The young man gently tapped his quill against the parchment before him, pondering how to describe the outcome of the lastest battle without giving too much away about their special captive. His father, the King, was waiting for his report back in the capital, but Jonghyun had to wait until he received his own reports before he could write them out. His men were out on the battlefield counting the dead, helping the wounded, and chaining the prisoners up in the tent in the middle of the camp. The armor on his frame was splattered with blood and was beginning to fatigue him with it’s heavyweight, but he’d keep it on until it was time for bed once the moon had fully risen. He looked up when he heard the deep cough of the captain of his guard. Jonghyun nodded softly and motioned for the man to continue. Minho bowed at the waist before tapping his fist against his chest as he straightened, “My Prince. The prisoner is secure and ready for your integration.”

       “I take it they were cooperative.” Minho stared at him heavily causing Jonghyun to quietly laugh. “Not at all, got it. Lead the way.” 

       This prisoner was house separately from the other given how important they were believed to be. As the small party approached the tent, the flaps were held open. Once nodding to Minho, Jonghyun ducked swiftly in. The inside of the tent was illuminated dimly by the lantern on the table as the flaps fell back to their original positions. It was the only thing in the space, besides the huge stake that was pressed into the middle to hold it up, and the creature handcuffed to it. It stared at him, it’s gaze a glare as the Prince moved closer to him. His golden armor was still on his frame, and where it should be scratched and dented it wasn’t.

       It hissed at him as Jonghyun drew closer, but he just snorted. “Hissing at me won’t do you or your people any good.” The captive fought against their binds, knowing it was futile, as they spoke. Their native language washing over Jonghyun in an attempt to control him but the chains burned red against their skin and a groan poured from their lips as the spell was cut short. Jonghyun just laughed. “Don’t try your magic on me Elf.”

       The Elf spat at him. “Don’t you dare touch me you filthy beast.”

       Jonghyun just kneeled in front of the other, curling his fingers around the Elf’s metal armor and tugging them forward in order to get a better look at them “I will do what I wish. You may be the heir and a god in your stupid people, but here you are just my prisoner. Tell me what I want to know, and no harm will come to you.”

       “Do what you want, but I will never tell you a single thing.” Sharp eyes glare as if trying to burn him where he stood.  An almost feral growl leaves the being’s throat before Jonghyun is spat at directly in the face. “I am not afraid of you.”

       “Maybe you should be.” Jonghyun just wiped his face with his sleeve, and when he walked out of the room he nodded at Minho. “Tighten the chains. Turn up the awareness.”

       Let’s see if you’re a little more talkative in the morning.

-----

       They weren’t.

       When the armor was untied and pulled off of them the Elf had snapped their slightly sharper teeth at the two men,  almost latching onto their bodies. Of course, those two soldiers never went near the tent or the creature again. When the medic entered to check their wounds, they managed to get up onto their feet and kicked the man’s legs right from under him before slumping back against the wooden stack as nothing had happened. Needless to say, the medic didn’t return when ordered to try again.

       They refused to eat. Refused to talk. Refused to do anything but glare at whoever entered the tent, and do whatever they could to make them leave and never want to return again. The only one who did return was Jonghyun.

       He knelt in front of the creature, eyeing them cautiously as he slowly moved to look at their wounds. They inched away, glaring hard as his eyes calculated the best way to make the other man leave. Jonghyun just scowled and sat back onto his feet. They reminded him much of a cornered animal, scared out of their mind and defensive, even if they refused to accept their fear of their current situation. “Fine, but if you don’t allow somebody to look at that, you are going to die.”

       The Elf flicked their longer hair out of their face as they said with a hiss. “If it weren’t for these cuffs, I would be healed already.”

       “That will never happen.” Jonghyun hummed quietly before shrugging. He wiped his hands on his pants as he stood. “Because if you are who I think you are, I don’t think letting them off is a very good idea.”

       “I promise I won’t destroy everything. Just the filthy beasts.” The elf promised. “I’ll leave the horses alive.”

