Jaehyo is probably the most noble knight in the kingdom, he’d like to believe. The most patient, at the very least.

Jiho had been droning on and on for nearly an hour, his scratchy, metallic voice like the incessant buzzing of bees in his ear. He hadn’t even quieted when Jaehyo had shoved him back in his scabbard, his indignant squawking muffled but audible through the leather.

Jiho sure was talkative, for a sword.

An enchanted sword, but a sword nonetheless.

Kyung was egging him on, though, so he wasn’t completely at fault. Kyung, being a rather small dagger and thus incapable of seeing over the top of the holster strapped to Jaehyo’s thigh, was shouting to make sure his tinny little voice could be heard.

Judging by the angry screeching of the birds as flew madly out of their nests to escape the noise, Jaehyo was sure that it could.

At least Minhyuk and Yookwon were being relatively quiet.

Minhyuk trundled along the dirt road towards the Dark Castle with heavy hooves, tired after a full day of walking. He’d occasionally show his displeasure by whipping his long tail up to flick Jaehyo on the back of the head, but he always played it off as swishing away flies, big brown eyes innocent when they looked back at the knight.

Yookwon was sleeping, snoring tiny little snores from his perch atop Minhyuk head, curled into his long hairless tail between the horse’s tall ears.

Jaehyo thought it was really quite cute.

The sun was setting behind the far mountains, and the tops of the conifer trees threw beautiful spidery shadows onto the red dirt beneath him. He let a small smile slip onto his face.

Today was a beautiful day to save a lovely maiden.

~~~

The Dark Castle was not what Jaehyo had pictured in his mind.

Where he’d imagined tall, foreboding spires, charmingly mismatched flags fluttered gently atop rounded turrets instead. The bottomless moat spitting lava and hellfire was replaced by a shallow stream, hundreds of exotic fish swimming lazily through the shadows provided by the beautiful ivory lilies and their broad leaves. A small but sturdy bronze bridge covered in heart-shaped ivy lead to what Jaehyo had assumed would be an impenetrable cast iron portcullis, but was in actuality a gorgeously carved oak door with huge golden lion’s head door knockers.

Even Jiho fell silent at the shock.

Minhyuk, having stuttered to a stop when they’d first laid eyes on the stronghold, resumed moving after nearly a full minute of staring, his ears pricked up in excitement.

The lazy creature was probably anticipating the surely luxurious stables, the sloth.

He was nearly in a trot by the time they reached the gates, tossing his head in delight at the sounds his iron shoes made against the wood as they crossed the bridge. Poor Yookwon was nearly thrown off, saving himself at the last minute by gripping Minhyuk mane in his itty-bitty paws.

Jaehyo dismounted with a bounce, his heart fluttering in his chest like a frightened bird.

Kyung and Jiho were whispering excitedly to themselves from where they were strapped about his waist, and Yookwon’s squeaky voice could be heard as he prattled away into Minhyuk’s attentive ear.

They fell silent as he grabbed on of the great knockers and slammed it against the wood.

The echo was tremendous, audible through the massively thick door. The hall inside must be enormous.

All was silent for a moment, three breaths held in anticipation. Kyung and Jiho, having no working lungs nor the need for proper respiration, simply ceased their babbling.

When the door started to open, finally, Jaehyo was afraid he’d pass out.

Pass out, mind you, not faint. The most noble knight in the kingdom didn’t faint.

But then the door finished it’s opening, and instead of a lovely maiden, before him stood the dragon. A massive reptile with bared, pointed fangs revealed in a grotesque parody of a smile, long, clawed fingers, and a tail so wickedly pointed it put Jiho’s finely-sharpened edge to shame.

"Hello!" The dragon growled, waving one clawed hand happily.

So maybe the most noble knight in the kingdom did faint every once in a while. 

~~~

Waking up with a start, Jaehyo found himself wondering just exactly where he was.

The bed he was on was soft and plush, the coverings stuffed so full of goose down they resembled the chocolate mousse that the kitchen maids back in his Busan homestead knew he favored.

His armor had been removed and seemingly expertly placed on a mannequin in the far corner. It gleamed suspiciously, and Jaehyo could only assume it’d been washed of the embarrassing grime it had acquired over his trek.

The rest of the room did not exactly look like a lovely maiden resided within it.

The walls were bare stone, no mirrors or paintings adorning the dark stone walls. Pants and tunics and even a few underclothes were strewn about the scuffed birch wood floor, seeming to be in varying degrees of cleanliness.

No perfumes or cosmetics of any sort were to be seen on the top of the single dresser, which also lacked any sort of vanity.

An odd maiden this one was.

Kyung chose this time to start his screaming from where he sat on the rug by the rest of his armor, Jiho quickly joining in and screaming right back, and Jaehyo heaved a sigh.

An odd knight for an odd maiden.

It fit.

Jaehyo was startled from his ponderings when a knock sounded from the door.

Half fearful of the possibility he’d be forced to confront that dreadful monster again and half hoping beyond all hope it was his maiden, he approached the door at a strange skip-shimmy sort of walk.

Kyung snickered from behind him.

When he reached the door he paused, indecisive, before reaching back and plucking Kyung from the rug, holding him in front of himself in a ready stance.

No mythical beast would pull one over on the noble knight this time, no sir.

With that empowering thought he opened the door.

It was not to a dragon.

It was to a man.

A man, shorter in stature than Jaehyo, with wavy hair dark like polished dogwood and lips that very same delectable shade of pink reserved only for the shyest, most beautiful flowers. He was dressed modestly, green cloth cinched at his small waist with a plain rope chord, tasseled with fine red thread that offset the paleness of his porcelain skin.

His cheeks were stained the most delicate shade of red Jaehyo had ever had the honor of beholding, and when he smiled, his eyes twinkled like the stars Jaehyo so loved to admire.

This extraordinary creature was Jaehyo’s maiden?

The knight fell to his knees as Kyung clattered to the floor with a shout, his wide eyes and gaping mouth a shock to the angel in front of him.

He reached out to lay a hand on Jaehyo’s shoulder and the man on the floor wasted no time in snatching it into his own, the small, warm fingers feeling like silk in Jaehyo’s rough hands.

"What is your name, goddess?"

The man reddened at this, his fingers curling shyly into Jaehyo’s palm.

"Taeil, m’lord."

Jaehyo reveled in the timbre of the maiden’s voice, strong, like a balm to the knight’s sunburned ears.

Taeil. His maiden.

His ethereal, stunning, lovely maiden.