The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 4: Secrets, Steel and Suspicion

The moon shone brightly as Calista crept past the guards, cloaked in shadow. She was right to tap his hand twice before he left, a signal they used when they were younger to indicate they were being watched.

After she and Hak had dispersed, Calista stayed close by, watching from one of the trees. 

She didn't have to wait for long. 

The man she had seen the night before with the master came into view, where she and her brother had been moments before. In the daylight, Calista had gotten a better look at him. He had black hair, with sharp eyes. He swiveled his head, as if looking for something. 

Or someone. 

The thing was, he wasn't supposed to be there. He wasn't a part of her master's entourage or his protective detail. There was no way it was a coincidence that they were both here at the same time.

So she went back to her quarters, opting to stay in the servant's wing to keep a low profile, until the sun went down. 

She changed out of the clothes her master had her wear when they arrived, and wore her usual simple black tunic, tying her long hair up with a scarlet ribbon. She tied a dark strip of cloth around her head, hiding the bottom half of her face from view. Her grey eyes gleamed as they landed on a dark figure, slumped up against a tree. It was the highest place in all of Kuuto, overlooking the mountainside. It was where they all used to go when they were kids. Hak and Soo-won would play with Yona, well, Soo-won would play with her, and Hak would tease her. 

Calista smacked the back of his head on more than one occasion for going too far, but it was always lighthearted, knowing that the last thing in the world he would do was intentionally hurt her. 

Things were much simpler back then.

She clambered up to where Hak was at, settling on the adjacent branch next to him, a little ways higher than he was at, to compensate for their height difference so that they were eye to eye. She let her head fall against the bark, eyes shining with nostalgia as they gazed up at the moon.

"Do you remember when Yona's mother died?"

Hak smiled wistfully, blue orbs dimming with sadness. "It was winter, wasn't it?"

Calista nodded, "You and Soo-won were trying to cheer Yona up with a snowball fight, but then you all got sick  because it was so cold outside and had to stay in the medical wing for days." She chuckled softly, shaking her head. "Gramps was so mad at you."

Hak laughed, the sound ringing through the night air. "Then you came in, scolded us for making the princess sick." He sighed dramatically, "My ears are still ringing from that day."

She punched him in the shoulder playfully, and Hak noticed there was a faint light in her eyes that wasn't there earlier. As their laughter trailed off, the light atmosphere darkened as Hak remembered the events that occurred earlier in the day. He frowned deeply, eyes narrowing as he remembered the bruises he had spotted decorating her skin before she covered her wrists.

"Still nocturnal, huh?" Hak threw her a sideways glance, and Calista looked down, smiling sadly.

"You could say that."

She didn't say anything else.

"Are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to force it out of you?" Hak prodded, not missing the way she winced at his words, as if they had physically cut her and his eyes widened in shock.

Calista sighed heavily, running a hand through her ponytail, dislodging the ribbon from it. It fluttered to the ground, like crimson blood trickling down. Her hair tumbled over her shoulder as she bent her head, before speaking so quietly, Hak strained his ears to hear her.