svadilfari - w.kh

30.

"give me back my crown!" the queen demanded. king longwei gripped onto her necklace and crown tightly, knuckles turning white.

"you don't deserve these, not after what you've done." the king turns to xiaomei, sticking his eyes onto her multiple wounds.

"general, do the honours and bring her to the dungeon. after that get your wounds aided."
"yes, your majesty." xiaomei smiles. she walks up the steps and approaches the queen, getting a firm grip of both her wrists and putting them behind her back.

watching as xiaomei's figure grew smaller, the king turns to his son. "you, are a disgrace. you may have been forced to do it, but that doesn't mean you listen." prince hendery bows his head at his father in guilt. "i'm sorry, your majesty."

"na, you go help our general, will you? and the rest of you, clean this up and aid your wounds. i have business with prince kun. and you, don't cause trouble." the king gives one last glance to prince hendery before leaving with nianzu and prince kun.

jaemin runs over to the three figures at the top of the steps, removing the pouches from their heads. on there faces were small bruises and small cuts. "are you guys okay?!" jaemin asked.
"we're fine, na. we'll help these guys, you go to li." jaemin hesitated at first but left nevertheless.

jaemin wandered around the palace, trying to find the dungeon. "get your filthy hands off me!!" when jaemin heard the distant yell, he ran in the direction it came from. going down a few steps, was the dungeon.

a dark passage with cells lined up along the walls, leaving some space in the middle as a walkway. it was dimly lit, only seeing a few torches every few cell. not even a single window in sight.

"let go! this is an order from the royal family, let me go!!" the queen yelled.
"well, this was an order from the original blood line of Cressida's kingdom." xiaomei spat. jaemin walked to the general and took her hands off the queen. jaemin's hands gripped around her shoulders - putting pressure onto them.

with a harsh kick in the back of her knee, she fell to the ground on her knees. jaemin slammed the cell door shut, locking it after.

"you're lucky i didn't kill you." jaemin rolled his eyes before walking away. "let's go li! aid your wounds and i'll explain." xiaomei glared at the queen one last time before following behind jaemin.

when the two left the dungeon, walking into broad daylight. "well that was a nice way to start the day, don't you think?" xiaomei asked sarcastically.
"yes very amazing, i nearly died at 9 am." jaemin said back. xiaomei chuckled at his response, turning back to him. "so, what exactly happened?"

jaemin sighed softly, staring up at the sky. "it was late last time to i didn't leave the kingdom, i just simply stayed in the forest. wake up and i see the other three there panicking, they said that there are guards of Cressida searching for someone - for me. we ran to the village hoping to find somewhere to find but they ended up catching me. apparently the queen kept a tab on me since that night. the other three ran after me and ended up getting caught as well. they ended up separating us and yea, that happened."

jaemin and xiaomei arrived at a spacious room inside the palace, the room full of beds for injured royalty. jaemin pushed xiaomei onto the bed, leaving her and wandering off to get bandages.

xiaomei noticed his lost eyes, speaking up to help him, "they're to your right. mhm right there." jaemin grabbed the bandage roll, sitting down in front of her.

then, the door opens wide revealing the other injured boys and the three from jaemin's side. "hi jiejie!" shufen smiled brightly despite the various cuts on his arms. xiaomei smiled back.

"you know li, you're a good fighter." sungchan sat down beside her. minghao's eyes narrowed at the four unknown men. though, minghao's actions didn't go unnoticed by xiaomei.

"hao, they're friends of mine. we've been friends since the incident at Eleftheria." her words brought relief to minghao who let out the breath he's been holding.

at least an hour passed and everyone's wounds were bandaged. xiaomei announced today to be a rest day for everyone - which they happily accepted. sungchan, jungwoo and donghyuck had already left the palace, although jaemin wanted to stay longer.

jaemin and xiaomei spent this time to walk around the palace and talk. xiaomei decided to tell him about hendery and his confession a few days ago.

"you know, i think that was a very impulsive decision, he didn't even let you speak."
"i know right? i mean i was say i wasn't ready but would take the offer when i'm ready but didn't eve-" xiaomei cut her sentence off short when she caught sight of the king walking towards her and jaemin.

"jaemin! how have you been?" the king brought jaemin into a tight hug that jaemin accepted.
"i've been very well your majesty." jaemin pulled away from the hug with a soft smile.

"ah right, xiaomei. after the autumn festival, i will allow you to have a three day trip to Meraki. prince kun and nianzu will escort you and show you around the kingdom and the palace. in addition to this, i assume jaemin would like to show you his house, which was marked on the map."

the king diverts his eyes to jaemin who nodded his head in response.
"oh, thank you you majesty. i will gladly take the offer." xiaomei bows.

the king laughs quietly at xiaomei. "it's not an offer," xiaomei looks up at the king whose smile was full of warmth, "it's an order from me."

double update :)