15. BURN

Kai’s heart clenched in agony for his friend’s loss. He kept his knees knelt on the floor as he suppressed the rising warmth in his eyes.

Taemin suppressed a shuddering breath, as he glanced down at his people, who all knelt with their heads down. His smouldering orbs sparked into fiery rage, as it sizzled against the dark forest. He picked up the King’s sword.

He clenched the hilt with all his might, feeling his father’s strength. “Our nation is now at the risk of shattering in pieces - with the lost of our greatest warrior, leader, and monarch.” He took another deep breath. “The enemies now stand just miles away from our capitol, our core.”

He gritted his teeth as he stabbed the sword on the soil.

“We must rise, to fight for our country, our home, our people. We have all of those to protect.”

“Are you with me - to bring our country back to life, back to victory and back to glory?” He pulled the sword up high. His boisterous voice echoed across the field and shuddered into the soldiers’ hearts.

“Yes, your majesty!” Their voices rang thunderously in unison.

Glancing down the front line, he watched as the groups that had split off emerged, filling up the intersections of every corners of the forest. The soldiers waited in perfect military formation. Training and willpower turned them into ferocious statues, but he noticed the twitch of a muscle, the flexing of a fist, eagerness sizzling beneath their skin.

A blast of hope emitted in his heart.

They could do this.

He could do this.

He will protect his country.

In his father’s place.

……

“Your royal highness!” Madame Rino rushed to the Queen, who has been wandering restlessly around the room.

Madame Rino lowered her knees to a kneel. “I… I’m sorry, your royal highness.”

The Queen’s blood turned cold, as she turned with eyes widened like saucers. “What happened?” Her shaking hands caught Rino’s.

“His majesty… has passed away.”

The Queen felt her vision dot into stars, as she slumped to the floor. Rino caught her before she touched the cold tiles.

The Queen could barely utter a single word, as she fluttered her eyes closed. Her hands turned frighteningly icy and all blood drained from her face.

“Your royal highness!” Madame Rino called desperately, but the Queen shook her head slowly.

It took a million years for the Queen to keep her voice steady.

“Was…” The Queen swallowed the quiver in her voice. “Was there anyone by his side?” She lowered to a whisper, dropping the titles entirely. He was her husband before being King. He was the father of her children. He was her love before being King.

Madame Rino clenched the frosty hands of the Queen’s. “The Prince was with his majesty at his last moments.”

The Queen kept her eyes closed, knowing that if she’d opened them, warmth would flow out uncontrollably. She took another shaky breath and nodded. “At least he had his son by his side.”

Madame Rino merely stuck closer to the Queen, hoping that will provide the best comfort.

As her lady-in-waiting for years, Madame Rino knew, that before being Queen, her royal highness was just a woman.

Now, a woman who lost the love of her life.

……

It was the seventh day.

Seventh day since the invasion of the palace.

She huddled on a chair in her room of the South Wing.

Alzamian troops invaded the west wing, but luckily, the South wing was unscathed. Hayoung got them lingering pieces of bread. Granted, she was residing in a palace, but at times of war, even the presence of bread was blessing. It was barely enough to keep her hunger at bay, but she was more preoccupied with other thoughts than hunger.

Like worrying if he would be safe.

If he would be okay, fighting at the borders of the country.

Throughout the darkest nights, she would close her eyes and find herself imagining his closed eyes and blood-stained shirt against her.

She had to remind herself of the words he told her before they parted ways.

She had to keep herself preoccupied, by thinking of the dresses she would wear on their wedding day.

It was the only thing that kept her sane.

The guards have never left her doorframe. Under the orders of the Prince, they are surely doing their job well.

And so is Krystal. She would go out every few hours to check for any news, if they heard anything, she would be the first person to stand up and have her grip on her sword.

Naeun heard a twist of the door knob, and she knows it’s Krystal by heart.

“The Colonel fought off the infiltrations now. Most of them are gone.” Krystal said with a light curl on her lips.

She could barely let out a sigh of relief. The palace may be safe, but they still heard nothing from the battle in Acadian forest. Nothing of victory.

“The Colonel went to the North already - as new reinforcements for the battle.” Krystal continued and Naeun nodded.

“What about the Northern front?” She hoped they would receive some news by now.

Krystal shook her head. “Still no news. I’m sorry.”

Naeun felt her heart sank.

Krystal clasped her hands on Naeun’s shoulders. “No news is good news.”

“Trust me, Naeun. If there’s no news, that means nothing bad has happened. It’s probably a tough fight, but we probably still have our grounds held.”

Naeun nodded reluctantly.

“He’ll be fine.” Krystal winked.

“I’ve seen how good of a swordsman he is - being that prodigy since young.” She chuckled and looked afar as if recounting a distant memory.

“He was better than anyone else, and he was the one who fought the enemy for the last war.”

“He’ll do the same and keep you and the country safe.” She gave Naeun’s hands a tight squeeze.

Naeun forced a smile and nodded. She directed her gaze to the dim moonlight, praying silently that he will return with a huge smile on his face.

