The sun blinds Ten the moment he opens his eyes. The sky is too blue, the clouds too white, and Ten squints, feeling the rays of the earth’s brightest star glaze over his face.

“Slept well?”

Ten sits up, recognising that soft yet familiar voice. He’s quickly assaulted by the bright glow of silver hair and dark, brooding eyes. The scent of summer mornings wafts over him, surrounding him from where his legs are fully stretched out on the grass.

“Taeyong.”

The way the wind flows through the silver strands of the mun nai’s hair and lays them carefully over his eyes gets Ten’s stomach lurching, his throat seemingly closing from lack of air. They are sitting next to each other at Ten’s favourite spot by the river, the grass a rich emerald under the afternoon sun and the sound of the rushing waters lulling them in its peace.

“How did you get here?”

Taeyong’s watching him, a soft smile tugging on his lips. He’s wearing a white silk robe, similar to the one he wore at the ball a few months back, the V around his neck still leaving very little to Ten’s imagination. Ten swallows thickly when he sees the mun nai’s bare chest, cleft highlighted by faint shadows. Taeyong’s hands reach out to cup Ten’s face, fingers brushing gently over his cheeks. It would be a lie to say Ten didn’t hear himself groan at the contact.

“You’ve lost a lot of weight,” the mun nai says, his breath fanning over Ten’s eyelashes. His touch lights a fire down Ten’s spine.

“I haven’t been eating well,” Ten admits.

Taeyong’s gaze sweeps over him, a glint of sadness surfacing on his dark pupils. “You’re doing well, My King. I’m proud of you.”

“I’m not,” Ten whispers, feeling several strings pull at his heart. “I should have saved you. I shouldn’t have let them take you away.”

Taeyong smiles, inching closer until Ten can feel their breaths uniting. “You were just doing what a King should do. I understand.” There’s a huge book on his lap, its pages browning with age while their edges flap in the passing wind.

“Is that…?” Ten stops to look at the book more carefully. It’s the same book Ten saw Doyoung holding on the day of his father’s funeral. The book is opened right on the page showing the crests of the Four Kingdoms.

Ten’s eyes flicker up, the light in Taeyong’s eyes seemingly calling to him, beckoning him to come closer. His eyes close when he plants his lips on Taeyong’s mouth, and the warmth of the mun nai’s lips spreads like wildfire through his entire body. The mun nai draws him closer, tightening his arms around his smaller form, sealing the tiny spaces that curve around their bodies. The kiss deepens, Taeyong’s tongue slithering inside Ten’s mouth and Ten moans, his palms falling on Taeyong’s chest, feeling the fire underneath his skin tether off to the mun nai’s body.

“I missed you,” Ten breathes, kissing Taeyong again and hearing the mun nai laugh in his mouth. Its sound is so full and rich, Ten could almost hear his own heart burst with its music.

Taeyong kisses him more slowly, his lips taking their time to memorise Ten’s mouth. His hand sinks to the small of Ten’s back, pulling him close until the King falls on his lap. “Ten,” the mun nai breathes, and Ten whimpers when he hears him call his name. “Ten,” Taeyong calls again, but this time his voice sounds farther, like someone is pulling him away.

“Taeyong?” Ten asks, but his mouth is not moving and his voice is void of any sound. The feel of Tayeong’s mouth on him vanishes and he opens his eyes to pitch-black darkness, the warmth in his arms replaced with a wintry cold and a seething emptiness crawling beneath his skin.

He pulls his head up and sees a tall swordsman standing in front of him, his robe as black as the billowing darkness, and his face masked leaving only the fiery red in his eyes.

“Who are you? Where’s Taeyong?”

The swordsman pulls out his weapon from its sheath, its blade twinkling from an unknown source of light. Ten gasps when the man comes running toward him, the tip of his sword aimed straight for his heart. Ten steps back too quickly, missing his footing, and he falls back on his arm. The man’s sword hits him on the side, scarlet instantly flooding his vision and making him scream.

“Ten!!!”

The sound of Jaehyun’s voice jolts Ten awake, his eyes wide, fizzles of light dotting his vision from the chandelier above the Emperor’s head.

