The Prince and His Warrior Wife

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Sooyoung watched as she watched Sungjae and Hayoung argue incessantly. Hayoung had been insistent on touring the city instead of being locked up in the estate for the whole vacation.

Personally, Sooyoung agreed with Sungjae. They didn’t know if there were more cultists and spies in the city and besides, there was little of interest to her in the city anyway.

“Come on. There’s nothing to do down here and besides, there haven’t been any reports of cultist activity recently,” begged Hayoung.

“We don’t know if they’re really all gone. Its best if we stay in here,” said Sungjae firmly, clearly not intent on budging.

Hayoung pouted and whined in response, clearly not happy with Sungjae’s decision.

“I’m sorry dear, let’s not risk it alright? I’m sure you can find something to occupy your time here in the mansion”, said Sehun as he rubbed her shoulders from behind.

If Sooyoung thought this was the end of the conversation, she was to be disappointed as Hayoung turned and marcher her way over, shaking her as she begged her to intervene.

“Sooyoung, please!” whined Hayoung desperately.

“Hayoung. Listen to Sungjae. Even though we haven’t had an attack in a while. Its still dangerous.”, said Sooyoung as patiently as possible.

In truth, Hayoung’s insistence to see the city was starting to grate on her too. The girl was clearly not accustomed to the dangers of assassination but she and Sungjae knew them all too well.

“We can’t stay in here forever you know? What will the people think of us? They’ll think we are cowards and incapable,” said reasoned Hayoung.

That caught Sooyoung off-guard. She had assumed that Hayoung was just being a spoilt brat and granted she was acting like it…. but she did have a point.

They had to show the people that they were in control and hiding behind the walls of the mansion grounds was not the answer.

She looked into Hayoung’s eyes and considered the options once more. It was risky to be sure but it would have been risky even in the best of times.

Hayoung continued to stare at her, hoping that she would get through to her. A few tense moments passed before Sooyoung sighed in defeat and turned to Sungjae.

“I hate to admit it but she’s right. We can’t stay in here forever. We have to go out and be seen by the people after what has happened. There’ll be civil unrest soon enough if we continue to hide behind these walls,” said Sooyoung.

“We should wait a while more,” said Sungjae.

“We’ve been waiting for a long time already Sungjae and let’s face it, the danger will always be there,” replied Sooyoung as calmly as possible, “Let’s just get it over and done with”

Sungjae sighed and nodded, knowing that she was right.

A little while later

Sooyoung glanced around as she and Hayoung passed through the bustling market place, silently observing the daily life of the people here as they went about their day-to-day business. This was an enjoyable change from being stuck in the mansion but she was self-aware enough to take the chance to get to know how her subjects lived in this city.

Here and there, loud and raucous touting from shop owners as they bragged about the freshness of their meat or vegetables. Not much difference there, except the abundance of vegetables, which Khuzait did not have large supplies of.

Passing on to the non-food quarter of the market, Sooyoung found sellers touting their wares, from small trinkets to fine silk and jewellery. This was where the distinction between Khuzait and Nilfgaard markets stood out, for the Nilfgaardians had far more extravagant and flashy wares to sell.

Clearly, the sedentary people of Nilfgaard had a very different lifestyle from the mostly nomadic Khuzait. The market was filled with citizens as expected, so Sooyoung and her entourage had to weave through the crowds. As they went deeper, the crowds only got worse.

Sooyoung immediately tensed, realizing that it was the perfect opportunity for an assassin to strike. She turned to Sungjae, he nodded and immediately ordered the bodyguard retinue to close ranks further, tightening the seal of the protective circle.
When they made their next stop at a stall, she quickly bent down to check her ankle, just to make sure the dagger was still there before coming back up to check out the wares with Hayoung. The young girl for all her carefree nature knew the risks and never ran off, which was good.

They moved off and were just about to turn a corner when suddenly, a cry rang out from Peniel and Sooyoung turned to find an assailant swinging his sword, clashing with Peniel’s. More assassins appeared as the bodyguards drew their weapons and engaged.

Sooyoung hissed in anger as she brought Hayoung protectively behind her, but let the bodyguards do their job. She reached under her skirt and kept her hand on the hilt of her dagger, ready to fight if it came down to it. The assassins were in plain-clothes and had no armour, so the bodybuards made short work of them.

Just then, a flash of movement caught Sooyoung’s attention and she turned to find that one last assassin had barrelled into Seulgi and Hyunsik, knocking them over. Joohyun immediately broke rank to get in-between the assassin and Sooyoung, Sungjae and Hayoung but it was too little too late. Sungjae and Sehun started to draw their swords but in that brief second that Sooyoung processed it, she knew it would be too little too late, and so she did the only thing she could.

Darting in low, she drew her dagger and charged the assassin, who was certainly not expecting her to come at him and it showed. He started to slow down, but that was to be his undoing. Shoving her hand up, she lodged her dagger right in the throat as she batted his sword arm away.

The assailant screamed and dropped his short sword before his blood flooded his throat, cutting it off.

Sooyoung took no chances, pulling out her dagger to the side to open the wound all the way through before stabbing him repeatedly in the stomach. He fell to the ground as Sooyoung continued, only stopping when his body ceased thrashing.

Taking stock of the situation, she was relieved to find that everyone was alive but it was clear that they could not stay any longer. She turned back to Sungjae and Hayoung and stopped in her tracks.
Hayoung stared at her in terror, clearly never having seen killing up close before.
Sooyoung sighed and sheathed her dagger and approached the petrified Hayoung, pulling her into a hug to comfort her. Her eyes met Sungjae’s and they nodded to each other.

Soon, she felt a gentle nudge as Sehun motioned his intention to take over, and she separated from Hayoung, letting her husband comfort her and bring her back under his protective care as they made their way back to the mansion.

A/N: Another short update.

So the cultists strike again and poor Hayoung is left traumatised.

Will they ever catch a break?