maiden laying on his bed crying into his log shaped pillow. Taemin jumped down from the sill and frowned at his husband “Your maiden... she is crying.”

The crown prince instantly took action. “Help me up, Kibum.” The fox knelt down and let the bunny crawl up his back. From there Jinki hopped from the fox’s shoulders and in to the window.  Taemin jumped back up into the frame of the window and sat next to him.

Outside under the window the puppy whispered “Should we go in?”

“Of course we go in.” Kibum said and peeked through the window then ducked back down as he quickly changed his mind. “On second thought I’m a fox and you’re a dog. If a dog and a fox climbed through a window it would frighten her. We should wait for Jinki and Taemin to give  a signal. Minho you might want to stay as well. Just leap up there and tell Taemin to tell us when we can come in then come back out and wait with us.”

The frog nodded and did was he was asked.

……

After another long day of worrying over the state of their kingdom and having to deal with Leeteuk’s men roaming the palace grounds liked they own the place, Jinki’s maiden escaped the drama for a moment by hiding herself away in his chambers to be alone. Maybe being near his things would give her strength for another day. “Prince Jinkiyah.” She bawled into the pillow trying to mute her sobbing…. She froze as she felt something soft rub her hand. She lifted her head to see a cute little black kitten nuzzling its head into the back of her left palm. “Aww, where’d you come from sweetie? You’re so cute. My prince would think you were adorable.” She sniffled but ended up breaking down again “But...but he was taken away. I fear he might have died.” She bawled; it broke the kitten’s heart seeing her in so much pain and Jinki’s, who was hiding under the window as to not scare her… She heard “nuna” being whispered tenderly to her left a second later after she had begun crying again.  Hearing what sounded like the crown prince she flew open her wet eyes and snapped her head to the side. “oh gosh, I’m hearing things.”

Jinki whispered “I’m back. But please do not panic when I show myself.”

She wiped her eyes, sat up straight then squinted into the shadows of the room. “Your highness? Is it really you?” With a lump in , her chin quivered as she tried her best to stop sobbing.

The little white fluffy royal bunny hopped out from the shadows and touched her hand; confused she looked at the tokki come closer to her then returned her attention to the dark corner from which it came: not knowing the voice had come from the animal. “Jeonha?” 

“I’m not use to that title yet.”

She shot her head down at her hand that was next to her thigh and stared wide-eyed at the tokki who was patting her finger cutely, trying to give her time to adjust to what she was seeing. Shocked she didn’t move or say anything so Jinki tired again. “Nuna, you may call me prince until I set everything right. We are going to need your help.” Finally seeing him speak she blinked slowly as she watched in disbelief the little rabbit speak with Jinki’s deep nectar smooth voice flowing from the tiny little pink tokki lips for the first time. A tear slipped from her wet lashes and slid down her cheek. Jinki tried to comfort her “Don’t weep. It will be alright. And by the way you’re right; I do find that kitten cute. He is my husband, that’s Prince Taemin.” The tokki smiled, and his nose wiggled just slightly at the mention of Taemin’s name.

To keep herself from fainting she had been petting Taemin to calm herself; she instantly lifted her hand from his little head and slowly turned to lock eyes with the kitten smiling cutely at her. “Hello” He said adorably.

“I’m going to faint.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’ve cried too much that I have literally gone crazy. I’m talking to a bunny…and a cat.”

 Taemin purred. “You are not hallucinating due to stress, maiden-nim. It really is us.”

“Leeteuk has done this to us. He changed our friends as well. The King and Queen would have transformed into animals as well if they hadn’t died from the poison he mixed into our drinks. We drank after the wedding in a toast before we fell asleep and the next day we got sick.” Jinki said hoping closer so he could be next to his husband. The couple remained quiet for a moment for her brain to catch up with the reality of the situation.

Shocked beyond words, it took her a while to say anything as she stared at them, eyeing the talking animals carefully. …In disbelief she finally spoke in a soft whisper. “You..you are Princes’ Jinki and Taemin?” They nodded. “Where are the others?”

