“Insolent child!”                     

Crouched on the floor, down on one knee, Jaejoong clutched his throbbing cheek and glared up at his father before him as crimson blood slowly seeped from the cut on his lower lip.

“My Lord?!” interjected Changmin in Jaejoong’s defense “Please?”

“Silence!” bellowed Jaejoong’s father as he flashed a deadly gaze at the tall, thin, man.

Changmin instinctively flinched and took a step back in submission, fear ever-present in his face.

Bringing his eyes back to his petulant and disobedient child, the man glared at his son with murderous disdain.

“How dare you disobey me?” he growled furiously “How dare you to go out without permission –AND without your ?”

“Father…” begged Jaejoong in a submissive tone, as if trying to appease the man that could ultimately be his death “…I…I…”

“Not a word!” commanded his father ferociously “You know our laws! You know they weren’t created to hinder you of your freedoms or make you subservient to the throne. They are in place to keep you, our kind, all of us safe! You shun the law with your defiance and put us all at risk!”

Jaejoong humbly lowered his gaze, knowing that his father’s words weren’t completely false. His ventures into the night were against the law of the covenant, and he knew it but a part of him, the rebellious side, couldn’t stand being sheltered from the reality of this world. He was his father’s firstborn, and as such his successor, but the rules and covenants imposed on him by his stature kept him from being the person he wanted to be. It was stifling, suffocating.

“After four hundred years…” sighed his father as he tried to stem the anger raging within him “I cannot fathom why you still defy me! The other lords and their houses look upon you like the mirror of my rule. You are the heir, and as such, your every gesture, thought, action, and even breath are scrutinized to beyond oblivion. You know this Jaejoong, and yet you continually show your defiance of our most basic of covenants.”

“Why?” questioned his father “Why do you test my patience and the will of the council?”

Jaejoong, apprehensive, looked up at his father but stayed silent –anger and frustration quickly beginning to mask every other emotion within him.

“Answer him my Lord.” begged Changmin softly from his left “Hurry.”

“My King…” answered Jaejoong with an air of sarcasm and venom lacing his words “I do not outwardly wish to defy the council.”

“So it’s just me that you willingly defy?” asked his father with condescending disdain.

“Your rules…” ventured Jaejoong as he steeled his will, determined to speak his mind for the first time in over three hundred years “Aren’t to protect us, our family, our people, from our enemies or the world. Your rules are only in place to protect our family’s claim to the throne and to keep me underfoot!”

“How dare you!” shouted his father.

“Jaejoong!” scolded Changmin softly, warningly “Don’t!”

“Be quiet Changmin!” growled Jaejoong as he stood to his feet, clenching his fists at his side, and flashed a piercing stare at his best friend and most loyal guardian.

“You know I am right!” he added before he looked back at his father “For over three hundred years, I have lived cooped up under heavy guard, never allowed to hunt on my own or even venture out into the night sky without some pathetic excuse for a babysitter!”

Jaejoong flashed a quick apologetic look at Changmin, knowing that his words would have offended him before he returned his heated gaze to his father.

“You refuse to allow me to do anything on my own. My entire life is dictated to me!  I’m waited on, hand and foot, my every step shadowed, you refuse to let me live the life I want, and you can’t even trust me enough to let me walk our own grounds alone!” fired back Jaejoong.

 “I’m surprised you even allow me to breathe without permission!” growled Jaejoong defiantly.

“That security is for your protection!” argued his father “The world is too dangerous for you to venture out alone.”

“I will not have the past repeat itself!” growled the man.

“You’ll never let that go will you?” muttered Jaejoong under his breath.

“When will you stop trying to pass off that pitiful excuse for a lie as your reason? You and I know very well why you keep me under lock and key!” fired back Jaejoong, as the torturing memory that he had carried for over three hundred years flashed across his mind for the billionth time during his existence “You know good and damn well this is all because of InHo!”

“SILENCE!” yelled his father, “I told you never to speak that creature’s name in front of me ever again!”

“Why?” Jaejoong questioned with an insolent and antagonizing smirk “Is it because he’s the one and only human you’ve killed out of anger…because your hands will be forever stained with his blood?!”

“Or is it…” added Jaejoong spitefully “because he was the only person in this world who dared to love me and make me want a mortal life?”

