Jonghyun’s horse trotted along, traversing the sand with ease. The prince mounted on its back was scanning the ground, looking for something. His eyes lit up and he tugged at the reins to stop. He slid off his saddle and kneeled beside the flowers. His fingers gently pulled at the roots and once the flower was in his hands, he slipped it into the saddle bag. He hoisted himself back onto the horse’s back and was about to take off when he spotted a falcon. It swooped in low and he held up his leather covered arm so it could perch on him. He untied the note from around its ankle.

A letter arrived for you

Jonghyun grinned. He released the falcon and then took off back towards his palace over the dunes. As they reached the stables not long after, he slipped off and took the flower from his saddle bag. He sped up the stairs into the stone castle. As soon as he saw who he was looking for, he yelled.

“Minho!”

The taller man stopped in his journey and smiled at his eager friend. “You got a letter.”

“Give it here!” he cried excitedly.

Minho handed over the envelope. Jonghyun held it like it was the most precious thing ever; a fragile item that could be broken. He held the flower out to Minho then.

“I found this out there. Will you take it to the green house?”

“Sure,” he nodded, taking the plant.

“Have you seen this paper Taemin sends me? It’s so beautiful! Nothing like the parchment we have here.”

“Go read your love letter.”

Jonghyun bounded up to his room and peeled open the letter. He read it quickly, chocolate eyes absorbing the delicate letters.

            Jonghyun,

I thought about it a lot and I’ve decided that yes, I do want to meet you. You’re right. Ten years is a long time to wonder what someone looks and sounds like. I don’t want to wonder anymore. Let’s meet at the conference. I think my father will take me. If he’s not planning on it, then I’ll convince him!

I can’t wait~ I hope this letter will reach you before you leave to journey there.

See you soon.

Taemin

He lit up at the words on the paper and ran out of his room and all the way to the greenhouse, startling some of the maids as he went.

“MINHO!” he practically screamed.

The taller covered his ears with a frown. “I could go deaf from all your yelling.”

“You were fun once, you know,” the prince frowned before brightening up again. “Taemin agreed to meet me!”

“Good. That way you can actually talk to him instead of talking my ear off.”

“You are the worse best friend! Be happy for me!”

Minho laughed. “I am happy for you. I need to see who would fall for an idiot such as yourself.”

“I am a prince! You can’t talk to me like—”

Jonghyun was cut off as the greenhouse shook. Pots vibrated off the tables and shattered. The prince stumbled back to the door and a strong gust of wind blew sand just past the entrance. He could hear the maids screaming inside the castle. It only last a few moments before everything stilled.

“What was that?” Minho said in surprise.

“An earthquake? I’m not sure.”

The prince left the greenhouse and entered the castle quickly. He found maids huddled in certain areas and others cleaning up what had fallen over. It had been able to shake the castle and Jonghyun was thankful that everyone was alright. It wasn’t until after he’d checked on everyone nearby that he became concerned.

“Minho.”

“Yes.”

“Has my father returned?”

“Not that I’m aware of…”

The prince dashed out to the stables but only his horse was there. He ran back, passing Minho who had been trying to follow. He spun around and ran after him.

“What is it?!”

“What if my father is hurt?! I need to know where he is!”

“He’ll be fine, Jonghyun. He just went for a ride.”

“He went to survey the boundary line with the Cho Dynasty. It’s not far from here. That’s the problem! He could have been hurt.”

“It was an earthquake! Nothing will happen to him in the sand!”

“What if it wasn’t?”

Minho’s eyes widened as he looked at Jonghyun’s serious face. Jonghyun looked out from the window, trying to spot banners, horses; anything that would let him know where his father was. He was supposed to come back because they would be leaving for the meeting. It would take a few days to ravel across the sand and over the mountain. They were supposed to go together. Something couldn’t happen now.

His feet carried him to the aviary and he obtained the falcon from its cage. He was thankful he still had the leather arm coverings on or its talons would have pierced his flesh.

“Find my father,” he said seriously before releasing it through the open window.

Minho stood in the doorway. “Jonghyun…come on. You’re over reacting. Your father will be fine.”

Jonghyun wanted to agree with his best friend. He wanted to say he agreed but there was an overwhelming heavy feeling in his chest. He knew something was wrong. Something wasn’t quite right. He only hoped it wasn’t about his father. He wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Look…Just think about Taemin, okay? We should get ready to leave for the conference.”

The prince agreed with a tight lipped frown. He headed to his room so he could gather his more formal clothing. He couldn’t attend a conference in a vest.

Jonghyun had repacked his bag three times before the falcon returned. He was unsure if he should take it as a good sign that his father was alright or not. Luckily it was answered for him when he saw the ochre banners flying on the horizon. As the horses appeared on the dunes, he let out a sigh of relief and ran down to the entrance of the castle. His father rode up, leading the brigade. He slipped off his horse and embraced his son.

“I saw the falcon. Is everything alright?”

“I was worried for you and the troops. There was an earthquake and I thought you may have been hurt.”

“It wasn’t an earthquake. The Cho dynasty put mines on our side of their border. One was triggered by one of the soldiers and it set off two more. We lost an entire brigade. Luckily everyone else was unhurt.”

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Jonghyun grinned.

“Don’t worry, Jjong. I’m not dumb enough to get killed by something like that.”

The prince laughed, doubling over a little. His father clapped him on the shoulder.

“Are you ready to leave for the conference? We must hurry and make our alliance. The Cho won’t wait long.”

“Minho and I are all ready to go, father.”

“Good! Let us leave!”

Jonghyun mounted his horse once he saw that his bags were loaded into the coach. He rode just behind his father with Minho beside him on his own horse.

“Hey Minho…I need a favor…”

Minho looked at him curiously.

Word Count: 1203

Sorry for such a long gap at updates x_x

I had to rewrite this chapter because I didn't like the way it was coming out and didn't go with the direction the story is going

Seriously hoping I can post more up this week. The chapters after this have way more substance to them than this. I just wanted everyone to get a feel for Jonghyun and such