The idea for this chapter was suppose to come later. However, I was getting bored with where it was at so I sped it along. I hope you enjoy! 

Two weeks. It has been two weeks since her father had died. Two weeks since she had fled her home with two knights in a different army. YongSun sat on the cold dirt ground. Rain poured around her, it has been four days since the rain had started, and they still travelled. Currently the YongSun was watching sed warriors fight, they were actually training, but if YongSun didn’t know any better she would think the fight was real. TaeOh was stronger than Yul but she figured as much, but Yul was faster and smarter with his moves. They were quite evenly matched, both soaked through with rain water and sweat, though TaeOh had his shirt off, his perfectly formed abs shining with the rain. 

YongSun had nothing better to do than watch them. She, herself was also soaked but that was from the days of travelling in the rain without a break. Yul told her she was getting better at her defence despite the sarcastic comments from TaeOh as they trained. He did often offer a few actual constructive words during her practice but that didn’t happen a lot. TaeOh was an interesting man. He was strong, cocky, loyal, and charming. Perhaps the kind of boy her father would have liked her to date if it were not for her marriage to Eric. There was a spark there between them, but YongSun just chalked it up to general between them. It was the other warrior her eyes kept lingering on. Yul. Quiet, smart, strong, determined, and somehow soft for a warrior. She knew nothing would ever come from this trip, she was a princess with a duty to her people and promised to another man, but she still couldn’t keep her heart from fluttering when Yul came near her. Something had changed over the last few days though, Yul started becoming more distant from her, often leaving her alone with TaeOh to go off and do other things on his own. The distance was starting to get to YongSun, not only because she missed Yul but because she was more likely to punch TaeOh in the mouth of they were to spend any more time alone. 

“Enjoying the view Princess?” YongSun snapped out of her thoughts at Yul’s comment. He was dripping wet and standing next to her, YongSun’s eyes were looking off in the directing of the shirtless TaeOh, who was now giving her a cocky grin. Yul didn’t wait for an answer as he marched off into the woods alone to clean off after his training. 

YongSun shook her head and jumped to her feet. She hadn’t realized she was staring at TaeOh, her eyes had glazed over with her thoughts. She quickly hurried after Yul, pushing through the water soaked trees to another clearing. “Yul!” She called, the boy jumped and he pulled the hem of his shirt back down fast, he was taking it off when she arrived. He spun, not looking very pleased and glared at her. “Can we talk?” She asked gently. He motioned for her to continue, still not looking very pleased. “Have I done something to upset you?”

His face softened at that. “No, why do you think that?”

Now it was YongSun’s turn to look angry. “Because you have barely spoken to me over the last week, and I thought we were becoming friends.” 

Yul’s face darkened again. “I hate to break it to you princess but we can’t be friends.” She knew something was off, Yul made it a point to never call her princess unless he was trying to make a point. 

YongSun felt her blood start to heat in embarrassment and in anger. “And why not?” She crossed her arms, her palms felt warm against her rain chilled skin. 

He ran his hand through his hair, blowing out a long breath as he did. “Because no matter how this ends, it doesn’t end with us being friends.” He shook his head against his own thoughts. “If it all works out for the best you marry our prince and become one of the royals we are meant to protect. If we can’t clear our names, you still go back to being a princess and we go on the run until we prove ourselves innocent. Neither case allows us to me friends.” He actually sounded a bit hurt.

YongSun wanted to reassure him that when they made it to Valcorn that she would make sure people knew they did not kill the king, but with no proof they could have made her say it, so she kept shut. “What about just for now then?” He looked over at her. “If I promise when this is all over, we can go back to the people we are meant to be, then for the next few weeks, can we be friends?”

He looked like he wanted to argue, he looked like he had a lot to say against it, but to her surprise he nodded. “Okay YongSun, let's be friends.” He held out his hand and YongSun shook it, she felt the heat in her palm grow as they made contact, it started snaking up her veins, filling her body with warmth against the cold of the rain. It gave her hope. 

