Jongdae

 

He had no idea where he was going, only that he wanted to be away. Away from the chaos and drama of the palace. Away from the constant wavering between guilt and resentment. Away from the weight of the crown. 

 

The forest was a magical place, as he had been told. His nursemaid had spoken stories to both him and Joonmyun when they had been children, of magical bears, enchantments and love. So many of her stories had spoken of love so true that it could cross any boundary, break any spell.

 

Jongdae believed in such love. It was always him who had clamoured for the love stories and Nurse had indulged him, seeing how Joonmyun had scorned them, too mindful of his own curse.

 

He wondered what Joonmyun was up to now, as the sun broke over the horizon, spilling golden rays of light over the land. Perhaps he had already told their parents that Jongdae had gone, and the guards were already pursuing him. Or perhaps he had gotten on a horse himself and was following behind him.

 

Jongdae did not know which would feel better. His brother sending soldiers after him or hunting him himself. But they were already too late.

 

He had already crossed the border into the forest and the forest, as they all had been forewarned, from as early as they could understand, worked in its own ways. You could not ride into the forest from one end and come out the other. It was steeped in magic, magic so ancient that no one could remember what it had been like before.

 

Where Jongdae went now, was dependent entirely on the forest. If Joonmyun came into the forest in search of him, he may never find him.

 

Jongdae took a little comfort in that, as he stopped before a small stream to allow his horse to drink.

 

The sunlight was warm upon his face and he shrugged off his cloak, ready to fold it before he caught himself. That was Joonmyun’s behaviour, not his.

 

Squashing the lingering guilt with a flare of anger, he stuffed the cloak into his saddlebags. He would not need it, it was only a reminder of his old life, of his horrible treatment of the brother who loved him.

 

The birds were out and about already, Jongdae could see flashes of blue as they fluttered above him in the sky.

 

He hummed a soft tune under his breath, pulling out the bread that he had taken from the kitchens.

 

Crumbling some of it in his hands, he held them out, watching in delight as a little bluebird landed upon his wrist, chirping merrily away.

 

Its tiny beak pecked at the crumbs gently before it was lifting its head, chirruping in delight.

 

Laughing softly so as not to startle it, Jongdae sang a little tune to it.

 

To his surprise, the bluebird picked up the melody after him, chirping its own tune.

 

“You’re adorable,” he said after the bird fell silent, bring it closer to pet its tiny blue head. The bird chirruped, as if in answer and pecked again at the crumbs in his hand.

 

Jongdae watched as it fluttered its wings, taking off into the bright blue sky.

 

His horse had finished its drink, now nibbling at the sweet grass that lined the bank.

 

“Where shall we go now, Su Eun?” He asked fondly, patting its flank.

 

Su Eun snorted in reply, continuously lipping up more grass.

 

Jongdae swung himself into the saddle, carefully tugging the horse’s head up.

 

They rode along the little stream, until it widened into a river, strong currents rippling through the water.

 

White foam crashed against the banks, the water still brilliantly blue even as it churned, spilling over the lip of a cliff.

 

A blackbird sang as it swooped down before them, pausing as if to take a closer look at Jongdae before flying off.

 

Jongdae raised his face up to the winds, revelling in the freedom that he felt as he urged Su Eun into a canter, laughing aloud as they raced down the length of the river.

 

Mounds of black shadows rose in the distance, blotting out the sky and Jongdae frowned.

 

The river flowed on merrily, rushing beneath a lip of rock before the ground flattened out into a wide green field, so open that you could see for miles. If not for the ring of stones that stood tall in the middle of it, casting long, long shadows as the sun shone overhead.

 

Jongdae had never seen anything like it before and it seemed, neither had Su Eun. The horse was skittish, spooking at the long shadows even as they rode closer. The prince had to cling on tight just to get close enough to touch.

 

It was a pillar of stone, about twice as wide as Su Eun was from nose to tail and half as thick as its width. When they stood in its shadow, it towered over them, blotting out the sky.

 

The stone was cool and smooth beneath his fingertips when he touched it, even with the scorching heat of the sun. Jongdae circled the ring, eyeing it in curiosity. He had read about such things in his books, books that Joonmyun relished and he despised.

 

A circle of stone seemingly erected by no one. They were mysterious and majestic all at once, the air of magic that seemed to cling to them adding to their mystique.

 

Again, Jongdae was acutely reminded of his brother. Joonmyun would have loved to see such a sight. He was always the one who obsessed the books that told stories about the world around them, a world that he would never see unless he completed his journey in the Nightmare Lands.

 

A lump rose up in Jongdae’s throat and he forced it down, along with any lingering regret he might have for fleeing into the forest. Joonmyun could have what he had always wanted.

 

To be heir to the throne and marry for duty.

 

He wanted no part of it.

 

Turning Su Eun away from the stones, they rode further away, the tension in his horse’s body bleeding out the further they left the stones behind.