       “I’m flattered you think of me as a beast, but you alive and not talking or dead means the same to me.” He turned to leave, “Hope you enjoy your accommodations.”

       Before he made it out of the tent though, he heard the soft angry wait. He looked back to see the creature’s head hanging down, their dark hair falling in their face as they looked up slightly. “At least allow me to heal. Please.”

       “Let me help you then.” Jonghyun countered.

       After a moment the Elf reluctantly agreed. “Fine.”

       And when Jonghyun approached, they didn’t pull away or attack. He was allowed to reach in closer and inspect their wounds. With gentle fingers he treated each of the injuries, wrapping their chest with clean linen bandages. From then on Jonghyun was the only one they would ever let near them, and Jonghyun didn’t know how he felt about that.

-----

       Their races had been at war for as long as Jonghyun could remember. He had been born in the middle of the conflict and ed into the bloody war as soon as he came of age. His father never told him why they were at war with the Elven people, but it seemed that no one seemed to remember the reason. There were rumors, about how their King used a human woman and threw her back, or the one about the dragon egg being stolen by the human’s and how the Elves just wanted it back. Either way, Jonghyun was tired of the fighting and of the death.

       He didn’t like elves, they were foreign magical beings that given the chance could kill him with a flick of their finger, but he didn’t hate them. He didn’t believe they deserved to be forced to fight humans, and die in thousands with his own men.

       They allowed the other captives to leave, leading them away from the large caravan and cutting their binds, but the special captive was kept. They were the Prince’s personal prisoner, always being around the man. They would walk beside Jonghyun’s horse with their hands chained in front of them, and if needed would be thrown over the Prince’s lap when they rode a faster run. Which is where the Elf was as Jonghyun pulled on the reins to slow the horse down.

       Wiping their mouth with their sleeve, they bitterly commented, “You’d think I’d get to know your name before I’m thrown across your lap.” 

       “My name means nothing to you.” Jonghyun grabbed the back of the being’s shirt and tossed them hard down to the dusty ground.

       The Elf just sat on the ground and glared up at him as the man dismounted. “You know mine.”

       “I know what you call yourself yes,” Jonghyun commented as he shuffled through his saddlebags. “But do I know your name? Thee name? No, I don’t Onew.”

       Onew smirked, skillfully standing up without using their hands and cocked their head to the side to look at the man. “But no one knows that.”

       Jonghyun rolled his eyes and continued to search for what he was looking for. Because of this, he didn’t notice when Taemin came over and tossed a piece of meat at the elf and yelled catch this, before laughing when it just slapped against the Elf’s face. Onew just sighed and shook off the meat. “Imbecile.” They muttered under their breath, and Taemin fumed off before he could hear his Prince chuckling to the single word the Elf said. Once he found the spyglass he turned to Onew. He lifted the cylindrical instrument to his eye and looked off into the distance as he asked, “Do you have a gender?”

       “That’s rather personal.” Onew was sitting on a nearby rock, back straight as can be, one leg was thrown over the other. 

       “I may dislike you, but I do have standards. I just wish to know what you go by. Man, woman, he or she. Unless you wish to be called creature for the entire time we share a space.”

       “Elves do not hinder our young to a binary when they are born like your people enjoy doing.” They glanced up from checking the dirt under their nails. “I am neither a woman nor a man. You can call me Onew or what would you call it in your tongue... They. Yes, they.” 

       “Alright. Understood.” 

------

       Months passed, and Jonghyun was nowhere closer to getting what he needed from the Elf. He was losing his patience mainly because the longer this took, the harder it was to tell himself that he hated Onew. The amount of sass they held within them baffled Jonghyun immensely, but even when it annoyed him it made him smile. Onew loved to look down at the people around them, the customs and traditions, mumbling how uncivilized as they walked by. Even then as they belittled everything Jonghyun was, they were beautiful and bright. 

       Not so long in the future, they would reach the capital and Onew would have to be handed over to Jonghyun’s father and his men. It was what was expected of him, what he knows he should be able to do very easily, but just the thought of giving the Elf away made his stomach twist uncomfortably. “Everything alright, Little Prince?” 