Byul had no idea what she was doing. Over the last few weeks, and more increasingly in the last few days, she had been trying very hard to distance herself from YongSun. Even thinking that sentence alone was dangerous, when did she stop referring to her as princess? She went off a lot on her own, to hunt or scavenge, to give TaeOh and YongSun some time alone for their relationship to grow. Byul knew TaeOh was in to her, and YongSun seemed to kind of like him back, this was the safer option. If YongSun could fall for TaeOh, she could put aside her own feelings for it, there was no way she would ever be able to get together with the princess in any way that was not friends. And that is what they were now, friends, against Byul’s judgement she allowed YongSun talk her into it, because if she couldn’t be with her, at least she could be there for her, for as long as possible. 

Byul made it back to the clearing they were staying in after cleaning up a bit. It was hard to clean up with the rain, they couldn’t get dry, at least it made it easier to wash their clothes. TaeOh was trying his hardest to get a bot of a fire going in the one small spot that was untouched by the rain, but the dampness had set into their bones and it was one they couldn;t make go away with a tiny flame. Byul looked over at YongSun, she sat with her arms wrapped around her legs, head rested on her knees. She looked miserable. To Byul’s surprise, she did not complain once about the constant rain, and being constantly wet, not to mention the constant walking and hiking through thick woods they had been doing over the last few weeks, especially since they sold the horses. It was hard enough to feed themselves, let alone two horses. TaeOh and Byul had taken turns going into different towns to take some things they would need, and it seemed they were finally pretty prepared for the journey across the country, that was however until the rain. Byul and TaeOh spent years in the woods in their years before they joined the army, after their parents died, and even more time after they became warriors. YongSun was not use to any of this, this could in no way be easy for her, and yet there she sat silently like it did not bother her at all but Byul could see it behind her eyes. 

Byul dropped her bag on the ground near the makeshift fire. “I think we should spend the night in town.” Both of them looked at her. YongSun looked like her perked up at the idea, the reaction Byul was hoping for, and TaeOh looked at her like she had gone mad. He knew there was no way Byul would be proposing staying in town, she had always taken better to the outdoors than TaeOh. “We’ve been travelling for two weeks, it has rained the last four days. I think we need one night of proper rest in an actual bed, with a warm bath and dry clothes.” 

“And how do you propose we pay for this?” TaeOh asked sounding annoyed, he knew she was asking for YongSun, Byul just hoped it didn’t start a fight. 

“We still have some money left over from the horses, more than enough for one room for one night.” It wasn’t much to stay in a tavern, but they’d been avoiding it in case there were bounty hunters looking for them. 

TaeOh turned to her now, YongSun’s face kept rising and falling with each response, trying not to get her hopes up but believing Byul’s words. “Three people in one room?” He raised an eyebrow. “That will raise some questions.” 

She pointed between TaeOh and YongSun. “You two pose as a couple, I’ll sneak in the room after nightfall.” She made a pointed look at TaeOh. “We’ve done it before.” The small times they did stay in taverns, depending on the town they played roles, usually brother and sister, sometimes a couple, and the few times she was dressed like she was now, TaeOh would get the room and Byul would scale the wall because she was better at it and smaller, so it was harder to see her. 

TaeOh thought it over for awhile. “Fine,” He finally said. The smile that cracked on YongSun’s face made the impending argument with TaeOh worth it. “But if we get caught…” 

Byul held up a hand. “I will take full responsibility.” YongSun jumped up in joy and gave Byul a quick hug, she could already feel her face going red, and got a pointed look from TaeOh but he said nothing. They packed their stuff and headed to town. 

Byul didn’t like the idea of TaeOh and YongSun posing as a couple but it made the most sense. YongSun pulled up her hood far enough that her face was mostly covered. TaeOh slipped his hand around her waist, not holding back for authenticity, and it made Byul jealous, something she shook off quickly. Byul was already in the tavern. She went off a half hour