DΛY ƧIX

My legs dangle off the side of the med bay table, hands folded tightly in my lap as I trace softly at the ring on my finger. Its as if all sound around me drones out as I stare at the opposite side of the tent, unable to stop the sudden onslaught of memories which bustle through my mind of the day before.  Jungeun's rigorous training,  Hyejoo's constant need to embarrass me. Yves.

Yves' petulance and our constant bickering. Yves' stoic stare and her no-s-taken attitude. 

Yves and her stupid, beautiful face. Yves and her stupid, beautiful brown eyes. Yves and I sitting in the garden, the way she smiled and the sound of her laugh. Yves when we danced, the way she moved so gracefully. The distant tingle of the fabric of her blouse against my fingertips-

"Can you stop glaring into thin air? Your eyes look as if they will fall out from your head. I don't think I'm quite trained to fix that."

The sound of Hyejoo's voice has me torn away from my reverie. Hyejoo quirks an eyebrow when she knows she has my attention, a teasing grin on the corner of her lips when I stutter over my words.

"S-sorry, I was just thinking."

Hyejoo hums. I watch her as she turns back to the guard lying on the nearby table, his head bandaged securely. If  I heard correctly, he gave himself a concussion while on the night-watch, spooked himself out and tripped over his own two feet. I almost felt bad for him.

It's a brand new day yet everything felt the same. Waking up this morning in one of the many palace rooms assigned to me by the Queen, the first thing thing I did was seek out Hyejoo. There was something about being in such a big space that made me feel uncomfortable. I'd always been so use to mine and dad's smaller, shabbier houses-- living without lavishness but instead in the pure comfort of our own presences. 

I would've sought out Yves but something told me it wasn't a good time to. Not after yesterday, at least. And God knows where Jungeun was. I felt like I'd barely had time to talk to her outside of training hours.

I'm drawn out of my thoughts once more when Hyejoo speaks.

"Watch your step next time. It's no good you be in here when you could be out there." Hyejoo gives the guard a brief pat on his shoulder and nods towards the other (forgotten) guard positioned at the tents opening. The unharmed guard helps his colleague stand up and off they go, murmuring words of thanks in their departure. 

I didn't expect her to instantly turn my way.

"Now that he is gone, tell me what happened."

"Huh?" 

"There is something on your mind. You are lucky I can not read you, but it is beyond frustrating for me. Tell me what happened to get you so distracted." 

I can practically feel the flush of red that covers my cheeks, a heat running up the back of my neck. Stammering, I shake my head, maybe a little too aggressively.

"Nothing happened! Why, did someone say-"

"It is Sooyoung, is it not?"

My eyes widen. For a second I nearly said 'who the is Sooyoung?' but realization is quick to catch up to me. Yves.

"What did she tell you?!"

This seems to peak her interest. 

 "She was thinking of you," She quirks an eyebrow knowingly as she gauges my reaction. For a split second I could've sworn a look of worry crosses her face, but it's gone as soon as it came. "..That was all I saw."

My brain short circuits. 

"She was thinking of me?!" My voice comes out louder than I intended it to. Hyejoo leans back and brings a hand up to rub at her ear, scowling. 

"I thought my manners were bad but yours are on a whole new level..." She grumbles, side eyeing me. 

"S-sorry! It's just..." I trail off. Just what? Oh, sorry for shouting, I've just been thinking about your best friend since the day I met her-- say, can you set us up for a blind date? 

I shake my head. I didn't know what to say. I had trouble trying to figure out my own emotions as it is. How the hell was I suppose to explain myself to Hyejoo of all people? But as it turns out, I didn't need to continue.

"You wish to court her, do you?"

I choke.

"COURT?!"

"Please, Y/N, no need to get so excited." Once again she's rubbing at her ear, this time a little more aggravated. Her words only seem to fluster me even more, my ears burning, embarrassed.

"No no-- aish!" I bring a hand up to my face, willing myself to calm down. I knew she was only joking and trying to get a reaction, but at the look of her soft, reassuring smile-- I cave. A long sigh leaves my lips almost instantly.

"There's been... a tension between us. I'm not sure how to explain it but it's like one minute she's hot and the next minute she's cold. It's confusing me." 

Hyejoo watches me, a thoughtful glint in her eyes as she takes in my words. I continue.

"One minute she's talking to me like you and I talk to each other, then the next she's pushing me away like I just held a knife to her neck! I'm really starting to think she doesn't like me at all."

"Do you want her to? Like you?"

"Yes." I don't waste a second in answering. I do, I wanted to say. I really, really want her to. But then I find myself shying away, taken aback by how passionate my response sounded. 

"I mean, she's suppose to be some kind of mentor to me, right? The overseer said so. Shouldn't we at least try to be friends?"

Hyejoo levels me with a look of pure skepticism, a eating grin slowly crossing her face, nothing but pure mischief in her eyes.

"Excuse yourself all you want, but it seems to me you harbor feelings for our princess. You're treading dangerous waters, Y/N. That girl is the devil."

I open my mouth to protest, defend my emotions and tell her she's thinking too hard into it-- but before I can even get a word out I'm interrupted. The sound of the tent flap opening draws our gazes away from each other instantly. 

The figures eyes seem to light up when they land on me, relieved that she found me. Her posture softens and she releases the firm grip she had on the hilt by her side.

"Jungeun? Is everything okay?" Hyejoo and I share a brief look of concern before my eyes are locking onto Jungeun's. A small, reassuring smile crosses her plump lips before her face washes over in seriousness once more.

"I have been looking for you everywhere. There is somewhere you must be."

"Huh? Where?" My eyebrows furrow, confused. Me? Jungeun purses her lips. My confusion only seems to increase tenfold when she spares a hesitant glance around the tent, cautious as if somebody could be listening. She seems to mull over her words before she speaks, voice soft against the stark contrast of the sword at her hip.

