Chapter 7

 

Third POV

 

"Now, that we've gotten that out of the way, I was wondering if you could possibly do a favour for me." Taeyeon asked Suho after having cleared up the whole proposal fiasco.

 

Suho immediately agreed to help her saying "I'm at your disposal my lady." With a bow before looking at her expectantly, awaiting her command. Taeyeon smirked as she went closer to Suho and whispered what she wanted in his ear. 

 

Suho looked at Taeyeon with a shocked facial expression, not knowing what to think about her out of this world request. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Suho asked uncertainly, hoping that Taeyeon would change her mind and ask him for something else.

 

But her mind was made up as she had a confident air around her with a smirk on her face as she said "Positive."

 

Meanwhile, Kyungsoo was getting worried about Taeyeon as she had been gone for awhile now and his worries doubled when Tao came rushing to his side saying "Taeyeons, disappeared. I can't find her anywhere and the knights and contestants aren't telling me anything."

 

Kyungsoo immediately rose to his feet angered and severely worried at the news he had just received. However his actions gained the attention of all those in the arena who was now looking to their king, wondering just what he was doing. Noticing the crowds attention, Kyungsoo knew that he couldn't go off in search for Taeyeon as he was occupied with the tournament he had set up for the enjoyment of his subjects and his absence could be a sign of weakness and support for his position as king would diminish. So he decided to play off his sudden action of standing up by walking over to Jessica, his pronounced fiancé, alleviating any underlying suspicions anyone at the tournament would have had at his actions. 

 

"To what do I owe this pleasure your highness." Jessica asked with a curtsy as she put on her facade in front of the king as people were watching their every move, there being a break between the the last jousting battle and the next.

 

"Let's get rid of the pleasantries as I have made my knights surround this area and move people away from hearing range. I know you don't like me but I happen to know that you are friends with Taeyeon so any ideas of where she might go if she left the contestant tents she left to earlier?" Kyungsoo hissed impatiently, not bothering to treat her how he usually did as he felt sorry for her.

 

Jessica kept her smiling facade on as she knew she couldn't possibly show everyone her utter hatred for the king, however she did see the opportunity to let Kyungsoo have a little taste of her revenge as she misled him saying "Of course she would be with her future husband, Sir Suho. She may have told you that she didn't want to get married to the knight but when discussing the matter with me, Taeyeon seemed quite smitten with the knight. However she knew that you would disapprove of her entering the contestants tents to find her beloved so she made up a ruse to have you let her go to her knight in shining armour. Now who knows what she's doing with that knight." 

 

She made sure to make Kyungsoo completely misunderstand the whole situation and be consumed with jealousy at the idea of Suho being with Taeyeon she had implanted in his head and her plan worked. She had the satisfaction of seeing Kyungsoos face turn a raging red as he bowed to her, not forgetting his manners and the fact that people we're watching him before departing to his own seat, whispering menacingly, to Tao who went straight to his side, "Find Taeyeon and her beloved Suho and bring them to me as soon as possible."

 

Tao nodded, leaving in confusion at the fuming anger he saw Kyungsoo was in. "Come on Taeyeon, where are you? You need to be here to calm the king down before things get out of hand and what was with the King calling Suho your beloved?" Tao muttered to himself as he began to brief the kings royal guards on the commands given by the king as the knights we're being anything but helpful in finding Taeyeon and Suho, probably because Suho is the leader of the knights with all of them being loyal to him.

 

While the royal guards were sent to find Taeyeon, Tao set out to find Suho, to somehow clear up this mess, knowing what a bad liar he was and how elusive Taeyeon can be, Tao decided it was best to find Suho.

 

"Suho!" Tao shouted as he spotted the knight sitting under a tree looking out onto the plains of the fields with an anxious look on his face, not hearing Taos call.

 

"Hey, are you okay?" Tao questioned as he tapped Suho on the shoulder snapping him out of the trance he was in.

 

Suho looked at Tao with pleading eyes saying "You've got to help her Tao." Tao gave Suho a confused look to which Suho explained "Taeyeon, she's..."

 

As the search continued for Taeyeon and Tao being with Suho, an announcement was made for the final battle to take place with one chosen knight from the royal knights battling against the overall winner from the contestants. Whoever won this last match would win the tournament.

 

Both sides mounted their horses and armed themselves for the joust. Anticipation was rampant within the crowd as they watched the knight and contestant on their horses waiting for the signal to begin. 

