Luminescence

Luminescence (n) - A light produced by chemical, electrical or physiological means

Kibum guesses he should have come back quicker once he's out of the forest and sees a group of people riding towards him.

"KIBUM!" Kibum resists the urge to roll his eyes as Jonghyun gallops up to him, wide eyes and heavy breathing. "Are you okay? What happened?" He asks, riding Aranea close enough for him to look over Kibum in the dark.

"I am fine." Kibum mumbles. "One of them fell off his branch and it scared the others so they ran off." He says with a shrug. Jonghyun's eyes widen.

"There were more than one?!" He shouts.

"So he was telling the truth?" A man on a dark brown mare asks as he rides up to them. Kibum raises an eyebrow at the blank almost inexpressive look on the man's face. "Were you attacked?" The man asks.

"I would not call it an attack." Kibum says.

"They shot an arrow towards us!" Jonghyun says. Kibum turns to him with an unimpressed look.

"And then he fell off his branch. Not the best assassin, in my eyes. Not a real threat either." He says with a sigh. "I do not know why you needed to call the cavalry, or why you assumed I could not deal with it myself. I have faced many scavangers and thieves on the road." Kibum gives him a smile, then turns to the others. "I am sorry for the prince's outburst, you can return to your beds now." He says.

"So not only is he pretty, he can fight off thieves too." The man who had talked to Kibum whispers to Jonghyun. The prince attempts to push him off his horse, fails and watches the other leave with a pout.

"Who was that?" Kibum asks.

"My bestfriend, Minho, he is a soldier in my father's army." Jonghyun says with a proud smile. "He is the best soldier we have, except for the General."

"He seemed....tense." Kibum comments. Jonghyun chuckles.

"Yes, he does, it is just how he is. But he is also kind." The prince smiles. "Ah, Jinki, did you need anything?" Jonghyun says once he notices the physician has not ridden back with the others. Jinki startles, giving Kibum a curious look before mumbling a negative and riding back to the castle. "Did that seem odd to you?" Jonghyun asks with a raised brow.

"No, Jinki is just odd in general." Kibum says with a shrug. "Now, may we please ride back." He draws out the sentence, making the prince laugh.

"Fine. I am glad you are alright. If I had known you were skilled in battle I would not have been so worried. It seems I have more to learn about you." Jonghyun says, riding beside Kibum to the castle.

"Indeed." Kibum says, looking back into the woods.

"Are you a coward?" Kibum startles once he's closed the door to his chambers, meeting Taemin's beautiful face, upside down. The elf is lying above Kibum, his head bent downwards. Kibum swats his face away with a sigh.

"No, why would you ask that?" He asks, beginning to pick up the mess from Taemin's most recent adventure in his bookcase.

"You failed to explain to your prince how you got away from those assassins. Is there a reason why you will not tell him about your powers?" The elf asks, crossing his arms as he watches Kibum clean the room.

"Of course I did not tell him. Though there are no rules against magic, I am afraid of what the people might think. They would be terrified of my powers." Kibum says with an annoyed huff, throwing his pillows back on the bed.

"I did not ask of you to tell the whole kingdom. I asked of you to tell the prince. Do you remember him, light brown hair, big eyes, looks almost like a dog...." Kibum sends the elf a glare, but sighs, letting the pillow he was about to throw fall back to his side.

"I want to tell him." He mumbles, moving over to the bed and sitting down with the pillow in his lap. "I am afraid he would look at me differently," He says softly. "Or he would be scared, or confused or angry that I did not tell him." He says with an annoyed huff. "This is exactly why I do not create bonds or talk to people." He groans as he falls back on the bed. Taemin flies over him, giving him a judging look.

"It is not that hard." The elf says with a scoff.

"What do you know, you do not have any friends." Kibum says with a scowl.

"I am offended. Are we not friends?" Taemin says with a fake gasp.