“Ten, are you alright?? Wake up!” Jaehyun’s voice is loud and shaking, his eyes wide in alarm.

Ten is sweating. His red robe is soaked in perspiration, clinging to his back and chest. A teardrop falls from his eye, running to his temple and hair. He sits up, his hands instantly fumbling to his side searching for cuts and blood. He sighs in relief when he finds none.

“You were screaming, Ten,” Jaehyun says. He is sitting right next to Ten on his bed, massaging his back with a hand. “You were having a bad dream.”

Ten is still panting, his shoulders sagging when he remembers bits and pieces of his dreams – Taeyong’s eyes, the way his lips felt so soft on his mouth, the sound of his voice and the warmth of his arms when he held Ten so close… so close it almost felt too real.

“I—I was stabbed,” Ten stutters, holding his arms around himself.

Jaehyun inches closer, putting a protective arm around Ten’s shoulder. “It was just a nightmare, Ten. It wasn’t real.”

It felt real, Ten wants to say, but he keeps his mouth shut, feeling a light shudder coursing through his veins. “How long was I out?”

“Barely an hour,” Jaehyun says, the moonlight glazing half of his face with its pale white glory. The velvet curtains hanging over the windows are barely open, leaving a tiny crack enough for the moonlight to peak through. “Johnny and Hansol are in their designated chambers. You fell asleep in the carriage and Johnny carried you all the way here.”

Ten purses his lips. He barely remembers falling asleep in the carriage, but he does remember talking to his friends on the way home. Ten is too tired, his shoulders slouched and his breathing laboured. He’s barely had any sleep. The only sleep he can afford are those haunted by bloody nightmares and memories of Taeyong.

A soft knock comes through the door and Hansol pokes his head inside. “Are you guys alright?” Hansol asks. “I heard some screaming and came over quickly.”

Jaehyun shakes his head, his hair mussed up from sleep and his white sleep robe tangled around his knees. He motions Hansol to come inside and the latter does, closing the door behind him.

Ten worms out of his satin sheets and steps closer to the windows. The light from the moon is enough to cast a spectacle in the sea, highlighting the form of the enemy’s five ships. Half of Ten slumps from the inside, knowing that the threat is still there, looming above them like a dark shadow. In three days, Siam might be wrapped up in chaos if he fails to think of a plan to drive the enemy away.

“We’ll think of something, Ten,” Hansol’s voice is comforting, but it’s not enough to quell the nerves from running haywire inside Ten’s body.

“We can’t fight them,” Ten finally says.

The light from the chandelier twinkles in Jaehyun’s eyes. “You have a lot of men, Ten. Siam has one of the biggest armies around the continent. You can fight them off.”

“But he will lose a lot of men,” Hansol responds from where he’s sitting at the edge of Ten’s four-poster bed. “Sicheng brought his strongest men with him and those outside are five of his biggest ships. Sure, you can defeat them if we only base it on numbers, but the amount of time it takes to eliminate their most skilled fighters is enough to drive the rest of his ships here. By the time the rest of his army comes, half of Siam’s army would have already fallen and the remaining half won’t be enough to kill the rest of Sicheng’s soldiers.”

Jaehyun bites on his lips, visibly agreeing with Hansol’s assessment. Hansol is the son of South Korea’s Army General and he knows tactical wars and battles like the back of his hand. A part of Ten wishes Yuta is here too. He needs his bubble of positivity now more than anything.

“What if we ask for help?” Jaehyun turns to Hansol and the latter curls his fingers around his chin.

“You mean from our side?” Hansol considers. “Jaehyun, all our men had already been deployed around the country. My father is overseeing the rounds in the South and a couple of lieutenants are positioned in the West. We had also sent a raven to the Kim Dynasty to alert them of possible attacks in their region.”

A frown rests between Jaehyun’s eyebrows. Ten walks toward the two as he plops himself on the thick carpet, hugging his knees to his chest.

“Sicheng mentioned about something… something he needs, and it’s coming from us,” Ten whispers, the volume of his voice descending as he speaks.

“I heard that too,” Jaehyun agrees. “But it might just be a ploy to divert our attention from them. I mean they could try sneaking into the deeper parts of the cities through the outskirts of Siam.”

