Mark just couldn’t believe what he heard. Somehow he and Baekhyun were now the final candidates. Could it be that they were swayed by his confession or did Jackson’s speech convince them? Mark looked up at Jinyoung and tried to smile but couldn’t, just the thought of waiting another minute without knowing his fate was more than he could bear. 

“What do I do now?” he asked Jackson. 

“Unfortunately, you wait.” Jackson sighed. Youngjae and BamBam came up to hug him, but Mark felt as one in a dream. 

A steward approached him and Baekhyun, “Their Majesties have requested that you and Prince Baekhyun be moved to more comfortable rooms for the night while you await their decision.” 

“But I like my room,” Mark whined, panicking at the thought of being alone. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep, and he was counting on BamBam to keep him from pacing all night long. 

“Nevertheless, a special room has been prepared.” His friends each gave him a quick hug, and then Mark found himself following the steward. He was surprised when he saw the two Kings standing near a corridor. 

“The King and I will lead you to your room tonight.” King Wooyoung said and Mark became confused to why. As they continued on Mark was surprised they didn’t lead him over to the staircase but instead past the throne room. As they passed an uncovered window Mark looked out in the night and was shaken with fear with how intimidating the clouds looked. Something bad was going to happen tomorrow. Unable to look anymore he caught up with the rest till they came upon another corridor of doors that he hadn’t seen before. 

The Kings came to a stop before a great wooden door that was elaborately carved with flowers. “Mark this one is your room and Baekhyun your room is across.” King Wooyoung said. King Wooyoung opened it while King Nickhun opened another door that had a similar decoration on the door. Mark looked inside and saw that the room was empty except for the strangest bed he ever saw. 

Going inside, Mark came to an abrupt stop as he stared at it. There had to be at least twenty mattresses stacked one on top of the other and a ladder was propped up against the foot of the bed to allow the sleeper to climb up. “I’m supposed to sleep up there?” Mark asked in disbelief. 

“Oh, yes, and you should be honored. Not just any guest is invited to sleep in this room. It’s a special room, and you will find that the bed is the softest you’ve ever experienced.” King Nickhun said 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight,” Mark admitted. 

“You must at least try.” King Wooyoung said, “Your things will be brought to you later so you can refresh yourself.” 

Mark sighed as Baekhyun bowed to the Kings and entered in his room, closing it behind himself. Mark walked over to the window and felt the same chill from before. He had never felt this before from any of the storms previously. It was a horrible feeling. 

Just before the Kings left, Mark softly called to them, “Is something wrong?” King Nickhun asked

“Forgive me Your Majesties, I know this may seem odd but I have a bad feeling about tomorrow.” Mark warned

“Mark we have not come to a conclusion yet.” King Nickhun smirked

“No it’s not about the competition I have a feeling it’s something more. Something bad.” Mark said worriedly and the Kings could tell he was very concerned about it.

“Why do you feel this way?” King Wooyoung asked

Mark bit his lip, “The clouds are darker than usual and the atmosphere feels heavy. I-I don’t know how to explain it but whenever something happens a storm appears and the storm clouds is never that dark and I don’t think it’s a good omen.” he whispers.

The two Kings gave each other a shared concerned look, did they understand what he said? “Okay, we’ll take your words into consideration but try to sleep well tonight, okay?” King Nickhun said and he and King Wooyoung felt.

Mark nodded and walked back to the room. He felt stupid telling the Kings that but with the way the clouds looked it wouldn’t be right to keep it to himself. Mark stared at the bed and wished he could sneak back to his old room with BamBam and spend the night talking with him. But it probably wouldn’t be right to insult the generosity of Jinyoung parents, if they had specially selected this room for him. Resigned, Mark climbed the ladder carefully and finally settled onto the pile of mattresses. It was wonderfully soft, and Mark realized that he was incredibly tired; his eyes closed, and Mark fell into a deep sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later Jinyoung found himself glaring at both his parents, who were sitting serenely in front of the hearth in their chambers, sipping spiced cider as though they were discussing nothing more important than what to have for breakfast. “You must tell me which one you plan to choose as my partner,” Jinyoung insisted. 

“Why, so you can run away with Mark if we plan on choosing Baekhyun?” Nickhun asked. 

Jinyoung frowned at his father, damn him for reading his mind, “No so I can properly prepare myself for tomorrow, my wedding, and my future.” 

“It seems patience is the one virtues we didn’t teach him well,” Wooyoung smiled to Nickhun. 

Jinyoung felt like he was going to lose his mind. His life and happiness hung in the balance, and his parents wanted to lecture him on patience. “Just tell me who!” he pleaded through clenched teeth. 

“The truth is, we don’t know who it will be yet,” Wooyoung said with a sigh. 

“What do you mean, you don’t know? What else could you possibly need to learn about them to make a decision?” Jinyoung asked. Then, suddenly, it came to him. “There’s a final test, isn’t there?” he asked. 

“Yes,” Nickhun said, so quietly Jinyoung almost didn’t hear him. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jinyoung wondered 

“Because we didn’t want either Baekhyun or Mark to know there was one additional test,” Nickhun said. Jinyoung stared at his father’s face, wondering if they knew or only suspected that he had been warning Mark about the challenges. 

However Wooyoung was the one to break the silence. “We know that you’ve been passing information on to Mark.” 

“How do you know?” Jinyoung asked surprised.

Wooyoung chuckled, “Because you are our son and we would have been disappointed if you had left everything to chance.” 

Jinyoung stared at them as they continued to sip their cider, and from the looks on their faces he knew he would get nothing more out of them. Jinyoung excused himself with a heavy heart knowing there was nothing he could do to help Mark through the last test. That left him only one choice. Outside, Jinyoung saddled up Peaches, and just as he jumped up on the horse, he saw Jaebum.