 

Farther down the field was a tree line and beyond, Jongdae could see something spiralling into the sky. It certainly was not a tree. He squinted and could just barely made out the pointed roof of a tower, just slightly crooked and off center.

 

What could a tower be doing in the middle of the forest?

 

The prince spurred his horse on, curiosity overtaking any other emotion. He was on an adventure and what an adventure it would be, indeed.

 

Baekhyun

 

Baekhyun finished his with a flourish, leaning back to admire his handiwork. The trunk of the tree looked so real that it was almost as if he could put his hand forward and feel rough tree bark beneath his palm. Beyond the twisted, gnarled oak tree, a wide, open field of emerald green grass stretched forth into the horizon. Pretty, blue flowers dotted the meadow, painted with such exquisite skill that Baekhyun could almost smell their fragrance floating through the air.

 

 

He sighed, setting down his paint brush. He could barely remember what grass felt like beneath his bare feet, could no longer recall the taste of cool stream water trickling over his hands as he drank. It had been nearly seventeen years that he had been shut up in that tower, with nothing but his paintbrushes, books and the occasional blackbird daring to brave the magic to keep him company.

 

 

Baekhyun bit his lip, slowly rising to his feet. His “mother” came by less and less often and he was relieved. She always chastised him whenever he expressed his wishes to go outside, to feel the wind on his cheeks and taste the rain on his tongue, saying that he could want for nothing. He had a roof over his head, food appeared whenever he was hungry and he had plenty to entertain himself with.

 

 

Yet, Baekhyun longed to go outside, far far away from this prison he had been subjected to. He walked over to the balcony, pushing open the heavy windows and a light breeze swept into the room, ruffling his hair and carrying the scent of pine into the room from the nearby forest. Baekhyun smoothed down his hair and stared out, over the tips of the tall trees and into the horizon.

 

 

He wondered what laid beyond the forest, further than what his eyes could see, outside the cold stone walls of his tower and he wished once more with all his heart that he could see more than what his mind made up and translated onto the walls which were his canvases.

 

 

Chanyeol

 

Chanyeol was excited, to say the least. In celebration of his father’s birthday, a ball was to be thrown for three nights and all eligible maidens and men were to be attendance. His father had expressed that it would be the perfect occasion for Chanyeol to mingle with the people and hopefully, find someone he would be interested in courting.

 

 

The prince thrived on attention and he was only all too pleased when his manservant came to take him to the tailor’s for a fitting. He fidgeted so much that the tailor poked him several times by accident with his sharp pins. It was always a struggle for him to fit the prince who was inhumanly tall, with his long limbs and his inability to stay still for more than a couple of moments.

 

 

Chanyeol tried hard though, to remain as still as he could as the pins hurt if they got stuck into him. But he was so excited and happy that he moved constantly despite the tailor’s reminders. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the tailor himself, the measurements were taken and they began to discuss details which Chanyeol adored.

 

 

The tailor quickly agreed that a royal blue blazer with gold embroidery would work best on the prince with his coppery hair for the very last night of the ball and black and silver could be interchanged between the first two, then Chanyeol was hustled off to the cobbler, to fit him with new boots to match his outfits.

 

 

The cobbler worked fast, knowing how much the prince disliked to stay still and finished much earlier than he had anticipated as he was desperate to be rid of the prince, who chattered on and on about everything and nothing under the sun as he took his measurements.

 

 

Chanyeol was a talkative man, and he liked having conversations best. Thus, when he was released from the cobbler, he was delighted to find out that his tutor had arrived earlier than expected and was waiting for him up in his study. He leapt out of the room with a spring in his step, excited to announce to his tutor about the ball.

 

 

Joonmyun

 

The darkness did not last long.

 

 

Sunlight was filtering in through a window when he awoke, spilling over his face. But it was a strange colour, almost reddish in tone.

 

 

Joonmyun pushed himself into a sitting position, hardly noticing the covers sliding from his body. His eyes were sticky, grainy, as if there were sand trapped in the corners. But he was alert, and awake.

 

 

He examined the room he was currently occupying, studying the décor with interest.

 

 

It was not very big, perhaps about thirty paces across from wall to wall. A flickering fire crackled in the tiny hearth, its flames almost blue. Little rays of blue light bounced off the walls, casting shadows that seemed to dance and writhe on their own.

 

 

The covers on his bed were red silk, smooth and soft beneath his fingertips. The walls were made of gray stone, each brick so perfectly square and lined up next to each other that there could be no cracks.

 

 

Joonmyun swung his legs off the bed, gripping the bed post for support. His feet sunk into a plush black carpet that was so black it seemed to light from the room.

 

 

He looked around him and his heart stuttered.

 

 

It would have been a regular room, perhaps not decorated to his taste, but a room nonetheless, if he had not noticed that it had no door.

 

 

The gray stone walls curved around him and he could at least tell that he had to be in some sort of tower, a mirror to the one his parents kept locked just for him.

 

 

Red tinted light spilled in from the single window and when Joonmyun walked across to it and peeked out, terror balled up in his throat.