       Jonghyun whipped his head up too quickly, his neck cracked causing him to grimace.“All is well.”

       Onew lifted one hand just enough for the page of the small book held in their grasp would flip, smiling very softly as they returned to the words across the parchment. “You seem troubled.”

       “How would you know?”

       “I have no need for my powers to know there is a haziness with your thoughts.” They cleared their throat, glancing up quickly. “Not that I very much care to know, but you should speak to someone about your heavy thoughts.”

       “Just not you, hmm?” 

        “If you spoke, I’d have to listen.” Onew shrugged, slowly lifting their hands, the chain attached to their cuffs jingling. “It’s not like I can go very far.” 

       Jonghyun swallowed thickly being reminded so vividly of the crude methods used to keep Onew as their prisoner. He ripped his gaze from them, leaning heavily on his elbow. “To be honest, I’m starting to second guess giving you to my Father.”

       “Oh?” For once, a bit of surprise slipped into their voice. “Why now?” 

       “I still heavily dislike you, mind you, but,” Jonghyun pressed his lips together before sighing, reluctantly confessing. “As much as you want to believe you aren’t afraid of me, you should be of my father. He’ll kill you sooner than he’ll wait for information.” 

       “I will never tell you what you wish to know about my people and your strategy. You will never let me go home.” The book was closed with a definite snap. “Which leaves you carting me around for the rest of this war or execution. Whether it’s by your father’s hand or in the middle of one of your squares as a public display, I was as good as dead the moment you captured me.” 

       “If you told me what I wanted, I’d let you go.” 

       Onew laughed quietly as they shifted as they brought their legs up to lay on the cot. “It is cute you believe that. Deep down you know your Father wouldn’t condone that.”

       Before Jonghyun could think of a response, Onew had their eyes closed and he couldn’t bring himself to speak. Even if he somehow thought of a good enough thing to say after something incredibly right. Jonghyun had always believed he was fighting on the right side of history, but he wondered if the moral ramifications of keeping Onew captured knowing full well what waited for them at the end of this path was still right. 

------

       Sealing the letter to his Father carefully with red wax, pressing their crest into the parchment, he carefully stood to hand it to the guard just outside the tent with orders to send this out immediately. When he turned back into the tent Onew was still sleeping on the cot. Usually, they would be moved to the bedroll across the tent, cuffs chained to the spike pressed into the dirt there, but Jonghyun couldn’t find it in himself to move them. Instead, he grabbed an extra blanket from the chest at the end of the cot and curled up on the bedroll.

       When he woke up Onew was sitting a foot from him resuming reading yet another book and eating an apple they managed to get from the food brought into the tent for Jonghyun. 

-------

       Onew squinted as they woke up, realizing the candle had been blown out, but with their increased eyesight Jonghyun could be seen across the way. He’s sleeping on the bedroll? The human Prince was intriguing to Onew. Much had changed in the few months they had traveled together. There was a softness to his being that wasn’t there in the beginning and Onew couldn’t put their finger on how that made them feel. 

       They should be figuring out how to escape and fairly quickly if their earlier conversation was anything to go by, but something made them want to stay. They just weren’t ready to admit that the reason was Jonghyun and the warm feeling filling their chest every time they gazed at him.

------

       “How am I to bathe Jonghyun?” Onew asked as they stood behind him.

       Jonghyun looked over his shoulder at the Elf and quickly turned his head again. “I don’t know. Just jump in the river?”

       The two of them were off a little ways away from the rest of the army, because Jonghyun disliked bathing in full view of his entire army. “I can’t necessarily wash with these cuffs on.”

       “You’ve managed quite well these last few months.” Jonghyun huffed and walked over to him, “What do you want me to do? Wash you?”

       He could have sworn he saw them smirk. “Well, you’re going to have to undress me first.”

