~ a lily among thorns~

"the end of it"

Nari's arms began to numb as the soldier's gripped them tightly. They were almost completely dragging her down the path towards doom. She hadn't time to fully grasp the situation. She was still suffering from the shock of being caught – and betrayed at the same time.

It was hard to believe what had happened. In almost an instant, her life had changed so quickly. But at the same time, she scolded herself internally. She should be used to drastic changes by now. Her life had been full of them. They had all been afflicted by the palace of course. It was as if the royal family's main mission in life was to bring harm to Nari and her family. The only one left of them was Poong-yeon...and he wasn't even a blood relative.

That's what Nari had thought until she was reminded of that very same morning. Although it was just hours ago, it felt like an eternity...an eternity since she'd discovered her Father was still alive.

Her Father...was still alive!

The reality of it hit her even harder than before. She wasn't alone! She never had been! She needed to see him!

"Guards," she suddenly cried, before latching on to one of them. "Please, you have to let me go!"

"Get off me!" the man grunted, forcing Nari backwards. But she wouldn't so easily give up.

"I'm begging you!" she pleaded, approaching another with desperation. He ignored her, continuing to march forwards. "Please, there's someone I have to see! He's waiting for me!" Nari continued to beg, finding the arm of another soldier to clasp onto. Unexpectantly, the other hand of that soldier gripped onto Nari's wrist, pulling her towards him.

"Nari, stay calm," he whispered, before pushing her away like the others.

Nari was at a loss for words. She stumbled backwards; completely taken aback by the sudden show of alliance. She slowly let her eyes fall to the ground, continuing to trudge along whilst her mind ran rampant.

"Who is he?!" she thought to herself, furrowing her eyebrows.

She wanted to ask, but finally decided against it. If he was going to help her, she didn't want to blow his cover. Instead, she continued to comply with the soldiers leading her away, a little less nervous about what awaited.

After some time, the group merged to a halt. A peculiar sight sat on the road before them. A man leant against a wooden wagon, one of its wheels broken and laying aimlessly on the ground. The hefty thing took up most of the pathway. To get past it, the guards would have to form into a single file line. They weren't ready to risk the escape of their prisoner. Instead, they approached the lonely man carefully.

"What's happened?" one of them asked, causing the man to stand up straight, still keeping his arms firmly crossed.

"My wagon has lost its wheel and my horses have run off," he replied stressfully, his face scrunched into an unpleasant grimace. "I've been stuck here for two hours."

The soldier looked back at his comrades. They shrugged in reply.

"We're in a hurry. All we can do is pick it up and move it to the side of the road," he said, turning back to the man.

"Suits me," he replied.

Suddenly, a soft but clear noise emerged from inside the wagon. The group of soldiers grabbed hold of their spears, aiming them in its direction.

"What's in there?!" the same soldier asked loudly, clearly demanding an answer.

The mysterious man just shrugged. His eyes darted around, as if he were looking for someone amongst the crowd of guards before him. "Just some supplies for the palace," he finally responded. "Something must have fell over."

"Well, you wouldn't mind if I took a look then?" the soldier muttered, walking up to the wagon briskly.

"Not at all," the man said, taking a step backwards to let the guard through. He hesitated as he neared the door, before lurching forward and swinging it right open. For a moment, nothing happened. Nari let out her breath slowly. She hadn't realised she'd been holding it. But almost as quickly, a horde of armed men burst through the opening, falling onto the group with swords and bats.

Nari let out a cry, merely dodging a blade swinging very close to her head. She found herself caught up in an unforeseen clash with no adequate weapon. The worst thing was, no one was on her side. Or so she thought.

"Quickly!" a voice yelled; the same one she'd heard earlier from the soldier who'd spoken to her. He was grabbing onto her arm and pulling her away.

Happy to escape the brawl, she followed him – off the footpath and into the cover of trees. The soldier kept close to her side, helping her over any bumps and crevices they encountered.

"Just keep running," he instructed, and she did – although her lungs were burning with exhaustion.

"Who are you?" Nari asked between pants of air, and she watched the soldier remove his helmet. It was none other than Yoon-sung.

"It's you!" Nari cried, her body filled with utter relief.

"Congratulations for finally figuring that out!" Yoon-sung answered sporadically, dodging low hanging tree branches and inconvenient shrubs that stunted his path. "I'm rather offended it took you this long."

"What are you doing here?" Nari continued to call out, the rustling of leaves under their feet making it hard to hear replies.

"Rescuing you! What does it look like?" Yoon-sung sniggered, shaking his head.

"I see you're just as impertinent as the day I met you."

"Wouldn't want to disappoint. Besides, the ladies love it!"

"Ha! What ladies?"

The pair continued to run as fast as they could. They began to merge into a field of long grass. Nari could tell they were near the city border.

"Where are we going?" she asked, struggling to even talk through her exhaustion.

"Just follow me. I'll explain everything once we get to the-"

Suddenly, as they rounded the corner, they were met abruptly by a line of guards blocking their path. The Queen's Command stood in the middle of them. Yoon-sung halted in his tracks, pulling Nari behind him. This wasn't part of his plan.

"You think you could trick us, boy?" the Command asked slyly, taking a step forward.

Yoon-sung held his arm around Nari, holding tightly to her like a precious treasure.

"You thought your plan would work, didn't you?" the Command continued to mock, pulling out his sword. "Don't you know that nothing goes on without the Queen knowing? Tip off a soldier and the only thing he'll do is report it to us...you should be more careful next time."

The Command studied the tip of his blade before turning his eyes back to Yoon-sung.

"That is...if there is a next time...Guards, take them away."

"No!" Yoon-sung shouted, but there was nothing he could do. The pair were dragged away from each other, kicking and yelling.

"Yoon-sung!" Nair screamed, but he disappeared from her sight swiftly.

And that was the end of it. No more fighting...no more running...it was over now.