“That abomination deserved his fate!” spat his father “The moment he dared to…”

Immediately interrupted by the sound of a loud knocking sound echoing from his chamber door, Jaejoong’s father huffed and stopped his words.

“What?” he bellowed, glancing at the door, the ire of his words causing even the most resolute Jaejoong to shutter softly.

The door creaked open slowly revealing the face of one of the house servants, Jaurim, looking quite disturbed.

“Your majesty…” hesitated the man.

“What is it?” questioned Jaejoong’s father once more.

“My lord…the head of Pusan’s Kim family has arrived,” answered Jaurim with a deep sigh.

“.” thought Jaejoong and Changmin simultaneously, knowing exactly what it meant to have that man’s presence in the house.

Lord Kim Junsu inherited the rule of the Kim family half a century ago when his father died during a dispute between Pusan’s Kim family and a rival coven over a centuries-old betrothal agreement. The dispute caused a ripple of mistrust between the clans and the king that still festered till this day.

Lord Junsu, while always respectful of Jaejoong’s father’s rule in public, believed secretly, behind closed doors, that he would be the better ruler and detested anything that involved the king, save for Jaejoong. As a person, Lord Kim Junsu was stunningly beautiful yet cold and callous to those who he deemed beneath him, inheriting the trait from his late father. He only felt compelled to be kind and endearing to those he felt worthy of his affections and Jaejoong was one such person. No one could deny his obvious feelings for Jaejoong –to the point that the king not only noticed it but encouraged it, but for Jaejoong, the man’s feelings for him had always made him feel unsettled, cautious. Junsu’s personality would always shift in Jaejoong’s presence and even though he was appreciative that Lord Kim treated him kindly and with respect, unlike any other, there was just something about how the man looked at him sometimes that made the hair on Jaejoong’s neck stand up.

“Excellent.” answered Jaejoong’s father, suddenly pleased “Please inform him I will be with him shortly.”

“Yes my lord,” answered Jaurim nervously as he stole a quick glance at Jaejoong before backing out of the room and closing the door.

“Changmin!” said Jaejoong’s father, sternly.

“Yes my lord,” answered Changmin as he immediately took a knee, knowing by the sound of the King’s voice, a command was imminent.

“Take Jaejoong to his quarters and make him presentable to receive his guest.” commanded the king with a sly smirk.

“Yes, your majesty.” nodded Changmin as he stood slowly, took two steps, and grabbed Jaejoong by the arm.

“Come along Jae.” whispered Changmin through his teeth “Let’s live to fight another day.”

Changmin pushed the hesitant, and still defiant, Jaejoong to the chamber door and opened it.