The tokki looked over his shoulder towards the window. “Waiting outside. Don’t be alarmed. Jonghyun is a puppy, Kibum is a fox. And Minho is a frog.”

“Oh my” she gasped and stood up going to the window. She peeked out and saw the three of them waiting under the window. “um… Kibumnim” she murmured staring at the beautiful crimson fox. “Maiden-nim.” He bowed. She pushed the window the rest of the way open and let them file in as she looked around the courtyard outside making sure no one saw them. Once they gathered together on the bedding she locked the windows and sat down next to them. “What, what happened?”

……

They apprise her of all the information they had received from Jinki’s late mother while in Emerald Fields. Jinki’s maiden relayed all that had transpired in their absence. Once they were all updated on the nefarious acts of Leeteuk and Heechul there was a silence as she paused while the others comforted Jonghyun; they nuzzled into him after hearing what happened to his family. She began again as she stood up and walked to Jinki’s wooden chest. “I had the Queen’s seamstress make you new hanboks, for yours got ruined in the fight.”

Taemin smiled softly. “The diamond you told us about that represents our subjects, may you please have her embroider the emblem in the center of our aqua hanboks.”

Jinki nodded “I agree Prince Taemin. I would like that very much. A king is nothing without his loyal subjects. The shawols are our rock, our diamond. We will show our respect and our gratitude for all they have done in our absence. We shall wear the new hanboks when we rightfully ascend the throne : our coronation.”

“Yes your highnesses. I will notify her first thing in the morning. What else may I help you with?”

Kibum asked curiously “We must find my father. You haven’t mentioned him. Is he alright?”

“He is still here. But Leeteuk has replaced many of the officials and scholars that normally resided in council with the King, with his own men from his village. They came here after you were poisoned.” She turned her attention to the bunny. “Your cousin, Prince Joon, he is not permitted to leave his home. A few loyal men of General Choi’s snuck out to the countryside two days ago and with a little reconnaissance they found out Prince Joon has been held captive in his home with his wife and newborn child. Tomorrow they plan to ambush the guards and set him free as ordered by General Choi.” She paused then asked “How will we tell the SHINee World you are back? What do we do about you being animals? No one will believe me if I tell them.”

“You aren’t going to tell them. We are going to show them.” Jinki said standing tall and bravely. “Minho is holding 5 petals from heaven. We need to eat these in front of the court and shinee world.   We will come up with a plan on how to go about it. But first you must send for the king’s advisor and Kibum’s father. My mother told me they have a prophecy to share with us. And do you know where the present is my parents were going to give us the day we all got ill? We need it for the prophecy I think, if I understood correctly.”

She smiled. “I know where it is! The Queen’s maiden took it from the king’s chambers after they passed.”

“Excellent. We shall spend the night here in my room where it is safe. In the morning before you do anything you must have my father’s advisor and scholar Kim come to this room for a meeting. I need you to take my horse and go to Magistrate Lee’s house. You must make it there and back before anyone from the palace knows you are missing. Inform my husband’s and our friend’s parents we are alive and tell them to prepare to travel to the palace for our return once I give the order. Other than their parents and Advisor Sooman no one must know we are alive. We will take Leeteuk and his men by surprise.” King Jinki instructed carefully.

She smiled and stood up. “Yes Prince Jinki.” She bowed formally “I will take my leave now, your highnesses. Get rest, for I am sure your journey was long and after everything you all have been through, you’ll need it.” She bowed slightly and walked towards the doors but then stopped and looked over her shoulder with a smile and a joyous tear in her eye she whispered “Welcome home.”

…………………

Before dawn before anyone woke, Jinki’s personal maiden went to the kitchens undetected. She gathered food and drinks upon a tray and carried the meal to her master’s chambers. She slid open the doors and placed the food inside before stealthily exiting to find the officials she was asked to retrieve for his highness. Hearing the door gently close they stirred awake.