       Jonghyun just pressed his lips together but relented nonetheless. Before he knew it he was standing behind a very Onew, himself, washing the elf’s hair. He hated to admit it, but he loved the feeling of it through his fingers. It was soft and long, black as night, and he had to force himself to ignore how he heard the other being softly moaned as his fingers did their bidding. But then it was all over, and he was moving to climb out. Onew gripped his wrist between both of their hands, pulling him back closer. He whipped his head around defensively, but Onew was gazing at him softly.  Jonghyun looked at them confused, wondering if maybe this was a bad idea, but then Onew had their lips pressed against his own and all coherent thought escaped him. 

       He rushed apart quickly, panic gripping his chest. “You won’t lure me into some false feeling of security.”

       Believe it or not, Onew looked almost hurt. “Can I not genuinely wish to kiss you?”

       “You are my captive. I have you in chains, so no, you cannot.”And with that, he promptly twisted on his heel and strode out of the water. “Get out quickly. Minho will be looking for me soon.” 

------                                                 

       It was when a small party, of about a dozen men, rode ahead to check out the meeting point where they were attacked. Onew had gone with them because no one at camp was willing to watch them.

       Minho quickly rushed to Jonghyun, because if anyone was to get to him they would have to go through him. The attackers were Elves, and for a moment the human company thought it was just a plan to get their heir back. As swords were drawn and the fight began, that thought became all the truer. Jonghyun wasn’t worried about losing a prisoner but losing a companion that always was there. He was afraid of having to watch Onew leave.

       It was a split-second mistake, looking over at the elf at the wrong time, and the sword of his attacker was slicing through the air toward his shoulder, but the blow never landed. The attacker had been turned to dust right before his eyes, and he looked over to see Onew standing up, their left hand pointed out in front of them as smoke rose from their fingertips. Jonghyun blinked at them, heart pounding in his chest. The magic dampening cuffs were shattered at their feet, eyes glowing for a moment as their hair whipped around their head in the wind. But before anything else could be done, he felt the cool metal enter his chest. He heard Onew scream, and run straight for him. The elf that had stabbed him was burned to dust. Before Jonghyun hit the ground though, he found himself in the warm arms of another and looked up to see Onew looking at him. He thought back to their first kiss, the touches. 

       But now, looking up at their beautiful eyes and their dark hair that was cascaded around their face, Jonghyun thought about none of that. Not even the fact his shirt was now drenched in his own blood, and he was probably about to die crossed his mind.

       Onew touched his face, and a single tear splashed against Jonghyun’s cheek. “You’re so stupid.”

       “You killed your own people.” Jonghyun mumbled, “You are free, but you can’t go back.”

       “I don’t care. For weeks I could have freed myself but I,” Onew confessed. They ripped the metal of his plate clean open easily, then his tunic all the way and placed their hand over the man’s wound. Onew looked at Jonghyun’s soft, tired features, and bit his lip. “I stayed for you. I couldn’t leave yet.”

       “What are... doing?”

       “Say Jinki.”

       “What?”

       Onew leaned down, brushing their lips together. “Say my name Jonghyun.” They kissed him once, holding both hands over the wound and when they parted from him, Jonghyun said their name softly.

       All he saw was Jinki’s face, slowly disappearing as white light closed around him before everything went black for him. He could have sworn he heard the Elf whisper one last thing.

       “I love you.”

------

       When Jonghyun woke up almost a week later, Onew was curled up next to him. It took some time to get through the fuzziness of his mind and memories but with the help of who he knew now to be Jinki, he pieced everything together. “Did I hear you correctly?”

       “Hear me when?” 

       “When I out,” Jonghyun said. “Did you say you loved me?" 

       Jinki blinked once, looking up at him through their hair before a small smile formed on their lips. "Why else would I give up everything just to save you?" 