……

General Danny Ahn sat with his back straight and his eyes gleaming in darkness, as the shouts and stomps of footsteps echoed outside his tent.

Now that their King is dead, South Korea will be reduced in tatters. The Prince is too young - he won’t be able to lead his troops on such a grand scale of war.

The country will shatter.

It will be the General’s turn. Alzamia has risen from the ashes and the humiliation of defeat. They will soon re-name South Korea as one of their own.

A rattle of steps interrupted his stream of thoughts.

“General, South Korean troops are advancing! Our Eastern fronts are being pushed back!”

The general scoffed. “Seems like that little Prince is getting desperate. It’s fine. It’s just the eastern front. South Korea will collapse soon.”

Another lieutenant rushed in with a hurried salute. “Sir, our Northern fronts are also endangered.”

Danny Ahn widened his eyes in disbelief. “What?” He tightened his jaw and took a deep breath. “That’s okay. We still have much more reinforcements and troops doubled their size.”

But for the next few hours, a dozen more lieutenants came into his tent, all reporting the same news from most of their war fronts.

He stands up to his feet and grabs his sword. He climbed up a tower. Something was wrong.

He narrowed his eyes and looked past the trees. And saw torches in the distance.

But they were not normal torches.

They were immense. Rounds of fire that gathered to form a giant sun that glowed against ash darkness.

“Weren’t South Korea under-prepared? Why do they have so many?”

The thunderous voice sent his soldier into quivers. “S-Sir… the enemy had reinforcements 10 minutes ago.“

Danny Ahn clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “Tell the troops to fight on. We’re THIS close to victory - and we will NOT be defeated again!” He bellowed.

……

“Your majesty.” It took Taemin ages to get used to this title. Every time he heard this address, his heart would clench in pain, as the image of his father’s lifeless eyes appeared in his mind.

And now, when he sees his cousin bowing to him, he wasn’t sure if he should be relieved at his presence, or painful at his actions.

Knowing that there is no time for personal emotions, Taemin suppressed the agony in his chest. “General.” He stood up.

“Your majesty, we have brought reinforcements from the South. I’ve also heard that Colonel Choi arrived recently from clearing off palace infiltrations.”

Taemin nodded. “Thank you general. Indeed, Colonel Choi is now in charge of our advancements in the Eastern front.”

Jinki shot a glance at the lieutenants behind him, directing their exit with his eyes.

Taemin catches this and sends a look for all men to leave his tent.

When it was only the two of them in the narrow space, Jinki engulfs Taemin into a warm embrace. “I’m sorry, Taemin-ah.” He said with a low voice against his ears. Taemin only buried his head in the shoulders of his older brother-like cousin.

He remains silent for a while, and all he could hear was the bellows and war cries outside.

“Thank you for being here, Hyung.” He manages after mustering all his strength to keep his overflowing emotions at bay.

“I’m with you.” Jinki says, and Taemin knows how much strength those words held.

He leans in to the arms of his cousin for just another second, until his eyes hardened as they released each other.

“General, send the reinforcements to our Northern and Western front. I need them to be ready.” Taemin’s pupils burned into flames.

“Ready to crush the Alzamian troops into pieces.”

The wind took flight once more. The trees rustled with a sudden swish of air, and the branches creaked. Smoke curled in the night air before the new King. Blood scented the leaves at his sides. Fire smoldered against the forest floor.

Taemin’s army surged forward, the soldiers pooling through trunks, scaling to the top and hurling themselves onto the enemies on the other side. They screamed and shouted in the name of their country, to protect their home and their people behind them.

Slowly and gradually, Taemin sees his troops moving forward again. The enemy’s first line of defence collapsed, as they fell lifelessly onto the blood-soaked soil. Arrows showered and balls of fire was catapulted.

They will rise amongst the ashes.

Suddenly, a gush of wind spiralled the smouldering air.

A sense of unease crept through Taemin’s stomach.

Across the way they heard a shout. He snatched the binoculars and stared beyond the wall of smoke.

A huge red flag fluttered amongst the hurling wind.

General Danny Ahn.

He has come to defeat Taemin once again. He has come to remind the new King of his failures and weaknesses.

Taemin took a deep breath.

He handed the binoculars back to a soldier near him, then strode out of his tent.

As he climbed onto his horse, almost all the soldiers begged him not to go, as they were reminded of the last King who had died on the battlefield.

But Taemin knew, that this was his fight.

He had to kill Danny Ahn this time.

With his own troops, his horse galloped into the smoke, disappearing into the maze of mist.

……

As Taeyong slashed his enemy, he couldn’t help but to drift his glance towards the thunderous hooves in the midst of smoke. He knew what happened to his majesty, and he feared for the same thing happening in the battlefield again.

He kept his eyes elsewhere, until a blow came his way.

He turned abruptly and found the intruder already slashed into pieces.

“Focus.” Kai said.  “Our majesty will bring down the enemy.” He shouted with a glint in his eyes. “Believe in his majesty! Now don’t stop! We don’t want to waste his majesty’s efforts into dust!”

The surrounding troops who heard the call tightened their jaw. A fiery blast of hope sparked in their