all's fair in love and war // loona

all's fair in love and war

It was almost time for war. Everybody in the village knew it, the ominous feeling thickening the air day by day. Jinsoul was good about it at first. She never complained to her parents or asked why the people were frightened. But she could only preserve curiosity for so long before it slipped from the tip of her tongue.

"Mother," she called, lifting her dress to be careful of tripping on the silky material. She was almost running down the stairs, knowing her mother would be on the lowest floor, in the room where she could work, in the hallway opposite of the one containing the knights' and maids' bedrooms. Her mother always worked so late at night, she thought she did her best work then. The door was already open when Jinsoul slid herself through it. "Mom."

"Yes?" her mother responded, still looking down at the sword she was crafting. She was good with her hands, could turn meaningless objects into large and dangerous weapons. It was possibly because she was a nerd, for lack of better words; she had always been fascinated by engineering, science, and math. She was the smartest person Jinsoul knew.

Jinsoul stood a fair distance away from her mother, careful not to interfere with her work. She held her own hands behind her back, looking out the window quickly and back at her mother. "Do you... do you know why we're going into battle?"

Her mother abruptly stopped for a moment, only discernible if you studied her movements hard enough. She continued working as if nothing had happened and licked her lips in thought of a response. "In another village, there have been attacks on our family. Trying to... destruct our image, our royalty. Your father had sent the men to fight them, but they are stronger. Our men are dying, my sweet daughter... war is the only viable choice. We must do what we have to."

"How are they trying to take away our image?" Jinsoul asked.

Her mother sighed and shook her head. "It isn't something for you to know."

"Mom, are you forgetting that I am an adult? I'm twenty-two now, not twelve." Jinsoul crossed her arms across her chest.

"Jinsoul. I cannot explain. You should go to your room, it's late," her mother advised. She put the sword down and turned to face Jinsoul. "You must stay strong for a little while, okay?"

Jinsoul wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but she nodded anyway. Her lips shut tight, she left the room wordlessly. She marched up the stairs and went to her bedroom, turning off any lights she left on. Her hand reached for her folded nightgown that she always kept on her nightstand, despite her parents always disciplining her and scolding her that she had a wardrobe room for a reason. She folded the fancier dress she stripped herself from as neatly as she could and put it next to her side. She knew the maid would take care of it if she had just left it messily at the door of her room, but she trudged to the wardrobe anyway and left it there. She entered her bedroom again, making sure she's taken care of everything and made the servants' jobs a little easier.

She slipped beneath her blankets and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to overcome her. She turned on her side and let a deep sigh leave her parted lips, her body and mind still hopelessly awake.

She opened her eyes, now facing the window, with its curtains wide open and exposing the moonlit garden to Jinsoul. If she looked hard enough and focused in the far distance, she could slightly make out all the trees in the woods. She thought about how lonely those woods were, how isolated they were.

"Jinsoul."

Jinsoul sat up immediately in her bed and stared wide-eyed at the woman at her door frame. "Jungeun?" Jinsoul asked, hands placed on the bed at either side of her, keeping herself up. "What are you doing?"

Jungeun leaned her head against the wall. "Sent to make sure you were sleeping."

"What? Why? What's going on?" Jinsoul questioned, throwing the blankets off of her and charging towards the door, but Jungeun wouldn't let her leave. Why did Jungeun check, her knight, instead of Jinsoul's servant? Jungeun placed a hand on Jinsoul's chest and held her still. "Jungeun—"