       "I don’t deserve this. I kept you, prisoner.” Jonghyun blinked at them. They were just a holder of vital information, a prisoner and something to use. They were something that his own people believed to be a monster and thought needed to be killed, but Jonghyun didn’t think that anymore, and if he was honest with himself he had always known it was never about this. Since the moment he laid eyes on Jinki, things that had once made sense no longer did. The single Elf managed to change his entire view, the dislike deeply etched into his mind, and at that moment Jonghyun was crushed with immeasurable guilt. “I’m so sorry...for what I did to you. For what I allowed to be said to you. You deserved better treatment.”

       “I cannot fault you for the things you were taught but are unlearning.” Jinki tapped their nails on their knees softly, eyes closing slowly.

       “How long?”

       “What?”

       “How long were you pretending to still be a prisoner?”

       “About a month and a half.” Jinki grinned widely as Jonghyun’s eyes widened.

       “But how! Those chains were specially designed to hold powerful magic users.” 

       Jinki hummed, a smile still curving on their lips as they pushed their hair behind their pointy ears. “They were designed to cause great pain when magic was used, but when you were not looking I would train myself to endure the pain until I had conditioned myself enough to shatter the chains as you witnessed on the battlefield.”

       “You bamboozled my kingdoms strongest wizards.” 

       They only shrugged. “I am what I am because I can do such a thing.”

       "You know, I,” Jonghyun whispered uncertainly, “I love you too.” 

       It was like the sun had bloomed across their face as Jinki smiled and took Jonghyun’s hand between both of theirs. “I knew that when you didn’t want to give me to your Father.” 

       At the mention of his dad, Jonghyun grimaced. “Where… are we?”

       “I took you back to your people.” Jinki rolled their left shoulder. “Got shot with an arrow for it, but I brought you back.”

       “Are you okay?” 

       “I’ll heal.” They stood as they cracked their knuckles gently. “They’ll want to know you’re alright. Took your captain vouching for me to be allowed near you.”

       Jonghyun’s fingers shifted against the rough fabric of his blankets as he looked up at Jinki through his lashes. “Why did you stay? Your people are waiting for you.” 

       Silence fell between them for longer than Jonghyun felt comfortable with, but before Jinki spoke again they returned to sit at the end of Jonghyun’s cot. Their legs were brought up and crisscrossed in front of them, hands clasped in their lap as they gazed at him. “Do you wish me to leave?”

       “You have no place here. You aren’t safe.” 

       “And you’d never be safe with my people.” 

       With a shaky breath, Jonghyun mumbled. “I don’t want you to leave.” 

       Carefully Jinki moved closer, cupping Jonghyun’s cheek with their hand and gently kissed him. “Do you remember why this war, our peoples’ hatred, began?”

       “I’m not sure.” 

       Jonghyun could barely focus on anything they were saying with the way Jinki was moving their fingers through his hair. “There was an Elven Priestess who was taken by a human near our Eastern Boarder. She was the head Priestess to the Moon, one of our great deities. She bore him a son. Once this child was found out to exist the local human authorities took it upon themselves to take the child from his mother to never be seen again.”

       “A war was started over a single child? Hundreds of thousands of men and women and living things died over a child?”

       “Not just any child.” Jinki shook their head. “There is a prophecy written on the stone walls of Our main Keep. I am an heir to our throne, but there is a being that my people call the Elven Heart. Most of them through the years have been trained to become the keeper of our entire history. It never mattered how many of us died to protect our lands as long as they were alive to teach the survivors and future generations of what made us who we are. The prophecy called for a child of the moon to be born with a father, unlike the mother, who is destined to truly be our Heart. One who would never need to learn from a text or scroll. One who would be born with the heart of the elves already deep inside of them. Your people took Our Heart. And we want it back.” 

       “Your people truly believe those humans kept that child alive?” 

       “We believed that any respectable father would wish their child, even half like them, no harm.” 

       “And if this child is still alive and returned, the war would end?” 

       Jinki nodded sharply. “At least on our end.”

       Sighing deeply, Jonghyun’s eyes fluttered shut for a moment before they snapped open to gaze at Jinki. “Then I guess we have a child to find.”

       “Are you comfortable traveling with an Elf that isn’t your prisoner?”

       “As long as it’s you, Jinki.”

------