She was careful not to be seen as she snuck to the building that housed Lee Sooman. With a soft rap upon his door he rose from his slumber. After quickly dressing he slid the doors open, a bit surprised he asked “Is everything ok?”

Unlike the royal family members, this building was not private. With many officials boarding in this wing of the building she had entered she was afraid someone would over hear with the paper thin walls; She whispered first “May I came in? It’s urgent.” Before replying normally at a normal volume “I’ve come to see if you need anything. I was awake and needed something to do, since I am without my master. May I be of service?”

He opened the doors wider letting her in “Yes of course.” he shut the door behind her and whispered caringly “Urgent? What has the lord done this time? Has he hurt you?”

“I’m fine. You must be careful not to be seen and get Scholar Kim, Kibum’s father and go to the Jaseondang (The Crown Prince's Quarters). Do not be alarmed at what you see. If I tell you, you won’t believe me; you have to see for yourself. Keep your voices low if you are startled.” As she spoke quietly he was confused at her words and raised a brow as to ask voiceless questions that started running though his mind.  She leaned in closer and whispered in his ear. “They have returned but they look different for they had been poisoned. Just remain calm and let them talk.”

Cheek to cheek, he whispered even quieter in the shell of her ear “They’ve… returned?”

She nodded yes; his eyes widened.  Pulling away from her ear Sooman nodded as well “Understood.” He simply said aloud; with a relieved smirk he dismissed her happily. With a pleased smile Jinki’s maiden bowed then took her leave to notify their parents.

….

An hour after the animals had finished their breakfast they heard people approaching up the front steps to the quarters. When the doors slid open the fox shed a tear under the blanket he covered himself with under the table at hearing his father’s voice call out softly. “Your Highnesses?..Kibum?”

Nervous, the fox peeked his head out “Father, please brace yourself. I..I look different.”

The two officials looked around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. “I know son, the maiden informed us. Don’t hide. It’s safe. Come out Son. Where are you and the others?”

“We’re here.” sounded like Prince Jinki and it sounded like it came from under the bed so Scholar Kim knelt down and saw the baby tokki and the kitten side by side staring at him in the small space under the low bed. Kim scrunched up his brows in confusion. “I thought I heard their voices under he-”   “Hello Teacher nim.” Interrupting him, the bunny greeted once they locked eyes; Startled, Kim jerked and hit his head on the bed.

Sooman came to his aid. “What did you see?” 

Witnessing the official’s reaction from the sidelines the fox lifted his head a bit more, letting the blanket pool around his shoulders, exposing himself. “Father, it’s us.” The two men snapped their heads to the right and saw the fox inching closer; they froze and let him speak. “Leeteuk poisoned us, we are animals. We have a way to change back but.....I’ll let Prince Jinki explain it.”

A parent’s love stronger than the disbelief and shock of the reality of the situation his father cried “Kibummie?” while crawling closer. The fox’s eyes welled up with tears as his father hugged him without another thought. “I thought I’d never see you again. Your mother and I missed you so much. I love you.” 

Kibum nuzzled his head into the bend of his father 's neck “I love you appa.” He whispered. 

“Tell us. What has Leeteuk done?” His father pulled out of the hug and wiped his eyes. The animals crawled out of their hiding places and sat in front of the two men. The two men took in the bizarre sight.  But once they settled down from the shock Sooman started the meeting “Leeteuk has caused so much damage in just two and half months………….”

………..

