‘’We’re in so much trouble.’’ Jonghyun croaked under his breath, a cold sweat breaking out on his skin as moist stony walls with moss hanging about were on either side of him.
 

When he left his training and waited for Kai and Donghae to pick him up, he noticed how Baekhyun’s apprentice Merel was smuggling mysterious flasks in a small leather bag. She caught him staring and said she was studying them in her room to become a medical elf herself.

Jonghyun was slightly doubting it, why bring it back to her chambers if she had all the space, material and time here in this very wonderful place?

It wasn’t any of his business but like the nosy puppy he was, just had to see if what she said was true. He followed her through the dark corridors, surprisingly not to the side of the castle where apprentices, generals, advisors, and everyone else slept at but she went to the servant-quarters, towards a small lounge room with no single servant roaming around as they were still working.

That’s where he came face to face with a closing bookcase with a red book peeking out slightly. Rational thoughts told him to get help but his need to prove himself resurfaced above the other urges. ‘’I can do this!’’ He whispered, he had his dagger courtesy of Taeminnie and the strength thanks to Chanyeol.

Then, with a rush of confidence, he tipped the book forward and with a tremble, the bookcase slipped away from its place. ‘’Wow…’’ Jonghyun gazed inside a dark stony corridor and shuddered in disgust as a few bugs crawled away from the light.

‘’Just you wait Jinki!…’’ He set foot over the threshold, ‘’I will make you proud.’’ holding his head high and with new-found courage, he was about to go in but yelped as someone yanked him back.

‘’What are you doing youngling?’’ Shindong hissed, holding him by the shoulders with a concerned frown.

‘’I can ask you the same thing!’’

‘’I’ve been having my doubts about that girl...now you!’’

‘’I guess we’re in the same boat then.’’ Jonghyun sassed before pointing into the darkness, ‘’She went in there with flasks in her bag, you know what she could use them for?’’ Shindong looked back at him with something akin to alarm.

A chain reaction of curses came afterward that had even Jonghyun’s ears turn red. ‘’Assassins usually work sneakily as they can, might it be at night when most of us are sleeping or from the shadows with a crossbow or small daggers...there is however another method to kill without the killer anywhere nearby,’’ Shindong explained and waited for Jonghyun to catch on.

The blond glanced thoughtfully at his feet, thinking what the Assassin could do with mysterious flasks and how she could use them without anyone noticing or with her long gone.

A small gasp bubbled from his lips, ‘’Poison…’’ He realized with wide eyes. Shindong nodded proudly before getting in front of him, ‘’Go back to your lover...I take it from here.’’

Jonghyun pouted, shaking his head rapidly, stubbornly squirming in front of him. ‘’Hell no...I can help and fight!’’ Shindong stared at him with a skeptical expression and Jonghyun met his gaze firmly.

‘’Fine but stay close and NO running off.’’ Shindong pointed a finger at him making Jonghyun look at it crossed eyes with a gleeful grin. ‘’Yes sir!’’ He chirped.

Shaking his head with a jolly smile, Shindong let him take the lead into the darkness of the secret passage-way. If only Taemin was here with his little balls of fire to lit up the place but sadly they had to do without him.
 

‘’To be honest, I saw you leave and follow Merel so I sent Chanyeol out for help...’’ The other suddenly admitted from behind him which had Jonghyun’s heart jolt and drop down to the bottom of his stomach. He looked back at Shindong dryly ‘’‘’We’re in so much trouble.’’ Jonghyun croaked under his breath, a cold sweat breaking out on his skin.

‘’I swear to God, Jinki is gonna beat the crap out of me.’’

‘’Overprotective Crown Prince I see…’’ Shindong cackled under his breath.

Jonghyun groaned, ‘’Shut up.’’

It took them a while to see an ending to the corridor, they had to pull at a chain hanging from the side, and just like that...a giant stone piece moved away and it led outside right into an old abandoned stable with a heavy storm. ‘’What is this place?’’ Jonghyun stepped out, shielding his face against the aggressive rain that came through holes in the roof as he turned to offer the other his help.

With a disgusting face, Shindong brushed the dirt from his robes then observed the area. ‘’Well well, the old stable which the elves used a few months ago.’’ He carefully walked further in, old soaked hay plastering itself to his boots. ‘’Old stable?’’ Jonghyun echoed curiously.

Shindong nodded, ‘’The elves used this one before something made the horses restless...they never understood why and moved the horses but now I have a great guess what made them so spooky.’’

‘’Very observant of you…’’ A female voice interrupted, the guys spun around, coming face to face with Merel, ‘’It’s such a shame I have to kill the both of you now.’’

Jonghyun glared, not denying the tremble going down his back. ‘’Why are you doing this?’’ He went straight to the point. The girl laughed almost mockingly while getting a knife from her belt. ‘’Let’s just say I want the Queen to feel how I felt all those years ago.’’

