Sacrifice

Chapter 17 : The Flames Within

Your breaths come out in dense white puffs of air as you stand hunched over with your hands resting on your knees. The muscles in your chest burn as your lungs struggle, greedily taking in the clean crisp oxygen that they so desperately need. The morning air around you is numbing, leaving your cheeks feeling icy cold. But because of all the physical exertion you just put your body through, you're overly conscious of the feeling of blood rushing through the veins underneath your skin, leaving a flushed pink pigmentation in its trace. Your nose, in all of its bright red glory, is the only feature you can't seem to feel at all.

A sudden gust of air brushes up from behind you. The moment, as quickly as it flashes by, drags by uncannily slowly. The milliseconds crawl lethargically and time slows down to the point where you can almost count each strand of hair that flies in front of your face, covering your field of vision to leave you a winded mess.

"Tired already, beloved?" Jungwon teases, reaching down to brush your hair out of your face. You don't have to look up to know there's a teasing, almost competitive grin resting on his lips. It's practically dripping through his tone. "We're just getting started. Sunghoon and I even did an extra lap." If it weren't for his angelic features and personality, you would have responded snarkily to his obvious boast. 

"Take it easy there, Won. It's called a warm-up for a reason," Sunghoon huffs as he jogs in shortly after the younger prince. "Not a throw-up." You fight the strong urge to pout when you witness just how quickly the therianthropic prince calms his breathing.

"A throw-up?" the younger prince parrots cutely, tilting his head in slight confusion. You're amazed that Jungwon doesn't seem to be fazed by the 20 minutes of light jogging. But then again, it must be like child's play for the agile prince.

"Because the princess looks like she's about to throw up," Sunghoon clarifies, jutting his chin out in your direction.

"Good job, love. It was a good warm-up." Heeseung's voice is soft and comforting as walks up from behind and his hand comes into view, guiding a bottle of water into your hands. "Drink this as you catch your breath." You nod gratefully, hastily bringing the bottle to your lips and chugging as if your life depended on it.

"Jay? Why aren't you in your training clothes? It's your turn. The princess is ready for strength training now," Sunghoon asks when he notices the second eldest prince approaching from the castle sporting clothes that are less than ideal for moving about freely. When you turn around to catch a glimpse for yourself, your shoulders almost sag in relief. Your muscles have been burning from the rigorous sessions the strength-inclined prince has been putting you through, and you highly doubt you will last another day.

"We're changing things up today," Jay explains, smiling softly when he notices the relief flooding your eyes. "I figured you needed a breather from all the hard work you've been putting in."

"Jay and I spoke the other day and we decided it would be a good idea to throw in some new techniques to the princess's training regimen," Heeseung adds, taking the now empty bottle from your hands.

"Will you be training her on swordsmanship today?" Jungwon asks inquisitively, excited by the prospect. You and Sunghoon turn to Heeseung in surprise but the eldest simply shakes his head.

"Not today," he says.

"So tomorrow?" Sunghoon jokes lamely but you find yourself cracking a smile nonetheless. The therianthropic prince stands a little taller when he hears you giggle and a small boastful smirk tugs against one corner of his lips. The lighthearted eyeroll Jay throws the younger prince goes unnoticed by you, but Jungwon catches it and bites back his knowing smile.

"Soon," Heeseung corrects. "She'll need to master a few other skills first."

"Other skills? Like..?" Jungwon trails.