It took the officials a while to get use to seeing the five of them as animals. It was strangely bizarre watching their mouths move with the voices that they were so familiar with coming out of five baby animals instead of the five handsome young lads they once knew just a few short months ago. The more they stared as the five souls taking turns explaining the truth about, corruption, treacherous conspiracy, and murder they could slowly see their human accepts and got more comfortable.  The eyes of the kitten had hints of Taemin’s famous twinkling star like eyes. The tokki’s nose and cheeks twitched similar to Jinki’s as he talked. The playful grin and the sad pout of the puppy was spot on for Jonghyun, now that they knew better. The fox’s sharp sleek eyes and his smooth posh movement’s couldn’t be anyone else other than Kibum. There were traces of their looks, personalities, and quirks even in their animal form. Although hard to wrap one’s mind around the fact men had been poisoned into animals, which would totally sound like something out of a children’s story if they were to tell anyone, there was no doubt who they were talking to: The rightful heirs to the throne and their three loyal companions…….

Both parties finished catching up on all that had happened so the crown prince asked. “Where is the present my parents left for Taemin? What is this story she spoke of?”

The little kitten tilted his head “Something about I have two titles?”

Advisor Sooman started “As you know Lee Jinki is half angel and half human. The King is ordained by god, and only the worthy may marry into the royal family, meaning another royal. Leeteuk has tried to convince the people your marriage was unworthy of the throne and heaven. But it’s a lie. Taemin, your birth was noble and blessed by the heavens. We have proof. Every flower a crown prince proposes with is then taken the morning after the proposal and examined by a few trusted scholars and the current King’s advisor to see if the marriage is viable and lawfully allowable under heaven and the Court. Scholar Kim and I were amongst the ones to view the flower his highness gave you. Your flower never wilted, thus god choose you for our Prince Jinki. … You know of the Angel and the man? Your husband’s ancestors?”

Taemin nodded “Of course”

The Advisor continued “Your hearts match just like the very first Angel and Man. Prince Jinki is the angel and you’re the man; the story of the Royal Lee’s has come full circle. You see, long ago when the angel and the man were expecting their first child (the first crown prince) the Angel Queen had a vivid dream while he was in her womb. The heavens blessed her with a vision, that one day a future male ancestor of hers would fall in love with a human man. He would be younger than the crown prince to give the heavens time to choose the right human vessel to place the angelic soul. So he would be born of non royal parents but would been born with royal angel blood for his heart and soul would be a flawless match for the Crown Prince whom also has royal angel blood. Over the years people thought it was just a dream caused by pregnancy. In pregnancy it is very common that women have many vivid and strange dreams thus they dismissed it. But others believe it to be true for she was an angel after all. Those that believe passed down the legend, the prophecy; they say the young man would have eyes that twinkled like stars, stars that matched the night sky of the heavens in which his soul came. Thus his eyes would be the sign of heavens approval. The other sign of approval would be the flower. Legend states if it was meant to be then the hibiscus would remain alive and on one of its petals there would be the color of heaven and earth, the color of our kingdom: Pearl Aqua. I have seen your flower Taemin; it is the most exquisite thing I have ever seen.”

Kibum’s father added “Long before you told your mother, prince Jinki, that you wanted to court Master Taemin, she felt you two were close. You once talked about how Taemin had eyes that glimmered like million’s of stars. It made her remember the legend so she discussed it with the King.   They both came to the conclusion it was meant to be and worked secretly with a few of us officials to make sure everything was legit. We studied the legend and the laws surrounding what to do if the prophesied man came forth. We studied the laws to see how we could make Taemin legally a prince and figure out how to make an heir for you just in case your marital union came to be. The King and Queen had seen the two of you sneaking out of her garden one afternoon when you were very young. After you left they went to the garden and saw the flowers were just as pure as they were before you had entered. Taemin had touched the flowers ….Only those with heavenly blood may touch the floral grounds or risk killing the flowers. Not only were they so accepting because they loved their son so much and wish to see him happy no matter what, regardless of uality, but the proof was there; it was only logical the prophecy was true for Taemin had sat amongst them plenty of times, and there were never blemishes on their fragile silky heavenly petals. They knew then, that you, Taemin, were the chosen one for their son, the crown prince.”