Confusion hit the blond but Shindong tilted his head in wonder, ‘’You want to assassinate one of her daughters?’’ Merel nodded, confirming his question and stalking around them like they were her prey. ‘’What happened?’’ Jonghyun asked.

She sighed annoyed at his interrogation, ‘’My father was General of the guards...because of a stupid decision, I lost him into a fight with the deities.’’

‘’Wait...but Chanyeol is…’’ Jonghyun blinked owlishly for a moment, ‘’And the deities? I thought the Elves were allied with them.’’

Merel hissed at him, ‘’You guys ask too many questions!’’ Shindong stepped in front of him before she got any wrong ideas, ‘’Former General Soojin was a good man and well-known for his loyalty and kindness.’’ Shindong explained to Jonghyun.

‘’At the time the elves were at war with the deities and they thought the deities were holding one of the elves hostage and instead of waiting for answers, a reckless decision was made and the elves barged in on them...let’s just say the results weren’t great.’’

An unidentifiable expression lurked in her dark features as she nodded, ‘’And I hate how the deities are our allies now, I even despise the Queen for that!’’ Jonghyun naturally felt pity for her and in any other situation, he would have comforted her. ‘’And the maids?’’ He asked innocently instead.

A sniffle came from Merel before she looked up at him, ‘’They saw me going through the secret-passageway so I had to kill them before they told anyone. As Baekhyun's apprentice it was my best bet to get into the castle and not call attention to myself...’’

Her eyes went dark and her body tensed up, indicating that the questioning was over, and then she charged forward. Freaking out internally, Jonghyun pushed Shindong aside to protect him but ended up with the girl barreling into him.

A loud grunt left his lips as his back hit the hard unforgiven ground but he had no time to recover as he held her wrist and hand, stopping her from stabbing him. ‘’Jonghyun!’’ Shindong barked, hurrying over and trying to get her off.

A struggle ensued between them all as Merel and Jonghyun rolled over the ground. Grunts and curses echoed around the wooden stable as lightning rippled through the sky and the storm became even heavier.

Sweat broke out on Jonghyun’s forehead as he tried to overpower the girl and get the knife from her hands. ‘’After you two, her daughters are next!’’ She yelled whilst gritting her teeth. ‘’I only have to make the poison and sneak it into the royal quarters!’’ A sudden burst of anger hit Jonghyun, he won’t have anyone hurt, not on his watch.

Footsteps echoing in the corridor had Shindong look up in panic only to sigh in relief when Jinki, Chanyeol, Minho, Donghae, Kai, and a few other guards stumbled out. Jinki instantly focused on the fight with horror as the girl sat on Jonghyun with the knife.

However, he didn’t have to do anything as the blond used all his muscle power and twisted her wrist, having her cry out in pain, dropping the knife before he pushed her off, taking his own dagger out and flipping her onto her stomach with her hands behind her back so she couldn’t grab for it again. ‘’Your bloodshed is over.’’

There was dominant air about him that Jinki had never seen before and it had his jaw drop to the floor in awe. Jonghyun's appearance looked roughened up thanks to the bruises. The sweat and rain made his skin shine and his muscles more prominent as they bulged in his arms by trying to hold Merel down with his strength.

Big puppy eyes were stunning as they pierced through the back of her head with a glare, one hand, not looking all that dainty with veins visible held her hands tightly together and with another holding the knife pointed at her.
 

Jonghyun was beautiful, this dangerous, like a wild beast sitting on his prey and it made Jinki slowly realize that the blond didn’t need his overprotectiveness like he first thought.

Guards rushed over to take Merel away and Jonghyun stood back up, breathing heavily, his chest going up and down hard, he stared down at the dagger, thankful that it became useful after all.

Then he looked at Jinki who gazed up at him with awestruck eyes but his expression crumbled and natural anger melted onto his face. Jonghyun swallowed a lump in his throat, knowing the other wasn't pleased with his rash decisions once again.

Jinki came to him, snatched his wrist and dragged him to the campsite where Jinki took the dagger away and scowled him in a last attempt to keep him out of trouble, Jonghyun wasn’t having that and even threatened to hit him before storming off, wondering if there was even a way to change that stubborn mind of the Crown Prince…

Jinki hesitated as he came back from updating the Elven sisters about what happened, and saw the tent in the distance where Jonghyun would be in. Everything was urging him to get in there and cuddle the blond, saying how much he missed Jonghyun but regret about what was said earlier withheld him from going in.

‘’He was great!’’ Shindong came up behind him, limping just a little which had Jinki’s brow furrowed in concern. ‘’Give him a chance to fight at your side…’’ the older man continued with a gentle smile so much different from his usual jolly one. ‘’He has a st