 

Finally the signal is given and the match was over in an instant. The knight and the contestant hurtled themselves at each other on the horses with much speed and strength being directed into their joust. It was a fairly even match however, the knight was more agile and had more speed than the contestant, matched with their accuracy skills they were able to crush their opponent with their joust, knocking them off their horse unconscious, unable to continue for the remaining rounds.

 

The arena was shocked into silence as they watched the contestant being taken out to get medical attention while the knight remained untouched, galloping around the arena, stopping in front of the king and bowing. It was only then that the arena erupted with a roar of cheers for this unknown knight.

 

"Show yourself knight and claim your prize." Kyungsoo said coldly, totally uninterested with the tournament, consumed with rage at the thought of Suho and Taeyeon. However that rage turned into utter surprise as the arena was again shocked into silence at the view of the knight who had won the tournament.

 

"T..Taeyeon?" Kyungsoo stuttered out with the whole arena reeling from the discovery that their champion was in fact a woman. Jessica's eyes were wide at the sight of Taeyeon on the horse in front of her dressed in armour, somehow her beauty seemed to shine even more in that armour leaving people in the arena enamoured by this supposed female knight.

 

Taeyeon just giggled cutely at Kyungsoos surprised face and smiled at him cheekily "Yep that's me." Kyungsoo couldn't help but smile at her cuteness but he was reminded about the issue of her and Suho and immediately his smile faltered into a cold glare causing alarm to Taeyeon who was worried about his drastic change in mood.

 

"Guards take this woman to the dungeons and award the other contestant the prize of the tournament. I cannot accept this woman as the champion." Kyungsoo ordered with an authoritative tone earning boos from the crowd who had come to like the female knight.

 

"This is so unfair, why can't I be the winner of the tournament?!" Taeyeon shouted towards Kyungsoo.

 

"I have no need to answer to you. Take her away!" Kyungsoo answered coldly.

 

Taeyeon looked at Kyungsoo coldly as she shouted "I see I have outstayed my welcome here. Don't think you can keep me captive Kyungsoo. If you don't want me here then I will just leave. Good riddance you tyrant!!" Her words cut at Kyungsoos heart as he looked at her with pained eyes. Taeyeon saw this but was so overcome with anger that she payed no mind towards his pain and instead fought her way through the guards, galloping to the entrance.

 

She looked back once more piercing Kyungsoo with her gaze uttering the final words to finish the king off as there was sorrow and disappointment in her eyes. "I thought you were different." Before evading the royal guards and racing her way out of the arena, out of Kyungsoos life. 

 

It was then that Tao had returned to the arena with Suho to explain the whole situation and find Taeyeon so that she could stop all this madness but as they returned it seemed that the madness had already settled within their kings heart as he was pained at the revelation by Suho and Tao about what had really happened. Suffering from the guilt of his actions and the harshness of his words towards Taeyeon, also fearful of the possible consequences of his actions. 

 

What if she doesn't forgive him? What if she now bears nothing but hatred for him? He felt like dying as he recalled the piercing cold glare she gave him as she once again called him a tyrant. There is also the problem with his subjects who witnessed what had happened in the arena who were outraged at his actions as they had come to like the idea of a female knight and a strong one at that. First and foremost his kingdom comes first and unwillingly he will have to figure out how to deal with Taeyeon later. He could only hope that she was safe and well, and that she would be in a forgiving mood the next time he saw her.

 

Taeyeon POV

 

Tears were running down my face in buckets as I tried to get away from the arena as fast as I could. How could he do that to me? I understood it the first time but this time I don't even know what is going on in his head. I mean, what made him act that way? So consumed in his anger that he wouldn't even let me reason with him let alone even listen to what I had to say. Was all the kindness I had seen in him a lie? 

 

I was out of the perimeter of the arena and the area surrounding it, finding myself now surrounded by forest, completely lost but too emotional to realise I was riding deeper and deeper into the forest. Suddenly, I could hear the sounds of ropes being cut and before I knew it I had been knocked off my horse and caught in a trap, hanging from a tree. My day just keeps getting worse and worse and it looks like it's about to get dangerous as I can hear people talking about something being caught in the trap and a hunt or something.

 

Finally I was found by the group of people I heard coming my way and the look of surprise on their faces were priceless, but I had more pressing matters to attend to such as how am I going to escape from these men seeing as they are wearing the same uniform as the enemy of Kyungsoos kingdom and since I'm wearing the armour of a knight from Kyungsoos kingdom it's not hard to guess where this situation is going to get me. I just ran away from persecution only to find myself about to get persecuted again except by Arcadians. Just what am I going to do?