Ten frowns, shaking his head. “I have enough men guarding the places where their ships can dock. All areas are covered.”

“He’s right, Jaehyun. I don’t think Sicheng is that careless. And although I haven’t come across him yet, I know enough of him to understand that he doesn’t like attacking his enemies from behind. He likes charging his weapons head-on.” Hansol folds his arms across his chest, his eyes sinking to the ground while he drowns in his own thoughts.

“Doyoung told me something about the Four Kingdoms before,” Ten says quietly. “He said the enemy wanted to seize the entirety of South Korea, but he said that it’s impossible without occupying all four regions.”

“It is impossible because there are only three Kingdoms left and only two rulers are still alive,” says Jaehyun. “That’s me and King Kim of the East.”

Ten’s eyes flicker up to the small chandelier in the ceiling, its light creating swirly shadows against the patterns drawn above. He already knows this. Seizing the entirety of South Korea warrants overthrowing its entire empire and the power of its remaining Kingdoms. To do this, Sicheng must eliminate all existing rulers before taking over their lands. Forging a war against the whole of South Korea with a couple of its rulers still alive and sitting in their thrones will be far too risky. While China has one of the largest and strongest armies in the continent, forcing to overthrow two rulers at once will mean crippling their numbers to a dangerous extent.

“South Korea in its entirety is enough to fight China, but unfortunately, our country is currently divided,” Hansol explains. “It is hard enough to get a response from the Kim Dynasty in the brink of war, what more if we approach their King to force him to sign a merger with Jaehyun’s empire? Some kings just don’t bow down to mergers that easily, Ten.”

Ten sighs, feeling the weight of the world rest on his shoulders. “I still don’t understand what they want from us.”

“It’s possible they need your army to win the war in South Korea.” Ten quickly turns around to see Johnny entering from the doors of his chamber. “If they successfully seize your lands and overthrow your rulership, your men will be forced to bow down to Sicheng’s reign,” Johnny finishes, finding a spot in between Jaehyun and Hansol on Ten’s bed.

Jaehyun still looks unconvinced. “Aside from us, can’t we ask other countries for help?”

Hansol bites on his lips. “You mean Yuta, right?” Jaehyun nods. “I don’t know, Jaehyun. I can send out a raven to Yuta tonight, but don’t expect much from it. Japan doesn’t like meddling in other kingdoms’ fights. That’s also the reason why they called Yuta back.”

“It’s worth a try,” Jaehyun sighs. “We can’t just watch them ravage Siam without a fight.”

“Actually,” Johnny clears his throat, eyeing the three royals calmly. “I have a plan.”

Ten looks up to find a wide smile plastered across Johnny’s face.

“Please tell me this doesn’t involve us standing as your wingmen to woo a girl,” Hansol says with a scowl.

“Shut up, Hansol,” Johnny clicks his tongue and the son of South Korea’s General throws him a smirk. “Anyway, as I was saying, there is a way to drive them away and altogether avoid any military confrontation.”

“How?” Ten asks.

Johnny rubs a hand on his chin, the already low neckline of his robe dipping slightly when he lowers his head to be at eye level with Ten. “I have to warn you, Ten. If we do this, you’re basically declaring war against China and they won’t go easy on you. But this will definitely reroute their target away from Siam for a while. You know Sicheng, though. He’s vengeful. They will still come back for you.”

Ten nods firmly. He doesn’t have much of a choice at this point. He already made a dangerous move signing that merger with South Korea making them a prime target of the enemy. At this point in the war, he has to side with someone and he knows that he’s on the right lane. There’s no backing out now.

“I’m ready. Tell me what to do,” Ten finally says.

***

“It’s a negative, Ten.”

Hansol is standing in front of Ten at the boardroom, a piece of parchment folded in his hands bearing the seal of the emerald dragon. “Japan has declined to help,” Hansol continues, a frown folding across his lips. “This is a direct response from their General.”

Ten reaches out for the parchment, reading it carefully. “I thought you wrote to Yuta?”

“I did,” Hansol replies with a sigh. “I’m afraid I got him into more trouble by sending the letter.” He motions for Ten to continue reading.

