I scrambled over to the sink, brushed my teeth and hurried into my armour. I ruffled my hair and put on the helmet YeSung had given me yesterday. I sprinted out the door and tripped over the final step in a rush.

 

I landed to the floor in a cloud of dust and the visor on my helmet slammed shut. Syndicate was stood with his head over the pen snorting at me.

 

I rolled over onto my side and pointed straight at him, "Don't you start this morning!"

 

I got up and patted the dust off of me, "Come on, please don't be like that this morning, I need to see the king."

 

Syndicate looked at me and put his head down, "There's a good boy," I his mane, "All I need you to do is get me into town, that's it."

 

I opened the pen and jumped onto his back, "Come on then, let's go."

 

I rode on Syndicate all the way to the gates to the town and tied him up, "When I get back, I'll bring you some apples for being such a good boy today," Syndicate started to slightly spin around in circles, "Haha, don't get too excited," I tapped him on his head, "Now, I'll see you later."

 

I promenaded through the gates and looked at the castle at the far end of the town, overlooking everything, "I can't believe I'm going there."

 

"Ah, TaeYeon!" a voice interrupted my thoughts.

 

"Huh? Oh, hey, Sungmin," I turned around to face him.

 

"You're at the meeting today aren't you?"

 

"Yeah, when do we need to go?"

 

"It starts in about half an hour. Stay with me and we'll walk up together."

 

"Yeah alright. Do we need to go to the gates and they'll let us in then?"

 

"I think so. I'm guessing that they'll ask for our names so we're not fakes or anything."

 

"I think we should start walking now, it's quite a trek."

 

"Yeah, let's go then."

 

We carried on chatting between ourselves until someone came running towards me.

 

"TaaaaeeeeeYeeeeoooon!" Jessica dived at my waist and clung onto me, making me stumble backwards.

 

"Oh h-hey, Jessica. What're you doing?" I raised my arms in the air and stared down at her.

 

"Do you know this girl?" Sungmin wondered.

 

Oh no, do I admit to going out last night, or say I know her from somewhere else?

 

"Yes I do know her, when I was going home yesterday I helped her. She collapsed and I made sure she got home safely."

 

"Well, she's erm, she's very pretty," his cheeks turning a pinkish tint.

 

"Hahaha, I think someone likes her," I winked at him.

 

"Shhh, Tae! She can hear you!" he put his finger to his lips.

 

"Hmmm?" Jessica looked up, "Did you say something, Tae?" her eyes sparkling inently at me, completely oblivious as to what had been said.

 

"I didn't, he di-"

 

Sungmin pulled my visor down on my helmet.

 

"I apologise for my friend, she doesn't know when to shut up." 

 

"I think she should be able to talk as much as she wants," Jessica pulled my visor back up.

 

"Thanks."

 

"Anytime, Tae," Jess her finger down my cheek and gave daggers to Sungmin.

 

He looked down at the floor in despair.

 

"Sorry to be a bit of a boring girl, but, me and Sungmin really need to be off right now."

 

"Why?" Jessica pouted and squeezed me tighter.

 

"Seriously Jess, I need to go."

 

"I'm saying thank you for yesterday!"

 

"That may be, but I need to go Jess! It's important!"

 

"Accept my thanks then!"

 

"Ugh! I tell you what! I promise you that I will meet you at the same place tonight o you can really give me your thanks, OK?" Jessica looked at me and smirked, making me feel uneasy. She let go of me and started smiling.

 

"I think that will be perfect, TaeYeon," she winked and started to head to the tavern.

 

"*Sigh*, I worry about that girl," I told myself.

 

"You lucky girl ..." Sungmin declared while giving me the daggers.

 

"What do you mean lucky?" I answered.

 

"She likes you!" he threw his arms up in the air.

 

"Pffft, don't make me laugh! The king's law says it's forbidden for a girl to like another girl, just like it's forbidden for a guy to like another guy," I resentfully replied. I can't let them know I like girls either. It needs to be a secret otherwise I'll be discriminated, "She's probably just really friendly, Sungmin. Don't get too worked up over it," I rested my hand on his shoulder.

 

"Hmph, whatever," Sungmin sauntered off, "Come on," he clicked his fingers.

 

"Ohhhhhh, someone jealous?" I mocked him.

 

"Shut up!" he snapped.

 

"Hahahahaha! Bit defensive are we?"

 

"Tae, shut up and come on before I drag you ..."

 

"Yes sir ..."

 

After walking through the streets, we neared the gates to the castle.

 

"Look, there's Siwon, Kyuhyun, Yesung and Ryeowook. We should get over there with them."

 

We went on over to the rest of them.

 

"Ah, you two, just in time," Siwon declared, "We'll be going in for the meeting in a minute, is everyone prepared?" he clapped his hands together.

 

"I think we are," Kyuhyun answered.

 

"Right, we just need to wait for the castle guards to come down and let us in," Siwom told everyone.

 

After about five minutes of waiting, two men with spears came towards the gate with a notepad.

 

We all stood in a line and stood upright, making our backs as straight as possible.

 

"Name?" the first guard pointed at me.

 

"Kim TaeYeon."

 

The second guard started scribbling on the notepad.

 

"You may pass."

 

Each one of us went through this process until we all got through.

 

After closing the gate, the first guard announced.

 

"Now," the first guard paused and then started to speak again, "You follow us through the castle courtyards, you wander off track and you'll be thrown out. Is that all clear?"

 

"Yes," we all replied.

 

"You'll be going into the throne room for the conference, we expect you to stay in there for the entirety of the meeting, otherwise we suspect there will be someone up to no good. Understand?"

 

"Yes," we all replied again.

 

"Good. Without further ado, let's get going. We don't want to keep the king waiting."

 

This was pretty strict. I've never been observed this much in my entire career of being an Iron Warden, not ever in fact.

 

We followed the lead of the guards into the castle gardens. All the flowers were in full bloom, protruding through the emerald grass. Others were on display in stoned containers. In the middle of the gardens, there was a huge fountain which spurted water out, surrounded by paths winding into different sections of the castle. It was something you could only dream of having, something only millions can afford.

 

"Through here," the guard commanded and stood in front of the door, watching us all enter.

 

He closed the door and guided us down a red carpet that descended down a flight of steps.

 

The two guards stood in front of the doors that lead to the throne room. "In here is the king, you will be monitored at all times whilst in here. You will also be in the presence of the princess, so we expect no vulgarity or crudeness in there. Is that all clear?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Finally, take your helmets off, we want to see your faces."

 

With no second wasted, our helmets were off and placed next to the wall near the door.

 

"We shan't waste anymore time, you lot, in here," he opened the door and held it open for us to enter.

 

We all strolled into the throne room and was taken aback by the decorations, the furniture, how big the room was. It was hard to take in, especially when you come from an isolated little hut on the brink of the town and the forest.

 

Gold ts along the ceiling, stained glass windows, and then the huge throne at the other end of the ro-

 

My eyes grew larger and I froze for a second with my mouth slightly gaping. I whispered to myself.

 

"No ... way ..."

 

 

Narrator's POV

 

 

"Daddy," a young woman discreetly pulled at the king's robe, "Daddy please."

 

"Not now, Tiffany!" he loudly whispered.

 

"Daddy, it's important."

 

"What is it?!"

 

"That's the girl I told you about. The one that helped me, the one with the scar."

 

 

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I apologise for the last two chapters being pretty poor quality, the next one should hopefully be better. I wanted to leave this one on a cliffhanger because of the next chapter. Yes, this is short, but once this has been uploaded, I'll make a start straight away on the next chapter.