The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 71: Tae-jun's Poor Disguise

The first few days were fine after tracking him down, but she could tell he was reaching his limit. She knew he was tired of being cooped up, but she didn't know how else to get him to rest properly so that he could recover.

So when Kija came back from chasing Shin-ah down yet again, she was a bit surprised to see a foreign man slung over his shoulder.

Zeno was playing with two children when the white dragon asked where Yoon was so that he could treat the supposedly ill stranger, but the golden-haired boy informed him that he had left with Jae-ha for the time being and would be back later.

That wasn't true. Jae-ha was with Yoon, but they were on the other side of town. And upon closer inspection, this guy didn't appear sick. At least, not in an illness sort of way, more like on the verge of fainting.

Calista eyed the newcomer suspiciously. He looked familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Twirling a knife menacingly, she glared at him, wishing him death with her eyes.

He gulped, clutching his things tighter to his chest and she sniggered under her breath.

Too pale, hands delicate, never seen the sun or hardship. He's the same noble from this past week.

On one hand, she was a bit impressed that he had managed to do this. Infiltration from the inside was the way to go when straight-forward attacks weren't working, but she was wary of his intentions since he wasn't following that part by the book.

If his mission was to catch them, he hadn't made a move to signal his allies to come in and take them out.

She wasn't stupid, this was what she did for a living before joining Yona and the others. There were simple guidelines to executing a standard infiltration, but wasn't common knowledge to most.

If he was here for that purpose, which she knew he was judging by the way he was fidgeting nervously as Kija stared down at him, he had to be equipped with a signal to send out to the others, whether physical or verbal, and while she didn't know what it was she did know that he hadn't used it yet.

Because no one was advancing over the horizon.

She watched as his eyes widened in horror as he took in the status of the village around him. It was in shambles. There was no food or water anywhere, only dust and dirt where there should be life and green grass.

You know nothing of hardship, rich boy.

Shaking her head as the poorly-disguised noble was taken on a tour of the village by the white and yellow dragons, she went to go check in on Shin-ah to make sure he was actually resting this time and not sneaking out again.

Pulling back the tent flap, she clicked her tongue in disapproval as she saw him try to get up to greet her.

"You are supposed to be asleep." Calista chastised lightly, not really having the heart to scold him like Yoon would. After all, she understood how frustrating it was to be contained while recovering. She never was very patient herself in that stage.

But it would help him in the long run, so she encouraged him to lie down and he did so reluctantly.

The small pout on his face brought a soft smile to her lips and she came closer. Yoon had finally finished mending his clothes that Kija had unconsciously shredded while attempting to wash it, and it was as good as new. Her fingers brushed over where she knew his wound was in a silent question and he nodded.

He tried to ignore how her gentle touch made his heart race.

Undoing his robe, she pulled up his shirt to reveal the pristine white gauze. He didn't wince when she touched it or when she applied a slight pressure to gauge how much it had healed and she sighed in relief.