It’s only then when Ten finds the second paragraph, detailing a warning to Hansol never to send a private letter to the Chrysanthemum Throne’s Crown Prince again. “I’m sorry, Hansol,” Ten says, folding back the letter in his hands.

Hansol smiles, but his eyes look more regretful than happy. “It’s fine, Ten. I knew it was a pretty high reach from the beginning.” Whether Hansol’s referring to Japan’s military aid or Yuta, Ten doesn’t know.

“Ten,” Johnny enters the door, followed by Lord Somchai. “The soldiers are ready outside.”

Ten steps out into the sun a couple of minutes later, lines of soldiers waiting for him by the entrance of the Grand Palace. Jaehyun is already standing outside with Lord Gamon, the mun nai in charge of the troop, and Doyoung is also there to lend a hand to Jaehyun. The Emperor's advisers are out assembling a few of their soldiers who came aboard the Nolīte Oblīviscī with them over a week ago.

“You can’t fight with us without your King’s permission,” Jaehyun is looking at Doyoung, his eyebrows furrowed into a worried line.

“What’s going on?” Ten asks as soon as he arrives beside them a few feet before the lines of soldiers.

Doyoung looks mildly pissed and Ten purses his lips to listen at the noble. “He told me I can’t fight because I didn’t get a direct order from my King. I told him it’s my choice,” Doyoung says.

Ten suppresses a chuckle. “He’s right, Doyoung. Jaehyun has no hold on you since you’re from an entirely different Kingdom that blatantly refused to bow down to his reign.”

“But I can’t just stand here while you all go to battle. It isn’t fair.”

“Nothing’s fair in this life.” Johnny appears from Ten’s side, his eyes fixed on the lines of soldiers awaiting Ten’s instructions.

Doyoung pouts, bowing his head, and Jaehyun just gives him an apologetic smile. Hansol walks into view from the other side of the hall, his gaze turned to the entire troop.

“Are you sure about this, Your Majesty?” Sir Gamon walks toward Ten, a nervous smile on his lips.

Ten nods, smiling fondly at the mun nai. “I am, Sir Gamon. Once all this is done, we can finally get a hold of my uncle and you can get his testimony directly from him. I promise we’ll protect Siam tonight.”

The mun nai bows his head, his head cocking to the side at the sight of an approaching Lord Somchai.

“Your Majesty,” Lord Somchai bows. “Counsellor Preecha and I have already spread word around the cities per your instructions. People were already ordered to stay inside their houses and to bar their doors and windows. The entire army have also been deployed around the cities.”

“Thank you, Lord Somchai,” Ten gives his adviser a heartfelt smile. He pulls his chin up to survey the troop before him, his eyes scanning each soldier in hopes of finding a familiar face.

“He’s not fighting with us tonight, Ten,” Johnny’s voice is low enough for only the King to hear his words.

Ten immediately glances up to look at his friend. “I… I wasn’t looking for anyone.”

Johnny chuckles, scratching his head. “Oh, come on, Ten. I’ve only been gone for a few months, but I’ve known you since we could barely speak straight sentences. I can hear your heart beating loudly in your chest from where I’m standing right now.”

Ten throws him a scowl. “Stop exaggerating,” he mutters.

“Stop denying then,” Johnny shrugs. “I know you miss him, Ten. I’d be half-dragging his here if I could, but your laws have me on a leash here.”

Ten sighs. His friend is right. He should stop denying his true feelings and admit to himself how much he misses Taeyong, how much he wants him near. “Thank you, Johnny,” Ten finally says. “If we survive tonight, I promise I’ll stop being a coward.”

“Good.” Johnny smiles widely, a perfect line of teeth blinding Ten from underneath the noble’s rosy lips.

The sun is almost setting, the clouds pulled out like gray wisps of smoke in the burnt sky. Outside the gates of the Grand Palace, Ten can hear more soldiers marching in and taking their place behind the troop standing in front of them. Heels digging on hard gravel and rubble, producing a monotonous crunching sound.

“What time do we move?” Jaehyun asks, taking his place at Ten’s other side.

Ten bites on his lips, hearing his heartbeat accelerate gradually, echoing inside the walls of his chest. “As soon as the sun sets.”

***

Ten can feel his mind swirling as their boat rocks into the sea. He can barely see anything, the moon