The fire had been lit 2 days ago, messengers had set out to hand deliver the scrolls urging the other kingdoms to come together. Meanwhile, the Yellow kingdom spies brought more and more grievous news – the North had an army greater than what had been calculated, their numbers bigger that what it had been in the last War. Some of the weapons that had been sighted were apparently enough to wipe out a small kingdom. There were rumours as well that the Mages were working day and night, spinning webs of dark magic. The North’s preparation was almost complete.

The counsel met daily, where Jinyoung and a few others sneered at Soojung, and indirectly, at Sungjong, for believing in the Alliance. Even the king seemed like he was losing faith.

“We should prepare ourselves Sungjong,” he told him.

“We are ready at a moment’s notice, father. We will give it our all.”

The king turned to the rest of the council.

“I will address the people of my kingdom tomorrow,” he said gravely. 

“Is there any reason to cause panic, your Majesty?” Jinyoung interrupted. “They will know when the time comes.”

“And yet-” Sungjong began but stopped short when the door to the room was thrown open and a soldier fell to his feet, panting.

“Sire, they’re here!”

Everyone gasped. Sungjong’s blood ran cold. Their intelligence said that the Northerners wouldn’t be here for at least another week. Why had the warning signal not been sounded?

“Have the Northerners breached the elven walls?” the king asked, his voice cool.

“No, your Majesty, it’s not the Northerners,” the soldier panted, shaking. “It’s-it’s the Green kingdom.” 

Another gasp sounded around the room as Sungjong sprang to his feet. 

“Your Majesty-”

“Go,” the king urged, “welcome our guests.  And I appoint you as our representative to the Allliance.”

Bowing quickly, Sungjong sprinted across the hallways. The Green kingdom had always been fervent supporters of the Alliance, it wasn’t a surprise that they would be the first to respond. Heart hammering, Sungjong reached the courtyard where a marvelous sight met his eyes.

At the main gates, he could see 5 horses. They were excellent specimens – huge beasts with steely grey coats that shone like swords, and flowing, black tails and manes. The men on the horsebacks were all dressed in chain mail vests and helmets, with sheathed broadswords by their sides. They wore identical mantles over their armours that bore a green square cross. One man was carrying a staff, at the end of which a green flag billowed majestically. A splendid creature was imposed on the eternal green background – a pearly white steed with pale gold mane with deep imperious eyes and a long, structured face, and giant white wings. Its sinews shone in the sun and Sungjong startled, as the wind through the flag made it seem like that the horse’s mane was billowing in the wind.  

The horses gently trotted across the courtyard, coming to halt in front of Sungjong at the order of the man at the front. The four men dismounted quickly, one of them stepping up to announce, “Prince Dongwoo, heir to the throne of Green kingdom, Knight superior, and representative to the Alliance”.

Prince Dongwoo dismounted and with one fluid motion, took off his helmet. Sungjong was surprised to see what a handsome man the prince was, with dark hair that fell across his forehead, distinctive features, and plump lips. For a second, he stared at Sungjong intensely before his face broke into a radiant smile.

A soldier hurried forward and announced, “Prince Sungjong, heir to the thrown of Yellow kingdom.”

“Thank you very much for coming,” Sungjong said. “It’s much appreciated.”

“You can drop the formalities with me,” Dongwoo said, handing his helmet to one of his soldiers. “Of course I’d come, the Green kingdom is always ready to help.” 

“This way,” Sungjong ushered him into the hallway. “We were worried since it had been 2 days already.”

“Ah, that’s my fault,” Dongwoo said sheepishly, scratching his head. “We were on our way, but I saw a deer in the Loan forest, it had been badly wounded but it was still alive. I stopped a night to tend to it.”

Sungjong was amazed – not only was Dongwoo friendly, he was kind as well. He led the two of them to the council room, where Dongwoo was presented before the king, who thanked and welcomed him gracefully. Afterwards, after Dongwoo had eaten and rested, they came back to the council room again. This time, it was empty, guarded by two soldiers of each kingdom, each sworn to secrecy, ready to lay their lives down for their lords.

Each kingdom had a special lair where the Alliance members would convene but since it was only the two of them, Sungjong thought it would be less intimidating if they conversed in the council room for now. They weren’t officially a part of the Alliance yet.

“So, what’s the reason for the urgent call?”

Taking a deep breath, Sungjong told him all he knew about the North preparing to attack, their numbers, their soldiers, their weapons. 