"You are the devil that pops up to make my life a living hell." Kibum says monotone. Taemin shrugs, knowing he can't say anything against that.

"But it is boring just talking to you, you will not even talk to me. How about I just give him a little scare?" Taemin says with a smirk.

"Do not even think about it, or I will set your shirt on fire." Kibum warns him with a glare.

"Honestly, you are the worst friend ever." Taemin says with a pout.

"Kibum, just the person I was hoping to meet." It's an understatement to say Kibum was surprised when the King spoke to him in the hallway the next morning.

"Is there a problem, Your Highness?" Kibum asks, closing his door behind him and straightening his shirt unconciously.

"I would like you to join us at our meeting, I want to hear your story about the attack last night on my son." Jaejoong says with a smile. "I would also like to thank you personally for sending him away. The boy can be reckless at times and think he is a hero." He says and chuckles.

"It was only the right thing to do, I do not deserve gratitude for scaring Aranea to run off." Kibum says with a quick bow. Jaejoong raises his hand to stop him.

"You saved my son's life, it deserves more than gratitude, it deserves a feast!" He says and spreads his arms with a wide smile. "Now, first the meeting, we may talk of the feast afterwards." Jaejoong says as he grabs Kibum's arm and leads him away. Kibum can only nod in confusion as he is pulled into the dining room. In the middle the table is empty, except a few candles that are lit. Seated at the tables are 5 men, all looking very serious except one, Jonghyun. Kibum recognizes two of them, Jinki and the man he had met yesterday. Jaejoong leads him to an empty chair on Jonghyun's left and moves to sit on the latter's right. "Now that everyone is here!" The King says with a sigh as he sits down. "I called for all of you to discuss the attack of my son last night. I am thankful for Minho," Jaejoong signals to the man sitting beside Jinki. "Who messaged me after the incident. Why my own son ignored to inform me he had been attacked is for another discussion." He adds with a sideways glare to Jonghyun who only pouts. "Now, would you please inform us what happened?" Jaejoong says as he turns to Kibum.

Kibum explains the same story he told Jonghyun yesterday, how the attacker had suddenly fallen down the tree and died, which scared off the other attackers. Everyone seems to buy the story except Jinki, since he knows about Taemin and that Kibum is special, but it seems he hasn't figured out how yet. Kibum notices him giving him suspicious stares through his story.

"What I do not understand is how a trained assassin can just fall from a tree?" A tall man with sharp features, sitting beside Minho, says with a frown.

"Who says he was trained?" Kibum asks with a raised brow. "Afterall, he did miss on that first arrow. He had the perfect shot right at the prince and missed." He says. "It is obvious, if I may say my opinion, this was just a normal group of thieves who happened to walk by and thought they would take the chance."

"That would be the theory, but as it may, it was not a group of thieves." The King says. "This was also not the first attack that has happened." Kibum's eyes widen, so does the others'. "Over the last month, there has been three different assassination attempts on my son, now four. I believe someone from our enemy kingdoms is the culprit." He continues.

"What attacks?" The tall man asks.

"The first time, someone attempted to break into my room. Fortunately, I was not in the castle at the time, and the guards heard it, but the culprit got away." Jonghyun says. "The other was while I was out riding, similar to this one. The third was an attempt at poisining my food. Of course by that time my father had doubled the security on me, and there was someone there to test my food. He died." Jonghyun frowns, glancing down. "He was already dead before the other guards could do anything." He mumbles darkly.

"General." The King says, drawing the attention of the tall man. "Do we have any disputes with near kingdoms that would benefit from my son's death?" He asks.

"No one near, but we do have Kwan." The general says, the name making Kibum tense, though no one notices except Jinki again, who has been watching him like a hawk. Kibum leans back in his chair, unconciously tearing up the fabric in his shirt sleeve from pulling at the threads.

"Who is Kwan?" Jonghyun asks.

