Moonflower

Chapter 28: Plain Jane - er, Jina - and Just Plain Delighted

She stood watching him. She was peeking around the corner of the palace wall. His nightly job now was to stand guard outside the king's rooms. She wasn't sure how such a young man had been given such an important job. But she knew he was very faithful to the king. So maybe it made sense.

These were perilous times they lived in. Many people still questioned the cause of the former king's death. She knew some people suspected that Yoongi had been behind it. There had never been any love lost between the brothers. Had Yoongi coveted his brother's throne? Those loyal to the new king swore he had not.

When Yoongi had ascended the throne, much of the old guard had been replaced. Yoongi needed men loyal to himself. Still, she doubted that all of the current guards were faithful to him. There were a few she suspected of plotting against him. So she kept her eyes open and her ears attuned to certain quadrants. Looking for clues. Or warnings. And she kept a firm eye on Jungkook. It was especially important to her that no evil befell him.

She sighed. She knew he would never notice her. Not the way she wanted to be noticed. She was not a great beauty. She had no horrid flaw. She wasn't scarred or impaired in any way. She was just plain.

There was nothing about her that would attract any man's notice. Especially not the notice of someone as sublimely beautiful as Jungkook. The boy could have his pick of a thousand women. And she knew she'd be the last one in that line.

All the village girls were lovelier than her. All the women in the palace were too. Including their blind queen. She might have clouds over her eyes, but she had a stunningly winsome face.

Jina sighed. The same could not be said of her. There was, in fact, no hope for her. Jungkook would never notice her. But that didn't mean that she couldn't be his friend. That she couldn't keep him safe...

—

Moonflower lay wrapped in her husband's arms as he slept through the wee hours of the morning. She was not accustomed to sleeping at this time of the night. She missed her flowers. And her baby plants. But she had promised Yoongi that she would spend their honeymoon week locked in his arms in the middle of the night. Instead of traipsing around her garden.

But that didn't mean she could sleep.

So she relived her wedding night instead.

They'd been ushered into the tiny bedroom as soon as their wedding ceremony had been finished. Yoongi, still tied up, had been thrust into the room by one of the masked men. They'd taken more care with Moonflower. She'd been gently prodded into the room before the door was shut in her face and locked from without...

"Yoongi, are you all right?" she whispered as she turned towards the room, her four working senses seeking him out.

"I'm fine," he answered from the floor. "Can you help me to get out of these ropes?" He paused. "But first, take the blindfold off."

She followed the sound of his voice. She knelt next to him on the hard floor. She reached out to touch his shoulder before her fingers slid upwards over his face to pull the blindfold off. She dropped it on the floor, then her fingers descended to find the knots. Her fingers slid along the ropes searching for a weakness. It took her quite a while to figure out where she needed to work to loosen those ropes. But once she had it figured out, her nimble fingers began to work to undo the knots.

While she tugged on the rope, Yoongi watched her. He delighted in her beautiful face, which he could see quite clearly by the light of all the candles burning in this chamber. She was glorious tonight. At some point in their adventure, she'd lost her hair ribbon, so her radiant masses of wavy, raven hair had fallen to cascade down past her shoulders. His fingers were itching to touch it.