 

 

The sky was not blue as he had expected. It was instead, a dark, ominous looking gray. The sun was a ball of fire the colour of blood and for as far as he could see, briars and thorns stretched out all around the tower, with no escape.

 

 

“Oh dear,” he said faintly to himself, fingers curling around the windowsill.

 

 

There was no birds calling, no wind whistling, no indication of life at all.

 

 

He was not sure what he had been expecting.

 

 

For a place called Nightmare, it sure as hell lived up to its name. He looked outside once more and was dismayed to feel shivers running down his spine. It was a hellscape.

 

 

Swallowing hard, Joonmyun returned to the bed.

 

 

There was a book shelf beside his bed filled with strange titles. He wandered over to it, touching the spines gingerly. The walls suddenly felt so high and the room so small, but if he had books, he could at least escape for a little while.

 

 

He was unsure of what had to happen.

 

 

The seer that his parents consulted had insisted that the prince would have to complete some quest, some way to free himself from the curse but Joonmyun did not see how he could be questing when the room had no door.

 

 

He trailed his fingers over the books, pulling them loose one by one. Perhaps there was some secret lever?

 

 

When that produced no effect, he tried the walls, touching every stone that he could reach, trying to find a loose one.

 

 

But there were none.

 

 

He even tried to move the chamber pot, but it was heavy and it covered a hole in the floor.

 

 

Even with no one looking, Joonmyun’s cheeks flushed at the thought of using a chamber pot instead of a privy. He walked around it, reaching for the books once more.

 

 

He could vaguely remember that soft female voice who had praised him as he slipped away and he thought that he would not mind meeting her. Perhaps she would come and get him.

 

 

In the meantime, there was no harm in trying to decipher some of those books.

 

 

Chanyeol

 

His outfits for the balls were stunning, all of them fitted blazers with different coloured embroidery threads and patterns for each one. The designer was definitely earning a raise, for the amount of work he had put into them. Chanyeol had popped by the tailors, watching in fascination as one young man worked the sewing machine, stitching up the sleeve to a jacket while another embroidered a phoenix onto the lapels of his first blazer.

 

“That’s lovely,” he murmured and the man lifted his head to smile his thanks. Chanyeol beamed back, darting off to look at the next thing, and the next and the next, until he grew tired and bored.

 

He slipped off to the library, in hopes of finding a book that might keep his interest for a few hours, but the outdoors called to him, luring him out to the stables.

 

“Hello boy,” he his horse’s cheek gently, smiling fondly when the horse nosed at his cheek.

 

“Good boy, Dae-sung,” the horse lipped at his pocket and he pulled out the sugar cubes he had, holding them out, “are they yummy?”

 

Dae-sung snorted, dribbling sticky sugar all over his hands and Chanyeol made a face.

 

He wiped his hand carelessly over his pants and opened the Dutch door.

 

“Come on, boy,” slapping the horse on his rump, he led him over to where a stableboy was waiting, fretting over his tack.

 

The boy worked fast and soon, Dae-sung was perfectly tacked up.

 

“Where will you be heading sir? Your father will ask questions,” the stablehand asked as Chanyeol mounted, lacing the reins through his fingers.

 

“Not far, along the forest,” the prince answered as another servant came scurrying towards him, his navy blue cloak clutched in his hands.

 

He dropped the reins, flinging the cloak over his shoulders. The weather was growing chilly and it would not do to fall ill before his father’s ball.

 

Clasping the cloak at his throat, he picked up the reins again.

 

“I’ll be home by dinnertime,” he smiled and with a clap of his heels, Dae-sung was turning towards the gates, hooves clattering on the flagstones.

 

 As the wind whipped through his hair, Chanyeol wondered briefly what it would be like to actually enter the forest.

 

He had always been warned, ever since he was a little tot that the forest was out of bounds.

 

Nurse had told him stories of the forest, how it swallowed young boys like him from one place, and spat them out in another.

 

You could go in one end of the forest and never come out the same way.

 

Nurse always said that the forest took you where it thought you needed to be, not where you wanted to go. It could read past the very material, shallow parts of your heart and into your soul, what you longed for most.

 

Nevertheless, his parents had drilled into him at the earliest age, to never ever go into the  forest alone. Not that it mattered, Chanyeol was happy in the castle, showered by the affections of his parents. He always had some form of attention, enjoyed lavish dinners and fine clothes as befitting of a prince.

 

He had all he needed there, in the palace and the small towns that they sometimes travelled to.

 

Dinnertime came far too soon, the sun spilling its rays through the tall trees as Chanyeol turned back, Dae-sung pulling at the reins, eager to get home for food.

 

It was enough for him to never want for more.

 

Even the thought of having to choose a spouse did nothing to put doubt in Chanyeol’s head.

 

It was all part of his life for him and he was sure that he would be able to find someone he did not mind settling down with.

 

After all, had Fate not given him such a smooth sailing life so far?