"A King to the far east, in the gray forest." Jaejoong says. "He may be powerful King, but he is also blinded by that power. His kingdom is small, but he will always threaten that he can take me crown." He says with a frown. "He is old, worn out, but he says he will take over anyway. I always assumed he had just gone mad after all these years." He sighs.

"I will send some of my men to gather information. If Kwan has ordered assassins into our kingdom, I will know." The General says.

"Thank you, Yunho." Jaejoong says with a smile. "Now, while we wait to find out who is trying to kill my son, I want you all to be on guard. I know he will not obey my orders, so I asked all his closest friends here. Minho, our finest soldier, Jinki, our physician, Yoochun, my advisor, and of course you Kibum." Jaejoong says to them all. "Well, now that everything is in order....Ah, Jungsoo, Heechul, just the two men I wanted to see." Jaejoong says as the two men walk into the dining room. "I would like to host a feast this afternoon. Make sure to tell the cooks to double the servings, and Heechul, you are free to.....do what you do best." Jaejoong says with a nervous smile. "Just do not overdo it, would you?" He asks.

"Of course, Your Highness." The man named Heechul says, with a cat-like smile and a glint in his eye. The two leave again, and Yoochun chuckles.

"Are you sure it is a good idea to let Heechul loose on planning a feast?" The advisor asks.

The King pouts, suddenly reminding Kibum very much of his son. "No, but you are my advisor, you are supposed to stop me from making stupid decisions." Jaejoong says.

"I was not going to say anything against it with Heechul in the room, the man might be younger than me but he can be terrifying." Yoochun says.

"I know." Jaejoong whines. "Anyway." He says with a cough. "Meeting is over, you may all return to your normal duties, but please come to the feast this afternoon." He says with a smile before rising, walking out with the advisor and the General.

Kibum gets up from his seat and leaves, hearing the quick footsteps of the prince following. "Hey." Kibum stops and turns to him, not knowing where the anger is coming from inside him, but he can't seem to lock it down either, resulting in a glare that startles Jonghyun. "What is wrong?" Jonghyun asks.

"If you had told me you were being targeted by assassins I would not have agreed to go into the forest at night. It is for good reason your father is asking you to stay at the castle if he is afraid you might be murdered! I do not even know why you approached me that day and helped calm my horse, I could have been an assassin!" Kibum snaps, feeling the blood boil from the young prince's stupidity. "I have no idea why the attempts have not succeeded yet, since you obviously are helping it happen!" He growls, then turns sharply and walks back to his room.

"Why are you so angry?!" Jonghyun shouts as he runs after him.

"Because I do not want to be the reason the prince dies!" Kibum shouts back.

"You would not be the reason, that is foolish!" Kibum huffs and stops, turning back again and making Jonghyun stop before he crashes into him.

"What is foolish, Your Highness," Kibum says calmly with an icy glare. "Is your thought that you are immortal. If the next assassin has more training with a bow and arrow, do you not think you would die if it hit your heart?" Kibum asks. Before Jonghyun can answer, Kibum interrupts him. "If the next time you take one of your late night adventures, if they waited in the stables, do you not think you would die from being stabbed in the gut, or slashed your throat?" He asks, then takes a step closer. "I will not let you play hero, getting yourself murdered because you believe you can win a fight." He whispers, turning a last time and storming to his room.

He slams his door shut, falling back against it and sighs. He rubs his hands over his face with a groan, letting himself slowly slide down until he's sitting on the ground.

"Rough day?" Kibum startles at the voice, though he did suspect Taemin was nearby.

"I do not have time for your rude commentary today." Kibum says with another sigh, about to raise his hand to make Taemin disappear.

"Wait wait!" Taemin says quickly. "Talk to me, I will keep my commentary to myself." The elf says. Kibum looks up from behind his hands, giving him a suspicious look.

