𝙀𝙣𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙄𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 ☘

« jake »

The satin sheets felt like clouds beneath their skin. Daylight was on its way to the window, eagerly peeking through the curtains. Jaeyun made sure to wake and see the reddish mark he had left on her neck, daring to smile by the thought last night, daring not to because it only meant the bite hurt her. 

He set down her long wavy hair at the side to see the bruise clearer. Leaning closer, he planted a gentle kiss on it. It was such a marvelous day to fall deeply in love. Thank the heavens he had all the time to hold her close this time. 

Y/n began to move, returning the kiss with a smile. Their breaths smelled like morning and wine, not that it should matter. She woke up and he never left. "My little wolf." she greeted, caressing his cheek. "You're still here." 

"I surely am." He said, gingerly clasping her wrist. "Do you wish for the king to leave?"

"You are asking a common whore if she wishes for the king to leave." The girl replied disbelievingly. "Not a whore." He let out a soft laugh. "You seem to forget you are my celestial darling."

"Then, where is my ring?" She was quick to retort, loving the attempts of maiming the royal's pride. "I am your celestial darling, where is my ring?"

Without a word, Jaeyun got up and donned his coat, deciding to open the curtains to get a whiff of the salt air outside the lady's abode. When he became king he was told he could do anything he wanted. Yet, until now, not even the gods could make their stars align. He was of a noble blood, and she was only a foreign performer of a royal satire, a slave to his country, a slave to the crown.

Y/n followed, finding her arms instantly wrapping around his waist. "I understand," he need not to say anything at all. For a time, it would be enough to meet him as Jaeyun. Just Jaeyun. For a time, it would not hurt to think that one day, someone would take him away from her just as she is still holding him dear. Someone luckier to have a title before her name, even someone more graceful, someone brighter; because she didn't have to wait for the world to change its turn.  She knew his promises would soon as well vanish in a puff of smoke. But now, it shouldn't hurt. 

A noble must be one with a noble, and he was only meant to love her illicitly in the dark.

And so in the dark they met once again, where people were none and the night sky grew older, painted with constellations that seem to know so much about them just by the way the stars were gazing down on the valley. At the end of the day, all the biggest person in the kingdom ever wanted was that lady's cabin where crossvines continued to trail down on the walls, where the grass was always supple and moist, where her cat always waited for him at the door almost as if he was its father, where just the way she smelled like spice made him yearn for her when they were apart, where the lamps were flaxen rather than formidable, where his darling was always there, ready to welcome him in her arms.

Home was where the crown does not feel too heavy on his head.

"Watching you live happily with someone else is the last thing I want to happen, you know." Jaeyun dared to say when y/n could only laugh as she rested his head on her chest. "And you know as well this tale of ours is a sham." Y/n answered.

"But you're still the one I'd choose to kiss in the rain."

"Now, you sound like a child."

Jaeyun hissed. "I'd like to make an attempt against the force of rebellion."

"And this is why our love is just a dagger pointing at your throat." Y/n answered. Seeing her paramour clinging onto a slight of hope only made her figure that everything he wanted tonight was just not possible. "I am in love with you, King Jaeyun. But you are for the Kingdom of Skye."

And for the Kingdom he was. And for honor. And for wars he was to fight to secure his dominion. If he loved her, if he truly loved her, he would devise a thousand ways to keep her from the hands of the castle's deception and blades that now strive to rip him apart. He could not run away for a lifetime. Not with her. She should live, and Skye should do the same. 

That was why his words had to escape from his mouth. "You need to  go home, y/n."

"Not when I have stood on this ground for years! Not while I've finally found my peace in this city! Tell me you no longer burn for me, just tell me and I still will not leave!" The lady replied, pacing back and forth as the tears persisted to trail down her cheeks.

"You don't understand, y/n! Neither of us wants this to happen! I have to protect you. Listen to me when I tell you to flee. Please." Something was slammed against the wall after that. Was there anything left to say, their eyes could not meet for the first time.

"You are a difficult one." She said, allowing herself to fall on her seat. "How can I leave you here?"

"Just promise me to take the path towards the bay in the following fortnight. Sail towards your home. The king of Skye commands it."

"But, you..."

"y/n." he grabbed her wrists. "After the war, you will still have me. Alive."

Summer came with a lenient touch that brought about the evergreen trees and the generous growth of the Azalea fields. What was once a ruins was reshaped and swarmed by foliage, as if promising that nothing in that place will ever be swallowed up by flames again. The children of the city cleverly deigned to come see the tower. Once upon a time, the unshaken Realm of Skye finally found its way to the barren ground.

The new epoch of the city began eight years ago. Different renditions of the history of Skye flooded the streets, but only one tale lingered from then on, slowly sinking into the minds of many. Eight years ago, the King's attempts of protecting his land ended when his enemies found their way to ultimately pursue their sack in the city. The King Skye knew was an obstinate king, daring not to bow to anyone that was not him. He knew nothing of surrendering to the foes' blades. For days he didn't leave the tower, unbeknownst to anyone that a plot has been forged: To burn the tower along with the people who chose to stay before the monsters reach them with their claws. To die in a rival's arms is to die most painfully. So, let the walls cave in, and Jaeyun would just watch. Let the fires devour his flesh, and his ashes would soon feed the grounds so the weeds would grow. He wished y/n would know he tried. 

For ages, the bay has witnessed the most sincere kisses, the most sincere adieus. Leaving for a journey was a romantic tribulation, and the ships walked through waters to lead its people to the places they wanted to belong. Eight years ago, a passenger in a ship was someone's lover. And eight years ago, y/n found it hard to bid her adieu, despite knowing that she would soon see the king, which she never did; For as the ship met the bottomless waters and the caviling currents, the journey failed to resume. And the blue, shilling depth was the last one that greeted her a lamentable death.

And so, she was right.

Their tale was a sham.