Advisor Sooman commented “The flower, it is the present they were going to show you. They were going to have a lovely private dinner with the two of you the day after the wedding and inform you of the story. I’m sorry we are rushing through it, I am sure it would have been much lovelier and romantic if the King had told it. If you are wondering why they never told you sooner once they found out the two of you had feelings for the other, well, they weren’t allowed to. In the legendary scrolls, it says it has to be a pure love formed without this knowledge in case someone would try to marry the crown prince with an agenda of their own to steal the Throne once married. Being untouched by this knowledge would also prevent the crown prince from courting many men and falling in love with someone that didn’t love him back and getting his heart broken as he tried to find the right king for himself. They say true love just comes when you least expect it; you can’t go searching for it. He never would have found you, Taemin-nim. Rules are rules; they had to wait until the two of you were wed.  Once the Crown passed away into the afterlife I had the Queen’s maiden hide your engagement flower so Leeteuk couldn’t destroy it. If anyone were to find it they would know he is lying. You weren’t cursed by the heavens and made ill as punishment by god. God has always wanted you two to reign side by side from the beginning of time.”

Scholar Kim chimed in once more “Our first leaders, to welcome the two future King’s, they had commissioned the palace architects to leave the mark of the reign to come in the throne hall ceiling when they built the SHINee Palace.  The dragon represents the king and on the ceiling of the throne hall there are...”

Accidently cutting him off, Taemin breathed as it hit him “Two dragons.”    He remembered it was the very first thing he ever saw when he had enter the palace as an eight year old child. The second thing he saw was Jinki’s warm smile.

The officials nodded with a soft smile. Advisor Lee proclaimed “You are our new King. You can choose to be called Queen or King. It is completely up to you but the title is for a fact undeniably yours. Our Kingdom has been waiting for the two of you to be sovereigns for centuries.”

The tiny kitten smiled and responded “I guess it depends, when we are officially at court working I would like to be addressed as King. But as to not cause confusion when saying “king” and my husband and I getting confused to whom a person is referring too, “Queen” maybe used as well.  But if we are together outside of court I don’t mind being called Queen. It will always remind me of my mother-in-law and the time we shared together and how we got to where we are now: all we have been through. Both titles are an honor and I accept gladly and with full reasonability.”  The men agreed and would later relay his wishes to the subjects.

The kitten and the tokki looked at each other. King Jinki looked at his heaven made spouse and smiled cutely “I knew I liked my family story for a reason. And I’ve always thought you looked like an angel now I know why.” It gave them all a little chuckle to lighten the mood after all they had all been through over the past two and half months.

“It makes so much since now: why your parents were so accepting. It is god’s will.” Taemin sighed happily. Becoming serious again the kitten tilted his head and looked at the officials “May I see my flower? I must show people. Leeteuk can’t deny our right to the throne after seeing it.”

Minho croaked “First we need a plan of how we go about exposing Leeteuk for his crimes against the Crown.”

Sooman and Kim glanced at each other then back to the animals and asked. “Yes, a plan. Jeonha? What would you like us to do; where do we start? What should we do about your current state? The five of you are animals. Why haven’t you eaten the petals The Queen gave you?”

Every soul in the room looked to their new king for answers. Jinki had been thinking non-stop since his mother dissolved and returned to heaven about how to transform and reveal what had truly happened: he was ready. The regal tokki proudly stood up tall and squared his shoulders, confidently moving into the role as King “Advisor Lee, take Chief Choi and I to the stockade. I must meet with the leader of our army, General Choi. There with him, we will discuss further maters together. Not only have the two of you known my father since he was a child, but the two of you have years of experience and wisdom; I have an idea for a plan and with him and both of your help, advice, knowledge and guidance we will make it come to fruition.  Teacher-nim, Take the Queen to retrieve his flower. Jonghyun and Kibum, wait here.” He looked at the two humans and added “We will reconvene in this room after Leeteuk and his men have fallen asleep for the night and make sure to bring my maiden with you too when you return. The eight of us will go over the final plans as a group and set things in motion."