Rough ☆ Jake

You can't read?

"Why did you head butt my guard?" I shut my eyes for a second as I took a deep breath when I heard the king call out from behind me.

"Because he grabbed me without my consent." I shrug my shoulder, not bothering to turn and face the king.

"Without- he was doing his job!" I couldn't help but laugh a little when I heard the anger in the kings voice.

"Okay?" Now I turn to face the royal ass.

He pulled his lips into a thin line as he glared at me for a moment. Heeseung and Sunghoon stood to the side, their eyes flickering between the two of us, waiting to see what would happen next.

"I don't have time for this." The king said as he stepped over to me and grabbed my arm. "We need to activate the map so we can figure out a travel plan."

I dig my heels into the ground and snatch my arm from his grip.

"I head butted your guard for grabbing me, don't think I won't do the same to you."

The king grabbed my arm again and jerked me closer until our faces were a few inches apart.

"I would like to see you try." He grit out from between his teeth.

"Okay, I think that's enough." Heeseung stepped in and pulled me away from the king. "Why don't we all go have lunch and then work on the map?"

I let Heeseung guide me back to the castle, I had made my mind up to help save the kingdom, but that did not mean I had to tolerate being treated as if I was shit stuck to their shoes.

"Can't you give the king a break?" Heeseung asked lowly so the king, who was behind us couldn't hear.

I snort and shake my head. "When he shows me respect I will show him respect, it's a two way street."

"You know, if you weren't needed for the map you would be killed for your disrespect towards him?"

"Good thing you can't do anything without me, I guess."

~~

After everyone had finished eating we all moved to a war room, or that's what Sunoo called it. A place where generals and the royal group would meet to discuss battle strategies.

"I need the knife as well." I say holding my hand out, the blank map resting on the table in front of me.

Jay shot me a look making me send him a smile. I knew he hated me the most, but that only made me happy to know I got under a man's skin.

Jungwon passed me the knife from the king, all of them watching to see what I would do next.

I take the knife from its sheath and turn it over in my hand, watching as the light caught the dragons two different colored eyes. I place the tip to my left pointer finger and apply just enough pressure to break the skin. I let a small drop of blood pool there before I bring my finger down to the dragon symbol. I press my finger down on the center of the symbol and wait a moment before I pull away.

I nod my head to Jungwon as he handed me a handkerchief to wipe the little bit of blood away. I watch as my blood gets absorbed into the map, waiting like everyone else with batted breaths.

This was just as new to me as it was for them, I never had the chance to see what the map did or showed, seeing as it was snatched away from me years ago.

Dark red lines started to appear on the bottom corner of the map, outlining a place I had never seen before. One thing I did see that I could tell right away what it was, the stone of water. I see words start to pop up above the stone.

Water gives life, but it can also take it.

"Are those words?" Jungwon asked as he leaned closer to the map.

"Yeah." I say as I look them over again.

"What does it say?" I look up from the map and furrow my brows.

"You can't read?" I ask, it was a very simple sentence and the writing was very neat in my opinion.

He looked up from the map and gave me a look, as if to ask if I was being serious.

Sunoo busted out laughing after he heard my question. I looked around the table, confused.

"What? It's a simple sentence..?" I look back at Jungwon who was still looking at me as if I had kicked his dog or something.

"Of course I can read! This," He put his finger under the writing. "is not a language I know, though. None of us know it."

A language they didn't know? I only knew one language, which is clearly the same as them.

"I only know one language." I say as I turn to look at the map, my eyes narrowing as I look at the words, waiting to see if they would change.

"Must be something to do with you being the maps protector." Heeseung offered.

"So, you really can't read what it says?" I ask as I slide the map to Sunghoon, who sat on my other side.

He looked at the map and shook his head. "Just looks like a bunch of letter's scribbled over one another to me." He then slid the map back to me.

"What does it say?" The king asked after him being silent for a while.

"Water gives life, but it can also take it."

"What does that mean?" Ni-ki asked.

"Seeing as this leads to the water stone first, I suppose we need to be careful not to drown?" I really had no idea what it meant, but if I were to take a guess it had to do with drowning.

"Where is it located?" I shrug as I push the map into the middle of the table.

"I've never seen this land before, so I don't know."

"Ni-ki, bring the maps please." The young blond nodded as he stood and walked over to a table that was covered in books and parchment's, grabbing a few up before he returned and set the maps down for the king to see.

We wait as the king and Ni-ki look over the maps trying to find any similarities between the dragon map and theirs.

"Here." Ni-ki said as he set his map closer to the dragon one. The land marks looked almost the same, just the dragon maps outlines were rougher and more outdated.

"It's in the south swamps." The blond said as his sharp eyes roamed over the pages. "A three day trip, sir."

The south swamps, I had heard of them. No one dared to go to deep into the swamps, most people who did were never seen again. The stories of that place were wild and hard to believe. Most said there was a hairy water beast that lived deep in there, others claim there was a witch who lived in there, killing anyone crazy enough to go in there and using them in her blood rituals to gain more power.

"Okay, we leave at first light."the king said before he stood to his feet and grabbed the dragon map. He held his hand out towards me and raised a brow.

I did the same back wanting to know what he wanted.

"The knife." He said simply. I roll my eyes and pass the knife over to him. "Oh, Sunghoon. I need you to check over Heesungs and Miss, Choi's wounds to make sure they are fit for travel."

I was wondering when they would mention my wound, I had figured they forgot about it. I had taken it upon myself to keep an eye out for infection and changing the bandage with pieces of cloth I got from the maid. She never knew what it was for because she would always give me an odd look when I asked for some .

"My wound is fine, I've been taking care of it myself." I stand and wave them off as I head for the door, I had no need to stay since the meeting was over. "Oh, I do have some requests though."

"And what may those be?" The king quirked a brow.

I look down at my dress and scrunch my nose. "I will need clothes more fit for traveling and trampling through a swamp, a dress is far to much."

The king nods his head as he looks over the dress. "I will send a seamstress to get your size and have them make some clothes for you."

I give one short nod before I turn and leave for my room.