He stared at her in disbelief. She wasn’t looking at him, rather her face was turned down at the ground. Sungjong felt all his anger rise. Did she really think their problems could be fixed so easily? He was so angry, he wanted to strangle her.

            He threw the glass in his hands and it shattered on the wall. “Are you kidding me? You think that by sacrificing yourself, they’ll stop attacking us? This is a war. You are a princess. They will take you and keep going. It’s not just you they want, they want the entire kingdom as well. I thought you loved me.” At the last sentence, his voice cracked.

            She bit her lip, trying to keep her tears in. “I know but they made a deal. If I go with them, they’re going to surrender. And, their crown prince, he says he loves me too.” She tilted her head back to keep her tears in her eyes but they still brimmed over.

            Sungjong crossed the room and shook her violently. “Stop being so naïve! What is this love he professes and do you really think he would want to leave us alone? We have all the resources, all the riches he would love to add to his empire. Wake up!”

            “We grew up together. He used to share my tutor. We were friends,” she was fading. Her voice was weaker and weaker. “That was before our fathers went to war, before he was ripped away from me. Before I met you.”

            Sungjong let her go as if she was burning. And she was. She was heated up with the passion of her words and he was chilled to the bone. He had always thought she was his. He stared at the girl in front of him, in her pale ivory dressing gown. She had ran all the way from the palace to see him.

            “You shouldn’t be seen here,” he said shortly. He pushed her towards the door. “Do what you like. This war has gone on long enough. An intermarriage would bring peace to all the line.” His voice was hard and he was in complete control of himself. He pointed at his door. “As a general, I respect your wishes to make our lives easier.”

            He bowed to her stiffly. She didn’t move so he did. He started to walk back into his room, to absorb what he had just heard. But she flung herself at him. He could feel the contours of her body against him. He shuddered. They shouldn’t be touching. Not this close. It was inappropriate.

            “Princess, please. If the King finds out, he’ll have my head.”

            She shook her head and grabbed onto Sungjong. “Please don’t be angry, please don’t be mad at me. I’m still yours. What we had was a childhood puppy love. But my heart,” and she placed his hand on her chest. “Belongs to you.”

            “And yet you’re still willing to go with him. You’re still going to marry him.”

            She hung her head. “Eventually all princesses realize that they’re only pawns in the grand plan that is the royal courts. We know that we have to do what is expected of us and there’s nothing I can do but to conform. If it means peace to my country, then I’m just doing my duty.”

            He grabbed onto her wrist. “Must you be so obedient? Do you really have to throw away all that we have?” he was crying now.

            She wiped away his tears and kissed him. He felt her lashes against his cheeks and placed his hand on her back. She pressed herself into him and their legs twined together. Sungjong felt himself being pushed back as she continued to kiss him. Their tongues were fighting for dominance and their tears flowed freely down their cheeks.

            His hands ran through her hair and he held onto the nape of her neck. She pulled away for a deep breath before carefully kissing his jawbone and on his collarbones. Sungjong let out a gasp and she fumbled with his uniform. He stopped her.

            “No. You don’t belong to me. Not physically.”

            “But I want you,” she plead. “Please. I’ll just tell him that there was an accident, horse riding, anything. Please.”

            Sungjong shook his head sadly. “Go. Go before you break my heart even more.”

            She cried and shook her head. “I can’t.”

            He pushed her away gently. “You’ll have to. Eventually. You already made up your mind.”

            She bit her lip and hugged him. His shirt was getting wet but he didn’t care. He wanted to memorize the way she felt in his arms and the scent that drifted from her. He was always going to have to cling to this as a mere memory.

            “General?” a gruff voice came from the house’s gardens. She pulled away and Sungjong grew cold. It was too late.

            His army came out and took in the scene before them. The princess in her night gown and their general with his arms around her. “Sir, this is a crime punishable by death,” they told him.

            She got on her knees, causing them to take a step back. “Please, spare him. It was my fault, please.”

            Sungjong picked her up and because he knew there was no more escape, he kissed her one more time. “Go. I’ll handle this.” She gave him one last look and he mouthed ‘I love you.’ She held her hand across and moved through the crowd of men.

            Sungjong stood to the front and held his hands up in surrender. “Gentlemen, report me to the king.”

            She heard about the execution from the servants gossiping. The king would ignore her participation in this and Sungjong was to be killed later that afternoon. It was a public execution, with everyone in the kingdom present to view what happened to traitors who betrayed their kingdom.

            At precisely two in the afternoon, she grabbed the vial of pills she had kept a secret from everyone. When the bells tolled out the time, she too poured the pills in and laid on her bed. When the servants found her, they thought she was just sleeping.

requested by vocalliner

trying a little something new

enjoy~