Legs dangling from the side of the wall, Jisoo looked out over the mountainous lands governed by his father, the Marcher Lord. The sun was well on its way to the horizon, casting the valley below the cliffs into shadow, a false night already beginning for those who lived below. There in the Keep itself, though, the heat of the day was still apparent, at least out on the outer walls as he was. Venturing inside would surely afford him cool relief from the summer heat, but he knew that she waited inside.

His betrothed.

The slender young man heaved a sigh and kicked his heels against the wall, frustration making him lose all caution. The fall from the walls built into the cliff face would surely mean death, but the brief thought flashed through his mind that he wouldn't be adverse to that fate, if it saved him from her. It wasn't that he hated Namjoo, it was just that he couldn't imagine himself ever being happy with her. She was so vapid and vain, delicate and proper, things that he just couldn't imagine putting up with for the rest of his life. They had had many disagreemenats on what each thought was a good use of coin, but he didn't think that his points ever got through her pretty head.

Their parents had arranged the marriage, one of political import between the Marches and the Reaches. His betrothed was not one of the Choi's, the family who ruled in the Western Reaches, but she was a daughter of one of the nobles houses in service to the Choi's, making her important enough for a second son such as Jisoo. His elder brother Seungjun was married to a Southern Lady, while his elder sister Seungah was betrothed to an immortal from the City of Light, a prestigious alliance that his father had worked hard to broker. With such, the Marcher Lord would not only gain access to the exclusive trade within the magical city, but also gain more standing and clout amongst the other human lords.

The faint sound of a horn being blown caught Jisoo's attention, and he leaned out from his precarious seat to peer down at the thoroughway that led into the lower levels of the Keep. A company of horsemen had ridden into view, though the young man had been to preoccupied to notice them before, and now they had almost reached the gates. A small welcome party had been sent out, and with a sigh, Jisoo realized that his father would be angry that he hadn't been there to greet them. With his brother being away helping his sister in planning the wedding, which was to take place in a week's time at the Keep of her betrothed, many duties fell on the previously ignored second son. It seemed that he would be getting an earful that evening from his irate father.

Too late to do anything about it now, though; the company was already inside the gates and even if Jisoo hurried, he wouldn't arrive at the greeting hall before they had vacated it. And so he stayed, content in his place and in the view before him, his mind once again becoming lost to the sunset casting pinks and purples across the sky.

It was the creak of the iron garden gate that warned him of company, and he gave a small jump of surprise that nearly catapulted him over the edge to his death. Swinging his legs back over the wall, he reached out to catch the nearest branch of the thick tree that grew up from the garden floor, his route back to safety. Pulling himself onto it, he nimbly made his way closer to the trunk to a more secure footing and a leafier section that would hide his presence from whomever had intruded. If he could climb down and reach his boots, tucked in beside the tree roots, then maybe he could steal back into the Keep before he was noticed.

The grumbling that reached his ears made him freeze, though, because he recognized his father's voice immediately. Had he finally learned where it was that his younger son disappeared to so often, and had come to confront Jisoo in his place of solitude? His heart in his throat, Jisoo peered through the branches in search of his father's form, hoping against hope that he hadn't been discovered.

Yet as the older man came into view, his dark grey doublet pulled a bit tight over his broad shoulders, he turned his head behind him to speak. "And this is the garden, you're all welcome to come here to take your night air. I know that Children of Light enjoy watching the