𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐰𝐧

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟐

kaho had always liked walking around the gardens. she never got to see the castle gardens much but now, lost in thought, she was able to walk around. it had been many days since she first arrived and the guards had still been watching her and akito so she needed a moment to herself.

she heard that soo-won had managed to get the leaders of all tribes' consent to be king. the wind tribe didn't agree at first but eventually did because of some personal reasons. this shocked her though, because soo-won's not even the son of the king, her father. he's only the nephew. it should be yona who takes over. that's how it should work. but yona's missing...

'so shouldn't i be taking over?' she thought to herself.

though that thought went down the drain quickly. no one knew of her. she's unknown. her father never revealed that he had another daughter so she could never be a queen because it would cause an uproar within the kingdom. saying that, she didn't actually care much. she didn't want to be queen.

there had still been no sightings of yona or hak. thoughts she had because of this were awful. she had no idea if they were dead or not and soo-won would not tell her anything. it was like he was trying to hide things.

kaho walked towards a tree and leaned her back against it. all those annoying thoughts were just going to make her head explode one day. she was quick to move away from the tree when rustling sounds came from above and someone fell in front of her

"hey! idiot, what were you doing up there? you could've hurt yourself." she scolded akito, who laid on the grass, in pain.

"are you my mum now? i can climb trees if i want to,  you know." he grinned.

she grabbed her katana and pointed it at his chest. "whatever. help me train!"

"so suddenly? geez! ever heard of the word please?" he mumbled grabbing his katana. it was long and black with two white straight lines painted on the sides. every time she saw it she couldn't help but stare at it. beautiful.

without warning, he charged towards her but she knew all the tricks. she took a step to the side and tried to strike him in the back using the other end of her katana. he'd been practising more and was too quick. he put his katana in front of him, holding back hers. she backed away and tried catching him off guard even though she knew it would not work. he slid on the floor and tripped her legs. within seconds, he had her pinned down to the floor.

"you seem to be getting weaker, kaho." he said as he helped her up.

"i'm not weaker!! if anything, i've gotten better." she argued, raising a fist and using her other hand to brush off the grass from her clothes. "you didn't even help me train, you just fought me."

"kaho. it's time to go inside. it's getting late now." a voice said from behind them, it was soo-won. he had one of the generals behind him.

"okay." she replied, listening to him.

now that he was becoming king, things were different. she couldn't be so open about their friendliness and would need to be more respectful. everything about him seemed off as well. he'd grown distant and cold.

✧

it had been more than two months now since kaho heard of a terrible rumour. it was that yona and hak had fallen to their death. even if it was just a rumour it was something she could not forget that easily. she hoped they were still alive out there, but no one had heard from them ever since.

"hey akito do you have any hope that they are still alive?"

"let's go inside. it's late." he purposely avoided the question and made his way back. she tagged along behind humming to herself. from the corner of her eye, she saw five guards approaching them. they stood in their way with their weapons out.

"leave this place now!" one yelled, surprising the two. it was so sudden.

"huh, what do you mean? i demand you let us in!" kaho yelled back. her hand reached to her hip, looking for her katana but it wasn't with her.

"what's the meaning of this? tell us!" akito yelled as well. he took a step forward and the guards looked threatened. more appeared and approached them. akito signalled to kaho and they took off, running straight to the stables to get their weapons.

"i knew something was wrong but why are they doing this? are these soo-won's orders?" she turned to akito.

"i have no clue but we have to find out!" he said turning back to the guards and she followed. after counting down from three, they both attacked the guards.

"leave now! you are no longer welcome here!" one charged at her. she used her technique from before of stepping to the side and stabbing them in the back.

"what is going on?!"

akito and her were now back to back, but withins seconds, he was pulled away, captured in rope. he lost his balance and fell to the floor as the rope was tugged on, dragging him. 

"let him go!" kaho yelled, anger consuming her as she was getting ready to strike but instead was pulled into someone grip.

"no!" akito tried breaking free from the rope. it only got tighter, making it almost hard to breathe. 

kaho stopped fighting and watched as a figure stepped out from behind a door and walked towards them. she had a sick feeling in her stomach as her cousin stepped out of the shadows, a grave look on his face.

"soo-won, what's going on? are these your orders?" she was released as he used his hand to usher the person away.

"it's okay. i'm here now." he said and she was, strangely, embraced by him and he stroked her long hair.

"soo-won..." she moved her head away so that she could look at him.

"oh kaho... it's a real shame isn't it?" he said, the expression on his face never changing.

"what is?"

"you." he whispered and stroked her hair once more. his actions seemed forced, like he didn't want to be acting this way and was putting on a performance. this was not the soo-won she knew at all. it was merely him pretending to be something he wasn't

"you killed father, didn't you? you drove hak and yona away from here?" she tried backing up but his hold on her was tight.

"when i told you to come back here i was planning on locking you away and kepeing you safe, but i had changed my mind and given you freedom since you were so oblivious. however, my guards noticed your growing suspicion, so this was my only option."

"to kill me? you bastard!" she cursed, balling her fists.

"i wouldn't dare kill you... no. i'm going to actually lock you up. your friend however..." he faked a sigh and then grabbed her chin, pulling her closer to his face. "i'm sorry that it came to this."

disgusted by him, as quick as she could, she used her hands to push her away from him so that she landed on the floor away from him. she looked over at akito and rushed towards him, slicing the rope and setting him free. he stood up and picked his katana from the floor.

"i'll distract them and you run, never look back!" he said. her eyes widened in shock and horror.

"no! i don't want to lose you too! please no!" she yelled, tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.

"you'll never lose me." he winked and showed off a goofy smile, "goodbye kaho! now run!"

he pushed her and she had no choice but to run as he did a sign with his fingers. she ran as fast as she could, past soo-won who didn't even try to stop her. she could've sworn she saw a regretful ook on his face. as if his facade had dropped.

kaho didn't have time to ponder on it as she felt a sudden excruciating pain in her arm. blood quickly stained her clothes from the arrow that hit her and she fell to the floor, gasping in pain. she could barely make out the sound of soo-won yelling at them to not shoot. despite, the arrow being stuck in her arm, she got up and continued running. it was all she could do, run for her life.