“Don’t you dare stop me!” Jinyoung shouted ready to fight his best friend.

“I never intended to.” Jaebum said shaking his head.

“Then what are you doing here?” Jinyoung asked confused 

“I’m coming with you obviously. Someone gotta make sure you don’t hurt yourself again.” Jaebum joked. Jinyoung knew there was no point in arguing and it wasn’t long before Jaebum’s horse was all saddled and the two raced towards Cordinia. However the two had no idea another rider was following them as well.

As they were trudging through the forest that separated the two countries, did Jaebum heard another horse stomping behind them. He turned his head and saw a covered person racing behind and suddenly pulled his horses reigns making Jinyoung turned to see another rider and he pulled Peaches reigns to stop to face them. “Who are you?!” Jaebum yelled

The capered person stopped as well and under the hood, Jinyoung and Jaebum thought they saw a smile, “Probably the only person that can help you.” A voice said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were coming. He could feel them, hear them. They were running through the castle, shouting and angry. There were torches that blazed so hot. He could hear screaming. His mother! There was the sound of a sword striking another sword and then a terrible silence. Hands were reaching for him, but him hit at them. He was afraid, and he didn’t want to leave. Where would he go? Who would take care of him and love him? So much darkness, so much shouting. He was very frightened, and so was the woman, not his mother, but always so nice. He could smell the fear coming off of her. 

They ran, faster and faster. But he knew they would never escape. They would always follow, and they would find him. He screamed, but no sound would come out. The darkness shifted into daylight, and suddenly he was playing in a field. His father was coming to him, and he was crying. His grandfather was dead. But he wasn’t really his grandfather—how come he knew that but no one else did? 

Just behind his father’s shoulder, ever leering, ever mocking, was the shadow. He tried to run, but the shadow reached out for him with spindly arms and grabbed hold of him. He tried to get away, but it was stronger than he was, and it caught his clothes and hair! 

Mark woke up screaming, he sat straight up, panting for breath. He was drenched in sweat, and the pile of mattresses shook slightly from side to side. He lay back down with his heart pounding in terror. You’re okay, Mark told himself repeatedly, until he started to believe it. Finally, exhaustion took hold, and he fell into a fitful sleep. However the nightmares started all over again.

When Mark finally woke in the morning, he was exhausted. Looking out the window the rain seemed to have just started to pour down, yet, Mark felt like this was only the beginning. BamBam soon arrived with his three maids, and together they made a production out of getting Mark dressed for the day. “You look perfect,” he said, stepping back to admire his handiwork. 

“I wish I felt perfect,” Mark joked. 

BamBam hugged him. “You’re going to be just fine. I know they’re going to choose you.” 

“A dog didn’t happen to tell you that, did she?” Mark groaned weakly. 

“No, but she might as well have. You’re the best choice for Jinyoung, for Caledonia and Cordinia, in every way.” BamBam smiled

Mark smiled back “Thanks. Now let’s just hope that the King’s agree.” 

The same steward from last night came in and announced, “It’s time,” before exiting as swiftly as he had entered. 

Mark sighed. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he admitted. 

“It’s going to work out; you’ll see. Just be yourself,” BamBam said. 

As Mark walked out of the room, he was surprised to find Youngjae and Jackson waiting for him in the hallway. “You didn’t think we’d miss your moment of triumph, did you?” Youngjae asked with a smile. They all held hands and walked to the throne room. Once inside, Mark advanced down the length of the room, as his three friends moved to take their places in the gathering crowd of onlookers. 

Mark stood before the King’s and he knew that BamBam and his maids had done their best, but the series of nightmares had taken its toll. Mark just hoped he looked better than he felt. 

A murmur rippled through the crowd, and he turned to see Baekhyun enter. The other boy had never looked more stunning. Mark held back a sigh of frustration. Baekhyun seemed to float along the floor rather than walk his skin was porcelain and radiant and even his hand that had suffered the sunburn seemed restored. Standing next to Mark, Baekhyun gave him a pitying smile. 

Mark turned and looked back at Jinyoung and his parents, who were seated on the three thrones and Jaebum who stood to the side of the platform next to Jinyoung. The young prince and knight both looked tired and haggard, as though they hadn’t slept at all. Jinyoung stared at Mark intently, as if trying to send him a message with his eyes, but Mark couldn’t read his expression. 

“Good morning,” King Wooyoung said, addressing them both. 

“Good morning,” Mark and Baekhyun both responded. 

“Mark, how did you sleep?” He asked

Mark smiled. “It was the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on. It would have been perfect except I was troubled by nightmares most of the night.” He admitted. He probably should’ve lied but felt like it was best to be truthful.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” King Wooyoung said and he actually looked concerned. He then turned to Baekhyun. “And what about you Baekhyun? How did you sleep?” 

“It was dreadful, Your Majesty. I tossed and turned but could find no rest, for something was poking into my back and caused me such pain that I am bruised all over. Fortunately, I found this under the bottom mattress,” Baekhyun said, holding up a hard, wrinkled black pea. “Once I removed it, I slept beautifully.” 

“No nightmares then?” King Nickhun asked.

“Not one.” Baekhyun smiled. Mark stared in horror at the pea in Baekhyun hand. A final test. And he had failed. Dammit. He hadn’t even thought to check under the mattresses. Mark should have known from the moment he saw the towering stack that there was something wrong. He hung his head. He had lost. Not only had he lost Jinyoung, but he had also put the son of Ixania onto the Caledonian throne and most likely the Cordinian throne as well.