"Leave us." Siwon said with a note of finality, his only focus was on the weakening body cradled tightly in his arms. The soldiers filed out of the tent, heads bowed as they heeded their leader's words.

Sensing that they were alone, Kyuhyun tried to sit up but failed as he fell back to the body that he has became so used to. "Won, you need to go..."

"No, not without you," Siwon gritted his teeth, his rough fingers brushing the flushed cheeks of Kyuhyun.

"I...can't. The poison will attack me if i walk. You still have your man to take care of...I..." Kyuhyun cupped the fearless warlord's stubbled face, tracing the tiny scars and scabs. He then coughed severely, his thin shoulders heaving as he covered his mouth. "I will wait here for you...to bring me back...to our home. Whether dead or alive." They both knew the chance of Kyuhyun getting out of this battle alive but sometimes, things were better left unsaid.

Knowing Kyuhyun was right, Siwon kissed his forehead gently. "Help me with my armour." Smiling faintly, Kyuhyun tried as he always did, placing the clothe over the hard muscular body before clasping the strong metal over the waist. Trembling, he brushed the long hair before braiding it securely, enjoying the feel of the hair against his fingers. Using a piece of charcoal, he drew the lines on Siwon's face carefully.

"Stay with me till I sleep, this is my only wish," he asked Siwon before using his remaining energy to launch himself into those warm arms. Silently, the warlord rocked him gently, watching him till his tired eyes fluttered to a close.

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Siwon stood outside their tent, his fingers tying a crudely made necklace of a lock of Kyuhyun's hair. He raised his black blade before bellowing a loud fierce battlecry. "Brothers! We will move on to our last battle for our homeland. I will be with you all the way. Are you ready?"

I swear I will bring you home, Kyu.

 =============================

Two years ago

"Who is the one who can see through our plans?" Siwon roared in anger as he slammed a heavy fist onto the wooden stand next to him, breaking it into two pieces. No one dared to utter a sound for a word said wrong, if deemed by the quick tempered warlord, would mean a precise slit on the throat.

"You!" Siwon narrowed his eyes dangerously as he pointed his gleaming dagger to his slightly trembling advsior standing on his side. "You tell me since you are the one who give me your ideas."

Averting his eyes, looking at the sandy ground, Sungmin took a deep breath before saying quietly "He...he has a new advisor...who could tell our moves...based on our current actions." Closing his eyes, Sungmin waited for that blow to strike, muttering a soft prayer under his breath. After a period of tense silence, he took a glance at his fearsome leader to find him deep in thought.

"I don't care how you do it. Bring me the advisor," he commanded firmly to his trusted second in command, a heavily armoured expessionless Kangin.

-------------------------

Kyuhyun placed his reading neatly at the side of the study desk before blowing the candle. Subconsciously massaging his temple, he finally thought of an answer to the very difficult question posed to him by the emperor. He would have to gently reject the ruler's romantic advances by sharing with him a poem. Moreover, they would need to prepare for the next battle by the barbarians, he had anticipated in another two weeks or so. Despite being shrouded in darkness, he still moved about the room expertly, ensuring that he had drunk his medicine before wearing two thick layers of clothes, knowing how he would easily get sick when exposed to cold weather. He could feel a slight tickle at his throat, clearly an indication of an impending cough. He could not afford to get sick, when his country still needed him.

"Master Cho?"

"Yes?" Kyuhyun sat on his satin bed as the servant tasked to serve him rapped on his wooden door.

"Do you need anything else for the night?"

If there was one thing that Kyuhyun hated most would be all the servants and guards surrounding him at all times. "No. Nothing...please rest well."

Kyuhyun was drowsy with sleep when he heard two loud thuds outside his room. His quick-thinking made him slipped a sharp small knife underneath his layers of clothes before a sweet sweet scent wafted into the room which made him fall into a deep slumber almost immediately.

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With a light gasp, Kyuhyun jolted awake, his fingers trying to grasp the usual soft sheets but finding none.

Then a pair of big, unsure brown eyes met cold, calculative, emerald ones.

"Who are you?" Kyuhyun whispered, scooting himself backwards on the hard concrete bed, his hands feeling for his knife as a sense of dread settled at the pit of his stomach.

"Are you looking for this?" Siwon sneered, his voice dangerously low and his calloused hand dangling a small familiar knife infront of the pale pale boy.

And they both just knew it in their guts that their lives would change.