"I can not tell you. It is dire you see for yourself."

I practically feel Hyejoo stiffen beside me. Sparing a look at her from my peripheral, I watch as her eyes shift between familiar browns and that particular shade of grey from when I met her. It's then I realize she's read Jungeun's thoughts. 

As if feeling my eyes on her, Hyejoo turns towards me and nods her head stiffly.

"You must go."

Somehow, that was all I needed. I don't ask any more questions.

Something didn't feel right.

_____

It felt like we'd been walking for hours but I knew realistically it had been minutes. The journey from the med bay tent to the palace had my mind reeling in realization. For the first time since the overseer's arrest, I was able to see just how much impact it made.  I wondered how I missed it earlier. 

 Crowds of palace folk jeered and threw ripe red tomatoes at the guards, calling out in a collective protest. 

"He is innocent!"

"Let him free!"

The overseer. A sour taste arose in my mouth as I watched the guards wall off the people from the training grounds. It looked like a blockade of spears and swords, a threat.  The feeling of Jungeun's hand wrapping around my forearm had me tearing my gaze away, her eyes hard and her lips pursed together in a solemn line. It's then I realize just what she'd been dealing with. She needed rest.

But the world outside soon felt like a distant memory as she lead me down the many palace halls. Familiar paintings and mosaic glass lined my vision, the sound of nothing but her light footsteps and my own trudging filling the silence. It's only when we turn a corner down an unfamiliar hallway does she break the tension.

"I feel we have been too worried about a war with the north that we haven't considered war amongst our own people."

Jungeun spares a second long glance in my direction as she speaks. When she notices my inquisitive stare and gesture for her to elaborate, she slows her pace. Sparing a quick look around us like she had in the med bay tent, she keeps her voice at a steady whisper.

"Forgive me for being secretive, but I fear I am being followed. I feel that I have left you with more questions than answers, though, so if you have something to say, ask them now."

A million questions linger through my mind but instead I settle on the one I'd been thinking since she walked in on me and Hyejoo. 

"Are you okay?"

She startles. She looks at me again and it's then I notice the small dimple  at the corner of her eyebrow as she quirks it. She seems taken aback by my question but doesn't fight the grin that tips the corner of her lips.

"Seriously? That is your question?"

I raise my arms in mock surrender.

"Arrest me. I didn't realize taking interest in your wellbeing was a crime-"

"Oh, hush. There is no need to be sarcastic with me..." She trails off and digs around for her words once more, nodding softly when she settles on them. "Thank you for your concern, Y/N. Truly."

Something I noticed about the three girls was just how different they truly were. Hyejoo almost reminded me of dad, funnily enough. Her playfulness, the way she fought my sarcasm with her own. Jungeun was more laid back, but then again I suppose she needed to be if she was going to lead an entire army. As for Yves... well, Yves was Yves. 

I shake my head to rid myself of my thoughts when her words catch up to me. Furrowing my eyebrows, I push further.

"So, then how are you? I appreciate you're helping me train for... whatever it is we're training for," I trail off, a short series of coughs leaving my mouth as I stumble through my last few words. (Her small smile tells me she heard me anyway, but I push it aside for now.) "But I've noticed how busy you are..." I trail off once more when a new question rises to the forefront of my mind.

"That riot outside... how long has it been like that?"

Just like that, she immediately sobers. She's back on her guard as her eyes dart around us a third time. She hesitates.

"Since the overseer was arrested. The King wants us to do damage control but I'm worried there is little we can do with the overseer behind bars... Which reminds me."

Listening to her speak I didn't realize I'd been so distracted, almost stumbling into her back when we reach a staircase leading down. I hadn't been paying attention to where we were going, blindly following after her. It's then I notice the hallway looks a little darker, walls no longer framed in its goldened swans, floor no longer its white marble. The staircase is illuminated by torch-like-candle holders engraved into the dark walls. A warm orange hue bounces off the walls around us. I shoot Jungeun a confused stare, but she doesn't look my way once as we're lead down a spiral.  It's only when we reach the bottom do I realize where she'd taken me.

The dungeons. Well, not quite the dungeons yet, but I could only guess what was on the opposite side of that door.

Torches frame the walls and ricochet off marbleized-like statues positioned at the entrance to the dungeon. The closer I look at the statues I find my eyes widening. Their faces look petrified, too closely resembling real people but so chiseled as if they'd been dormant for years. I tear my eyes away when an unsettled feeling cements itself in the pit of my stomach, and it's then I notice the two guards positioned  deeper inside. They stand on either side of a door, watching us enter with hard eyes and stiff postures. But they soon seem to relax when Jungeun raises her hand, face becoming clearer under the light of the flames around us.  

"Commander." One of the men acknowledges, bowing his head in respect. The other man mirrors his actions and looks between us. I never took myself as an insanely receptive person, but I don't miss the way he rocks on the balls of his feet. He was hesitant. 

Jungeun nods her head and gestures for me to follow her as we meet them at the door. The closer we get, I'm able to take it in. Unlike the door protecting the sphere, this one is barred. It looked like a gate of some sort. From just between the bars I saw a bustle of movement and could only assume they were prisoners. The same sickly taste rises in my mouth again. Jungeun's voice draws me back to reality.

"She is here for the overseer."

Realization catches up to me instantly. The overseer. I almost facepalmed myself for forgetting about him when all that's been on my mind the past few days was him.

The jittery guard speaks up this time.

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do? What if we are caught?"

"Let us hope it does not come to that." Jungeun responds. The man only shakes his head and furrows his eyebrows even further.

"But you know this is illegal. The king would have our heads if he knew we disobeyed his instruction--"

My mind reels. Before I knew it, my voice