For the Prisoner

23. Sterling Eyes

Hongjoong and Mingi glared at each other when the witch elegantly sank onto the chair Seonghwa had discarded. In a flurry, Yeosang paced around the room, anxious about the body out in the open. He muttered under his breath about having to leave this village, as he couldn't keep up his charade any longer.

Seonghwa agreed. One look at the wolf's feverish cheeks and haunted eyes gave away that he had just murdered someone.

The White Lady, of all people.

Seonghwa stifled a sigh. His fingers ran through his hair, pushing the curls from his face.

He couldn't be mad at Yeosang. The disbelief of their failure had yet to settle with him. He dreaded what it meant for his inevitable decline. Since the pull of his heart was so insistent, he could only ignore it for so long.

"You said the White Lady was the only one able to heal him since she cast the curse, right?" Yunho leaned against the window with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Perie slumbered at his feet where he had released her from his bag once their stay prolonged. She was almost too big to fit it now and Yeosang kept glancing at her in marvel.

"Precisely. An unfortunate turn of events has occurred with the involvement of the puppy."

"Hokum. You got what you wanted and now, oh so sadly, the one to grant the repayment is dead," Hongjoong snarled.

"I couldn't foresee some wolf boy punching her in the face just before our arrival." Mingi's voice was just as laden with poison, just as dangerous.

The two tried to set each other on fire by glaring alone. A migraine throbbed behind Seonghwa's eyes.

Yeosang whispered yet another apology under his breath. Since he pitied the confusion on his face, Seonghwa talked over the two hateful creatures to explain the situation.

"The curse comes as a terminal illness to my heart. If it isn't healed, it reaps me of all life and I will die within a few weeks."

Shocked, Yeosang clasped his hands over his mouth. His horror at what he had done grew.

Yunho patted his shoulder with a comradely strike.

"It's fine. As we said, anyone would act on instinct. Now, we have to find a new way. How about you two stop squabbling and figure one out?"

In unison, the two hissed at him. Uncaring about the open display of aggression, Yunho retrieved their map from his pack and unrolled it on the table.

"Here. Is there any other source of magic you could use to break the curse? Or another White Lady we could ask?"

Mingi was about to growl at him, but Yunho slammed a flat palm down on the map across the table. Yeosang flinched. His gaze wandered towards the window once more.

No patience was left in Yunho's eyes. They carried a subtle warning, the threat that he would step in if they didn't behave.

Seonghwa rubbed his temples.

Mingi's chair scraped over the floor with a dissonant shriek when the witch yanked the map closer. He studied it, gaze flicking over names and numbers.

"The entire kingdom of Alverton doesn't offer enough of us to break such a powerful curse. As you pursue my kin here and drive magic to extinction, nothing but your holy spiritualness remained. There is no such source as the White Lady's magic. Fae folk is rare."

His clawed hands thrust the map away. The ring of his sterling eyes glowed like molten iron when he crossed his arms.

"That is all there is. Your path ends here, priest. The additional weeks I can give you won't last an entire lifetime. Perhaps we can bargain another year, but that is all you have."