The servant looked to Suho whose heart sunk. He knew that it was his wife that had just passed away. Suho slammed his closed fist against the table, shocking his brothers who wasn't used to this from their usually peaceful brother.

 

"Excuse me, your majesty." Suho bowed to the King who waved him off and he followed the servant to where his wife was being kept. The rest of the princes looked to the King and with a heavy sigh he said the meeting was over but they would pick it up another day as the village leaders in the North were becoming restless. Jongin quickly bowed and rushed out of the room. For a moment he had thought it was his own wife and that she had possibly taken her own life. To have that thought in his head was heart breaking and he wouldn't take it anymore. He stormed into their room and threw Jinhee's door open and she was laying on the bed like usual. Jongin threw the blankets off of her and she squealed in surprise but Jongin didn't care anymore. He reached down and grabbed her by the arm and yanked her upright out of her bed.

 

"Princess Kyungsoon is dead." Jongin said with tears in his eyes. His sister-in-law was dead but staring at his wife she looked dead behind the eyes as well. It took a second for the news to sink in but Jinhee started weeping and Jongin pulled her to his chest and felt her shaking frame. She had become so skinny in the months she had locked herself away. Before she was soft and full figured but now it felt as if he were hugging a bundle of sticks. "I need you to live....please..." Jongin whispered and Jinhee nodded her head. She didn't want to be like this anymore but she didn't know how to dig herself out of the darkness that was slowly eating her alive piece by piece. The two of them stood there, strangers to each other now that so much distance has come between them.

 

"Why has this happened to us?" Jinhee asked with a shaking voice. Jongin looked at her with a questioning look. "Ever since we came back from Heiryungs, everything has gone terribly wrong. Maybe I am cursed." She couldn't bring herself to look at her husband but he raised her chin with his finger to force eye contact between them.

 

"You're not cursed, we are just having a string of bad luck. But maybe you and I could go for a walk and talk about everything. Would that help?" Although he offered, Jinhee started shaking at the idea of leaving her room. What if he was out there, waiting to strike again and Jongin wouldn't save her this time. "What's wrong? You're shaking. Are you sick?"

 

"What if Chanyeol's out there?" Her eyes grew wide, flashes of the attack crossed her mind and the thought of leaving became harder and harder.

 

"Chanyeol? He's been gone for about two months now. I sent him to the furthest part of the country and he can't come back for years. He will never hurt you again?" Jongin threw his arms around her and crushed her tiny body in his embrace, he had no idea that she had been afraid of him this whole time. Once they separated they looked at each other again and she could see the gears working in his head with a new idea. "I have a perfect plan. I'm going to teach you to fight." A huge smile grew on his face as he rushed over to his side of the room and pulled out a sword that he had when he was a child. He hoped that one day his own kid would learn to fight with it but right now it would be the perfect one to help teach his wife.

 

"I don't know about that, princesses aren't really supposed to wield swords." Jinhee watched as he rushed back over and handed the sword over to her. Surprisingly it was light as the last time she held a sword she almost toppled over from the weight of it. This one she comfortable swung around but it felt odd to her, like it was a great taboo for her.

 

"I don't care what other people say. If I can teach you to fight then you will never have to be afraid again. I want to give you your strength back." Hearing those words from him, Jinhee could feel her heart beginning to mend again. Maybe all this time she just wanted someone to see that she was hurting but everyone in the palace was too busy for someone like her.

 

"Plus, now that Suho's wife died, my father will be keeping a closer eye on me and you to possibly take over the throne one day." The thought of being queen was terrifying but it was a goal for the couple to work towards and Jinhee didn't want to hide anymore. With the sword in her hand and her husband by her side, Jinhee felt like a whole new woman.

 

Kyungsoo was called to his mothers room and when he slid the door open he saw her happily chomping on some fruit whose juices were running down her smug face. Her laughter echoed through the room and she beckoned her son to sit at the table with her. She pushed the plate of fruit towards him.

 

"Eat my child, it's time to rejoice." She was writing something down and seemed so proud of it.

 

"Mother I don't know if you know this, but princess Kyungsoon died this morning." He tried to peek at the letter but when he did, she pulled the letter away and covered it with her hand.

 

"I know, it's a wonderful day. Now you may have a chance to take over the throne." She wiped with the back of her hand and then reached for her pipe that was always within reach. Kyungsoo hated seeing his mother so happy, his sister-in-law was a wonderful woman and he passing was truly terrible. "My original plan isn't going to work anymore but this is perfect. Now we only have to deal with a few more people and it's all ours." She signed the bottom of her letter and folded it up.

 

"Mother, I don't know if-"

 

"Hush boy." She glared at him and snapped her fingers. A young girl, perhaps thirteen or fourteen, came into the room and bowed deeply to the both of them. "Bring this letter to the man on the horse, waiting outside of the gates. Do not look at it. Do not try to read it." His mother reached over and grabbed a strand of the girls hair in her claw and twirled it around. "And if I ever see you in this palace ever again, I will destroy your family." The girl looked up at them, making sure to lock eyes with Kyungsoo who was terrified listening to his mother speak to someone so cruelly. "Now go." His mother handed the girl the letter along with a small pouch that, by the sound of the jingling, was filled with money.

 

"What's your plan now?" Kyungsoo didn't want to be on her bad side so he decided it was safer to go along with it.

 

"You shall see." His mother chuckled again, standing up with great difficulty. She reached into her cabinet and pulled out a wonderful lacquered box and when she opened it, Kyungsoo saw that it was filled with sweets. "Now that the princess is dead, maybe I will give these sweets to princess Jinhee. Kygunsoon seemed to like them so much I brought them to her every month since her wedding." His mother was staring down at the sweets with a dark, twisted smile on her face and a chill ran up Kygunsoo's spine.

 

"Do you mean...you were poisoning the princess...this whole time?" He asked, not wanted to hear the answer but he needed to know just how evil she was.

 

"Of course, how else am I supposed to get my handsome boy into the throne?" She reached out and her ice cold hand slid along Kyungsoo's cheek. This person he was staring at was no longer his mother, but the devil himself.

 

The little girl who had taken the letter had run straight to the palace gates, not stopped for anyone that yelled at her to slow down. Her heart was beating hard against her chest as she reached the palace gate and she slipped outside to see a man in all black sitting on top of a horse that seemed to have red eyes as if it were a demon that he rode into battle on. With a shaking hand she gave over the letter that he ripped out of her hand. He leaned down and pulled his mask away from his mouth and the girl could see his gnarly smile that looked like it had been carved into his face with a dull knife.

 

"If you're a smart girl, you will tell your family to get far away from this palace." His voice was deep and scratchy as if he hadn't used it in years. "A dark cloud is forming over this land." He laughed as he pulled his mask back up and rode off with the letter. The girl didn't know what she had done but she felt like her soul was going to be pulled into Hell. The money in the pouch felt like it had blood all over it and she instantly regretted doing anything for the King's concubine.