"Fine." He mumbles. "I do not know why I shouted at him, or why I am mad. I do not know him, I am not a relative, or a significant person in his life. Why do I feel so offended that he does not take this seriously?" He asks. "And why does he not take it seriously? Why did he bring me to the forest at night? Why did he ride up to a complete stranger when there is a chance he might die?"

"Maybe he simply has a big heart, which he why he took the risk that you would not harm him. And I do not think he is simply brushing off the matter, he just does not want to stop living his life." Taemin says, sitting crosslegged infront of Kibum, almost touching the ground.

"Why should I care? I will be gone in a few months anyway." Kibum mumbles.

"No you will not." Taemin says, and Kibum raises an eyebrow. "The reason you worry about his safety is simply because you care for the boy. It is what happens when you fall in love."

"I am not falling in love. That is a foolish thought." Kibum says with a scowl. "I would have laughed if I had not been in such a bad mood."

"It is not foolish. Think about it. You are protective over him, even if you have only known him a few days, you have agreed he is attractive, he is the reason you are staying here longer than usual, he makes you smile." Taemin says with a sad smile. "I have known you for a long time, and though I may cause you trouble, I do not wish you harm. And that boy has made you happier."

"I did not know that." Kibum mumbles. "Thank you, Taemin." He says, giving the elf a smile. "Maybe it is true, I do not know. Either way, it does not help my situation. He is the prince, he is a man, he does not feel the same way, so I must simply forget of these foolish feelings." Kibum says, pushing himself up from the ground.

"Uh, that was not what I had in mind." Taemin says with a frown. "My suggestion was to talk to the prince, maybe tell him your secret." Kibum frowns. "The one about your powers! Not your feelings." Taemin adds quickly. "If you are falling for the guy, do you not trust him enough to tell him?"

Kibum looks at him, contemplating just poofing him away with his powers, because what Taemin says is right, and he hates when the devil is right. He trusts that Jonghyun would never hurt him, but he still fears the boy will be afraid, or unable to keep his secret. "I will wait, for a while." Kibum says after a few minutes of silence. He walks over to the table, sitting down with a huff. "I have to figure out why someone is trying to kill him." He adds. "Too bad I erased those attackers memories, it would have been useful." He adds with a grumble. He thinks back to the meeting, both the General and the King thinks it might be Kwan, but that can't be, because Kibum...

"Are you talking to yourself?" Kibum startles, knocking over the books on the table. He turns, noticing Taemin has for once vanished at the right moment, and the only one there is Jonghyun.

"Maybe." Kibum mumbles, turning back to pick up the books. The other stays quiet, but when Kibum doesn't hear the door shut he looks back with a raised brow. The other looks nervous, a little hesitant as he stands in the doorway.

"Are you still angry with me?" The pince asks softly, looking down at the ground.

The question is asked so softly, as if Jonghyun is afraid Kibum will yell at him again, and it makes the last puff of anger fade from Kibum, who can't help but smile. "No." He says. "Close the door." He says. Jonghyun nods, closing the door behind him and walking closer. "Even if I am not angry, I still mean everything I said." He says as Jonghyun sits down beside him. "I feel it is foolish that you do not take this seriously. Who will take over the throne if you die?" He asks as he turns to look at him.

"I do not know. I did not mean to put myself in danger, you must believe me, but I have lived a life full of restrictions and rules. I have felt shackled to these walls since before I could properly run. Now that I am old enough to make my own choices, I want to make the most of it, and not let someone's powerhungry thoughts of victory to get it my way." Jonghyun says with a sigh. "But, as it seems this is getting out of hand, I will take your advice." Kibum raises a brow in surprise. "I will do what my father ask, and I will be careful. If I am not allowed to play hero, I do not wish for you to either. If we are attacked, we flee together, alright?" He asks.

Kibum looks at him, seeing the serious expression on his face. Now that Taemin's words are sinking in, the realization that he might actually be in love begins to frighten him. At least because of the small chances their feelings are mutual. He has not had his heart broken before, and he does not want to experience it either. "Alright." He mumbles, too lost in his thoughts to say anything else. Jonghyun smiles softly, looking curiously at the books on the table. Kibum sees his eyes light up.

