The Lonely Prince (BTS Jungkook)

Where to Next?

We walk back in the general direction from which we came, and as if the world flipped upside down, we were back into the clear woods.

Jungkook's horse was still pawing at the ground, eagerly waiting the return of its rider. The sun was beginning to set, casting a gold layer of sunlight everywhere it falls.

"That was crazy." I give myself a light chuckle, us both still covered in blood. In fact, Jungkook was soaked. We both look like we took part in a homicide.

"I have to agree with you for once." He turns to give me a quick smile. "But I think we make a good team."

At the mention of us being associated together, my heart begins to flutter once more. It's a feeling I have to push down for my own sake, because I cannot fall in love with the prince. It just wouldn't end well for either of us. Royalty and a criminal don't mix.

"Where to next?" I ask, trying to take my mind off my emotions.

"The Fire Kingdom." He answers, folding up the map and placing it in his saddlebag. "There should be a small town right on the edge of the border that's not too far from here. We can rent an Inn room and get cleaned up."

"That sounds amazing." I take a seat back on the broomstick while he swings his leg over his steed. A hot bath is exactly what I need now. It'll help with the stress of today.

The potion bottles along with the vial of sap clatter along in my basket as I try to steer and take a bite of cheese at the same time. I'm not sure what Jungkook defines as 'not too far' from here, but it feels like we've been moving for at least an hour.

The trees look the same as always, and its almost pitch black when I begin to feel the temperature begin to slowly rise.

"Is it getting warmer to you?" I ask, him keeping his eyes straight ahead.

"It means we're close."

And he was right. Before we knew it, the pine forest we were in slowly turns into a hot, humid place with almost no trees. The ground is hard red sand, it cracking in various places from the lack of water.

I take my hat off to let the top of my head chill. If its this hot during the night, I'd really hate to see it during the day. In the distance to our right, a tall volcano lies in the distance. Even from many miles away I can see the molten lava dripping from the top and rolling down the sides like veins.

"We're at the very outer edge." He begins to explain as we follow a dry dirt road to what is beginning to look like a village. "The deeper we go into the place, the hotter it'll be."

"I'm sure it can't get that bad." I try to be optimistic, wiping away a bead of sweat from the side of my cheek. "I mean, where's the next place we're going?"

"Only one person can reach into molten lava and pull out three stones." He begins, and I really, really fear his answer. "And he lives inside that volcano."

I shoot him a look that says, "Are you kidding me?" And I can feel my stress level beginning to rise by the second. Great. I have to climb a volcano.

His horse's hooves clack on the hard ground, it being the opposite of the shuffling of leaves like before in Jungkook's kingdom.

Jungkook's kingdom.

A startling thought pops its way into my head. I'm no longer in Jungkook's kingdom. Witching is still illegal, even if I got the free pass from him before. Its different now. Here, he has absolutely no rule, and that scares me. One mistake and they'll have me burned at the stake or tossed into the top of the volcano as a sacrifice.