You paced the floor in your new chambers, anxiously waiting to hear what was happening with Sanghyuk. The fact that there had been another attempt on your life didn’t seem to have hit just yet. You were more concerned with making sure Sanghyuk wasn’t permanently hurt in any way. Although your mind kept repeating the frantic way that Hakyeon had called out his name just before the doors had closed behind you. The slight terror in his voice scared you more than anything else at the moment and without noticing, tears started to stream down your cheeks.

“Princess, please calm down. Sir Taekwoon will take care of the little knight. He’ll be back to his disrespectful overgrown self soon enough.” Sir Wonshik’s voice was soft, surely meant to try and calm you down. Even if your mind and heart were both racing with all the ways that things could go wrong. That’s when it hit you. Taekwoon was the only knight left to protect the others in the great hall.

“Wonshik! You have to go back to the great hall! I’ll bolt the doors, but Taekwoon is the only one there to protect Jaehwan! What if the assassins wanted this all along? They might try to target him this time!” You knew you were likely overreacting, but the growing ball of fear in the pit of your stomach was threatening to creep up into your throat and choke you. “Wonshik, please!” You grabbed the knight by the arms and looked him in the eyes, almost ready to beg if needed.

Just as you were about to drop onto your knees to beg him, Sir Wonshik pulled his arms from your grasp and wrapped you in a hug. “Princess, I’m sure he will be thrilled to hear how much you care for him, but he would kill me if he knew I had left you alone. Especially as upset as you are. Anyone could try and hurt you again and you make an easier target now since you’re upset.”

His words caught you by surprise and you jerked away from him, quickly pulling the dagger you kept hidden on you. “And why are you saying all that? Are you in cohorts with the rebel assassins?!”

The shock spread across his face almost instantly and he stuttered slightly as he shook his head. “W-What?! Of course not! How- Why-” He opened and closed his mouth several times, making him look like a fish caught out of water.

While the comparison slightly amused you, that didn’t sway the dagger in your hand, which you kept pointed towards Sir Wonshik. “I can’t trust anyone right now. You said it yourself. I’m an easier target right now. So why should I trust you?”

Before he could answer, there was a sudden pounding on the door to your chambers. The sudden noise made you jump and rush to stand behind the couch beside the bed, positioning more obstacles between you and whoever was on the other side of the door.

“Wonshik! Open the door!”

The sound of Jaehwan’s voice made you start to rush towards the door, but Wonshik motioned for you to stop and move back behind the couch and duck down out of sight. He drew his sword as he moved to open the door only slightly.

“Wonshik, where-” Jaehwan’s voice was cut off mid-sentence and you jumped up, terrified that something had happened to silence him.

You saw that Wonshik had pulled him into the room and closed the door again, his free hand covering Jaehwan’s mouth. Wonshik stood still and silent, seeming to be listening to something out in the corridor before opening the door and rushing out.

Jaehwan quickly closed and rebolted the door before turning back to you. Without thinking, you ran over, throwing your arms around his waist and burying  your face against his chest. His arms wrapped around you, holding you close, and you felt tears streaming down your face again.

After taking a few moments to let the sound of his heartbeat reassure you and help push the ball of fear in your chest back down, you pulled back slightly to look up at his face. The expression he held was a mix of relief and a soft affection. “I thought-” Your voice cracked slightly with all of the emotions that had been swirling through you, and you ducked your head.

Jaehwan chuckled and leaned to press a light kiss to your forehead. “Were you worried, princess?”

Before you could say anything, there was a sudden crash from out in the corridor followed by the sound of Wonshik calling out for the guards. You jumped and moved away from the door again, covering your mouth at the sounds of more struggling. Before you realized it, you had started shaking, your eyes not leaving the door, afraid that any moment the assassins would break through to kill Jaehwan and yourself.

Jaehwan moved to stand between you and the door, lightly taking your hands in his. “Shh, I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, princess.” He lifted your hands to press a light kiss against the back of one, nodding towards the couch. “Let’s sit. Wonshik will let us know when everything is safe again.”

You both sat on the couch, your eyes darting to the door every few moments. Jaehwan kept your hands tucked in his larger ones, lightly rubbing his thumb over the back of your hand. There was the sound of a group of footsteps outside and you jumped slightly, fearing that it was rebels rather than the castle guards.

“Would telling you a story help keep your mind of things for now?”

You blinked slightly before turning your attention back to Jaehwan. He smiled slightly before shifting on the couch to position himself blocking your view of the door.

“How about a story about my childhood? To give some warning about our future children?” At your shocked expression he laughed before shaking his head and continuing. “I’m teasing. But I will share stories from when I was younger. Believe it or not, I was not always such a fine, noble, well-mannered prince.” You couldn’t contain the small laugh at his wink. “I was actually quite the little troublemaker.”

He paused with a small sigh before continuing. “There were three of us at the time. Two of the neighboring kingdoms were also very close with my father, and since both of the other kings had sons the same age as me, it was agreed that we would spend our studies throughout the kingdoms together, as it’s customary for princes to spend time studying in the other kingdoms. Hence why I spent the summer here when we were younger. When I pushed you into the lake and then you snuck a frog into the great hall during a banquet and dropped it down the back of my jacket.” You laughed at the memory, having forgotten that you had known Jaehwan as a child.