"You read a lot of adventure and fairytales." The prince comments.

"It amuses me." Kibum says, thinking back to comparing images of the book's fairies to Taemin once. It brings a small smile to his face. "You may borrow some if you would like." He adds as he sees the curious look.

"Really?" Jonghyun asks with wide eyes, like a child getting a present. Kibum nods. "Thank you." The prince says, going back to looking at all the titles on the books. Kiibum gets up from his chair, walking to the bedside. On the bedside table, the is a scribbled piece of parchment. Kibum picks it up in confusion. Scribbled in very messy writing, that of a small child, says the words; Tell him. Kibum remembers spending a little time teaching the elf to write since the latter wanted to read. Now he is beginning to regret that. He sighs, looking over his shoulder where Jonghyun is now nose deep in one of his books.

"Your Highness?" Kibum starts mumbling.

"Would you stop calling me that please?" Jonghyun says with a frown, looking up at him.

"But you are the prince." Kibum says, also frowning.

"But when I introduced myself, I said Jonghyun. Not Your Highness, or Prince. Just Jonghyun." Jonghyun says.

"Fine, Jonghyun." Kibum says and rolls his eyes. "But I will only do it when there are not other people around." He adds.

"Fine." Jonghyun says with a pleased smile. "What was it?" He asks. Kibum bites his lip, suddenly wondering if it is worth it. He told Taemin he would wait, but maybe if he just gets it over with. If Jonghyun gets frightened, Kibum can just leave, start over in a new place.

But Kibum doesn't want to leave. He wants to stay.

He sits down on the bed with a sigh, fiddling with a ring on his finger. He hears Jonghyun stand up and walk closer. "Is everything alright?" The princce asks quietly, sitting down beside him.

"I..." Kibum swallows his words, taking a deep breath. This is it, it is now or never. "I have not been truthful to you." He mumbles. "There is....I am...." Everytime he begins a sentence the words just stops.

"It is okay, you can tell me anything." Jonghyun says, giving him a calm smile, no worry or fear or anger in his eyes, only curiousity. Innocence. Kindness. Though Kibum can not find the right words. But he can show it.

"I will show you. What I am, it is not dangerous, but you must not tell anyone." Kibum says with a slight tremble, the nerves making him anxious and hesitant. Jonghyun nods quickly, and Kibum bites his lip again. He goes over what he should show, wanting to not show him something that could hurt him, in case he gets frightened. When he decides, he turns on the bed, sitting Indian style as he takes a deep breath. Jonghyun mimics him, looking at his expectantly. Kibum raises his hand, laying it with his open palm facing up. "Creo lux." He whispers with a trembling voice, feeling warmth spread through him as a small light appears in his hand. It is the size of a marble, glowing brighter than any candle. Jonghyun's eyes widen comically, and he unconciously leans back. "Recedo." Kibum whispers quickly, closing his palm as the light vanishes. He places his hand down, looking at Jonghyun nervously.

"You..." Jonghyun looks confused, and shocked, but Kibum does not see fear, which sparks hope. "You can make light, out of nothing..." Jonghyun mumbles slowly.

"I can make many things." Kibum says. "Creo ventus." Kibum says, feeling a breeze rush by him, ruffling Jonghyun's hair. Kibum holds his hands together. "Creo spiritus papilio." He whispers, closing his hands, and blowing on it. When he opens them there is a bright teal butterfly in his palms, fluttering it's wings. Kibum stands up, moving slowly to the window and opening it, letting it fly out. He closes it with a sigh, not wanting to turn around again.

"That is..." Kibum turns around, surprised at the bright smile on the prince's face. "Extraordinary!"

Woohoo, Kibum told him :D And of course Jonghyun isn't afraid XD Thank you for reading <3