“Yellow kingdom is only the start,” he said finally. Dongwoo had been listening earnestly, nodding his head. “We are the only kingdom to have a border with the North. Once we fall, it will be all the other kingdoms. Individually, we will fall like houses made of matchsticks.”

“I hear what you’re saying,” Dongwoo said. “I agree, Northerners will not stop at one kingdom. From the very beginning, they had plans to rule all the kingdoms.” He slammed down his fist on his palm. “The Alliance needs to be reconvened.”

Sighing with relief, Sungjong congratulated him on his wise decision. At least he wasn’t the only one who thought the Alliance was the only way to stop the North. For once, he saw a sickle of hope.

“But I wonder why the rest of them had not-”

Dongwoo’s musings were stopped by a knock at the door.

“I told them not to disturb us,” Sungjong said grudgingly. The door opened, and one of his soldiers bowed deeply.

“Many apologies, your Highness. His Majesty had asked me to Prince Myungsoo to this room.”

“Prince Myungsoo?” Dongwoo questioned. 

Sungjong nodded and the soldier signaled at someone waiting outside the door. Another soldier entered, not one of the Yellow or the Green kingdom’s. He was dressed in black armour and carried a banner, as dark as the night. At first Sungjong thought that the banner was just plain black, but on closer inspection he could make out the outline of a panther at the center, bordered by silver, it’s fangs bared menacingly. 

“Prince Myungsoo, heir to the throne of Black kingdom, and representative to the Alliance.”

A tall man entered the room, dressed in a silken suit. He had a strikingly handsome face, hair as dark as his banner, and stoic eyes. After greeting the two of them, he sat down opposite to Sungjong, staring at him intently. Sungjong was a bit thrown by the intensity of his gaze and almost disturbed by the smirk on his face that brought to view an endearing dimple.

“Well Myungsoo, nice of you to join us,” Dongwoo said in a friendly manner. “Never thought the Black kingdom would be one of the first kingdoms to send out a representative.”

The Black Kingdom had a reputation of being sly - they would read the situation first, watch everyone make their moves, and then choose the position that suits them the best. Sungjong agreed with Dongwoo - as grateful as he was for the Black kingdom's arrival, it was unexpected.

Still staring at Sungjong, Myungsoo said, “I’ll admit the Alliance isn’t my first priority.”

“What do you mean?” Sungjong asked, feeling practically uncomfortable by the man’s gaze.

Instead of replying to his question, Myungsoo said, “You are just as beautiful as I’d heard.”

Dongwoo looked just as flabbergasted as Sungjong felt.

“Err…”

“Is there a reason why you turned me down?” Myungsoo inched closer to Sungjong, completely ignoring Dongwoo’s presence.

“I’m sorry?” Sungjong had no idea what was going on. They should be talking about the impending war and the Alliance, not senseless things.

“I asked your hand in marriage, for three years straight.”

Dongwoo gasped while Sungjong stared at the man in front of him. He vaguely remembered his father mentioning the proposal from the Black kingdom but he hadn’t known that it was actually the Prince who had asked to marry him. He had no wishes to get married of course so he had turned the proposal down without listening to the details. 

“Have we met before?” Sungjong asked as politely as he could, knowing full well that they hadn’t met.

“No, but words about your beauty has spread far and wide,” Myungsoo said, savouring Sungjong’s discomfort.

“That is true, actually, I’ve heard it as well,” Dongwoo agreed.

It suddenly became very awkward. Smacking his lips, Sungjong tried to steer the conversation towards the war but Myungsoo wouldn’t have it – he wanted an answer.

“Look, I don’t know you. I can’t just get married like that,” Sungjong stated irately. “We have more pressing matters to discuss and if you’re not interested in that, you can leave.”

Dongwoo nodded in agreement.

“Fine,” Myungsoo sighed, backing off. “I’m not really interested in the war or whatever, but if you need to get to know me to marry me, then I’ll hang around.”

“The war, the Alliance is not a joking matter,” Sungjong said angrily.

Myungsoo’s face morphed into cold stolidity.

“I’m not joking. I will get rid of these Northerners, if that’s what it takes to win your heart.”

“I guess that means Black kingdom is in,” Dongwoo said quickly, before Sungjong could quip at him. Myungsoo nodded and Dongwoo smiled widely, showing his teeth. “Great, we have three and we need three more. This is going somewhere!”