“This isn’t over.” grumbled Jaejoong as Changmin pushed him out the door and closed it behind them “Not by a long shot.”
 

~~~~~~~~~~

“Why must you always goat your father into these arguments?” questioned Changmin as he gently sat down on the edge of Jaejoong’s bed and dabbed the blood from the beautiful man’s lower lip.

“Because he’s a monster,” grumbled Jaejoong.

“Shall I remind you that the same blood runs through your veins?” scoffed Changmin dejectedly.

“I am nothing like that bastard!” spat Jaejoong as he pulled his face away and scowled.

“Oh really?” questioned Changmin sarcastically “Then I wonder who you inherited that look from.”

“That’s not funny,” growled Jaejoong angrily.

By the tone in Jaejoong’s voice, Changmin could tell instantly that the time for teasing had passed. With a soft sigh, he reached up and clutched Jaejoong’s chin sharply, determined to finish tending to his injured lip.

“Jae…” he said softly after a moment of silence fell between them “You know that the more you push the stricter he will get, the more he will tighten the noose. So why do you insist on testing the limits of his patience?”

After a long pause, seemingly mulling over Changmin’s question, Jaejoong let out a drawn-out sigh and cast his eyes down to the floor.

“Min…I just can’t take this anymore.” admitted Jaejoong “What’s an immortal life without freedom?

“Nothing; but a prison…and everlasting prison.” answered Jaejoong himself “My father will never let me be free will he?”

“How can I be fit to rule the coven if I’ve never experienced more than fifty years of life outside of it?” he questioned painfully “Why must he add to my pain? Why must I continue to be punished for something that happened centuries ago?”

“Your father will never be able to forgive you for InHo.” stated Changmin flatly “He will never be able to fully trust you either.”

“What you did was forbidden.” said Changmin in a scolding tone “You betrayed everything your father stands for, for a lowly human.”

“Had you not been such a young childer, and the son of the king, you would have shared his fate,” added Changmin knowingly, with a drawn-out sigh.

“That status you detest so much, that makes you feel so helpless and useless, is what ultimately preserved your life.” added Changmin in a scolding tone “And…Until you make the choice that your father has set before you, you will forever pay for the crime you committed –and you know that.”

“Accept your fate my friend.” sighed Changmin knowingly “It’s the burden of being an heir.”

“Burden of being an heir?” repeated Jaejoong bitterly “But what if I don’t want to be an heir?”

“Jaejoong!” scolded Changmin softly as he shifted his eyes towards the bedroom door “Don’t say such things. You know damn well the walls of this house have ears. Do you want to spend the next century or two locked up in the dungeon? How would father react if he heard you utter such words?”

“I don’t care!” spat Jaejoong defiantly as he stood up and brushed off Changmin’s hands “I’d would have rather died by his side than be condemned to such a pitiful and unfulfilled eternity.”

“You don’t care?” questioned Changmin as he stood and stared at Jaejoong, visually irritated and slightly hurt, and grabbed him by the arm “Well… I DO! How could you say such a thing?”

“You know what I mean.” sighed Jaejoong in defeat, pulling away from Changmin’s grasp and waving his hand nonchalantly.

He knew that no matter what, there would never be an end to this argument where he would win. Changmin would ultimately choose any response that would preserve Jaejoong’s life.

“Jae…” sighed Changmin as he sat back down on the edge of the bed “You know that I love you. You are not only my lord, my prince, and my charge, but my only best friend too. I know that you’re frustrated with what your father has done, continues to do, and a part of you will forever hate him for taking InHo from you, but you have to know that it’s time for you put that burden down. It’s been three hundred and fifty years for God sakes. What happened to him…it wasn’t your fault.”

“You know better than that Changmin.” argued Jaejoong as he sighed heavily and ran his hand through his red-streaked black bangs “Had I never ventured out that night…Had the fates never dictated that we meet…Had I never…”

“You can’t blame yourself for what happened. No one can control the whims of their own heart.” advised Changmin lovingly “Not even an immortal.”

“You were so young…” Changmin sighed softly, trying to justify Jaejoong’s actions of the past.

“We love…who we love…” he added more confidently, flashing a supportive and endearing smile “and when we love… we love…”

“Forever…” answered Jaejoong in a heartbroken whisper.

“If only I had a second chance…” mused Jaejoong softly as he sat back down beside Changmin and laid his head gently on his friend’s shoulder “If only I could do it all over again. It would have been different. I would have protected him…I would have hidden him…I would have…”

“I know… but eternity is a long time Jae…” comforted Changmin as he reached over and patted Jaejoong on the arm “You may get that chance someday…you just have to have faith that you will and it will come to you…The goddess will hear your prayer. You’ll see. So just have faith and be patient.”

“I suppose…” sighed Jaejoong dejectedly “that’s all I really have left to hold onto…”

“Don’t think of it that way.” sighed Changmin sadly “Until the fates bestow you your second chance, take comfort in knowing that I will always be by your side…no matter what. That you will always be loved by me…”

“And set your sights on dealing with the here and now,” he added as he glanced at the bedroom door once more.

“The here and now…” repeated Jaejoong slowly.

“Alright…” he agreed -knowing what, or who, Changmin was referring to “I better get this over with.”

“The longer I put off seeing him, the more irritated he will become.” sighed Jaejoong, “You think father told him about tonight?”

“I’m certain of it.” answered Changmin “So be prepared to be very charming.”

“Very…very charming,” added Changmin with a worried sigh.

A/N 1: I have to admit, between Midnight Winds and Of Wolves and Dragonkin (OWAD), I can't decide which storyline and plot I enjoy more. I hope my readers are enjoying them both! Please make sure to leave comments and feedback. The more you leave, the more encouragement to write I feel. Please, also, feel free to share my stories with your friends via social media. Remember, without my loyal readers, I am nothing but a writer with an overactive imagination. ^_^

A/N 2: OWAD will be updated in the next two days and the final chapter of The Five Promises should be complete by the middle of next week. Also, please check out the forward for my bonus story of 2014, The Lady "N".