Jaehwan smiled, a little wistfully almost, before continuing. “You might remember the other two princes a little more fondly. Junghwan and Seokjin seemed to get along better with the various princesses anyways.” He grinned and then dropped his eyes to where your hands were twined together. “After we left your kingdom, we were headed down to the southern kingdoms. The winters are known to be less harsh and they were almost adamant that we wait until the weather had chilled to stay as they insisted the heat might kill us as we were unaccustomed to it. So we stayed here until the weather was turning colder and left to make our way to the southern kingdoms.” He paused, taking a shaky breath. “When we arrived at the castle’s courtyard, we found out the true purpose for the delay in our arrival. The king had been training more of his people as soldiers, assassins really. We were surrounded and trapped. The king had his men tie us up, binding our hands and feet. They separated us into different cells of the dungeons. I could hear their screams as they were tortured, as I’m sure they heard the same of my voice.”

Jaehwan’s hands had started to shake, and you shifted closer to him, moving to gently wipe his tears that had started to fall. You wanted to comfort him, but knew there was nothing you could do to sooth the ache in his heart at what had happened to him. His hands clung tighter to yours and he took a few more breaths.

“I’m still not sure how long we were held captive. There was no sunlight and no way of telling time. They only seemed to feed us enough to keep us alive, and barely enough water to keep from drying out. The worst was when the screams and cries stopped. Seokjin’s voice died out first. Not long after Junghwan’s stopped too. I hoped that they had simply resolved to not react to any of the tortures, even if I knew it was a fool’s dream.” He took another breath before continuing. “I probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer, but my older brother came to the castle insisting that I return home, claiming that our father was sick. In truth, he had heard that the southern kingdoms were rebelling and had instantly sent to have me back home. Junghwan and Seokjin’s fathers were told as well. But by the time they had managed to send someone for them, my friends were-”

His voice dropped off and you wrapped your arms around him, pulling him close against you. “Jaehwan, I-”

There was another sudden pounding on the door, and you couldn’t contain the small squeak of fear that escaped your chest. Jaehwan quickly stood and picked up his sword again before leaning over to press a kiss to your hand, his voice low. “Get behind the couch, take your dagger and stay out of sight. I won’t let anything happen to you princess.”

You quickly moved to crouch down behind the couch, glancing out at Jaehwan one more time as he walked back to the door, his stance reminding you of a dangerous snake, coiled and ready to strike. He paused at the door for a moment and you took a last look at him before shifting behind the couch.

“Prince Jaehwan? It’s Sir Minhyuk of the Palace Guard. We have the rebel assassin captured and taken to the dungeons. The palace is secure again. Your knight-”

The guard’s voice was cut off by the sound of the door opening and closing again, leaving you alone in the near silence. You could hear the muffled sounds of the conversation from the corridor, but not enough to understand what they were saying. The ball of fear in your chest slowly started to rise up again, and you wished that everything would be safe and that this would all be over.

The sound of the door opening again made you jump slightly, tightening your grip on the dagger. You held your breath, waiting to hear Jaehwan’s voice. Keeping your eyes turned towards the fastest route to the door, you tried to keep yourself from thinking of the worst that could have happened.

“Princess? It’s safe now.” Jaehwan’s voice was soft and you slowly peeked around the couch and saw that he was alone in the room, the door closed again. The way he stood was more relaxed than you had seen him the entire time he had been here, and he gave you a small smile. “You can come out.”

You slowly stood, glancing around the room to make sure there wasn’t anyone else lurking in a corner or such. Although when you saw it was just the two of you again, you relaxed and dropped the dagger before moving to wrap your arms around him again. It was a bit strange to think of, but his embrace had become a sort of comfort to you. He wrapped his arms around you, letting his head rest against yours, both of you seeming to take comfort in the closeness.

Although then you remembered that the guard had started to say something about Sir Wonshik. You pulled back slightly, glancing up at Jaehwan’s face. “What did the guard say about Sir Wonshik? He’s alright isn’t he?”

Jaehwan gave a small sigh and your mind instantly started to think of all the horrible things that could have happened to the knight. “Wonshik will be fine. The assassin managed to stab him as they fought, but Wonshik still managed to catch the assassin. He’s with the surgeon now.”

You released the breath you hadn’t realized you had been holding, relief coursing through you again. But there was another thought. “The assassin-”

Jaehwan’s face hardened and you felt the tenseness return to his arms. “He’s locked away in the dungeons. Sir Taekwoon will oversee the interrogation. We’ll find out everything we need. And then I will personally be sure he is punished for his crimes.”

The thought of Jaehwan being so cruel made you shudder and you tried to put the thought from your mind. “I want to see the assassin. I want to have a face to put with the anger.”

“Princess, I don’t-”

“Jaehwan, I have to. Don’t try to stop me. I will go see this murderer. Whether you come along or not is your decision.” You pulled out of his arms, steeling yourself for an argument. Your father had been murdered by these rebels, then they tried to kill you and poisoned your knight. You needed to have a face to put with all of the anger boiling in your stomach.

Jaehwan gave a small sigh before nodding and reaching to take your hand. “Fine, my stubborn princess. If you insist on seeing the assassin then I’m going with you.” He gave your hand a small squeeze before the two of you started towards the dungeons, Sir Minhyuk from the palace guard escorting you, a tense silence between the three of you.

Once at the dungeons, another guard gave you a bow and stepped aside to let you and Jaehwan through into a small corridor. “He’s at the very end. We wanted to keep him separate from the others. Keep from giving them any ideas in case they are released.”

Jaehwan nodded to the guard and you both walked down the corridor, keeping out of the reach of the begging arms from the cells on either side. When you stopped at the end of the corridor, you stared into the dark cell trying to make out the person hidden in the shadows. That was when the assassin started to laugh before moving towards the bars of the cell, a familiar low voice sounding more harsh than you had ever heard it.

“Hello little cousin.”