Royals

Prisoner

"Are you okay?" Seoho asked as he opened the door to Janie's bed chambers. She only nodded quietly stepping into the brightly lit room. Seoho walked to the fireplace adding another piece of wood to the already roaring fire. 

"Can I ask you something?" He continued with no vocal response, "and please answer honestly." 

He turned around and found Janie crawling into bed snuggling under the blankets. 

"Mhmm," a short response but it was all Seoho needed to continue. 

"How did you know Keonhee was back?" Seoho asked curiously. Whatever her answer was would explain the reason they were together just now. Not that he really cared that the two friends had reunited, but a part of him wanted to protect her from Keonhee. Little did she know that his brother was not the same person she once knew.

"I didn't, I kind of stumbled upon his room on my way back from the kitchen." Janie sighed thoughts of earlier running through her head. She still couldn't figure out why her best friend had acted so differently—like a complete asshole. 

Seoho made his way across the room. He came to rest on the bed, laying flat on his stomach using his elbows to prop the top half of his body up. Silk red shirt hanging low and half exposing his bare chest. 

"Did he hurt you at all?" He searched Janie's face and along her neck for any scratch or bruise. For all Seoho knew Keonhee could have lost control again and hurt her, even though deep down he knew his brother would never mean to. "You must understand Keonhee hasn't been himself for a while now, he's not the same person you remember." 

"So it seems." She hummed again, continuing to remain distant. Seoho could feel her emotions roar being this close to her. The bond is strong, creating affection he never thought he would never feel towards the girl beside him. Seoho had known Janie since she was little, growing up as his youngest brother's best friend. Keonhee and Janie were inseparable. Always out causing trouble or finding ways to escape the castle on horseback for hours. He remembered his father would always punish his younger brother for his silly antics. As they grew older into their teen years he remembered how Keonhee's view of Janie had changed drastically from simply being innocent friends to exploring something more. They had always thought the two would end up together. Janie had come from a respective family so it was completely out of the question for the two to get married.  

But they never did become more. 

Her family used to be honourable Lords and Laddies until the downfall of the previous king which brought about a mass murder within the castle walls. It was known as the night of the great killing. Janie's parents were found guilty of the massacre, including that of the king, and they were sentenced to death. That was the last he'd seen of Janie, until he found her a few months back, a slave working a night den. Where men would go to drink and watch pretty women flaunt themselves around them. Losing Janie had torn Keonhee to pieces, and part of Seoho himself longed for his brother's best friend to return, she had once brought fun and laughter to the castle. A sense of normality and careless fun, in those years after her disappearance it was nothing but glim. None of the brothers had blamed her for what had happened, but some people in the castle weren't as forgiving. Now since he had found her again, he used whatever means he could to keep and protect her here within the castle walls.

Seoho went to get up and leave since it looked like Janie had half fallen asleep. Her eyes desperately wanted to fully close. As he stood up ready to leave he felt a slight tug on his sleeve, causing his shirt to slide down his shoulder. 

"Stay," Her eyes flicked up to meet Seoho's, "for tonight." 

Without a word, Seoho slunk back down into the bed beside her. Wrapping his arms around her pulling her body flush against his. It wasn't the first time sharing the bed together, they were married of course, and bonded. The tingling sensation of the bond feels very familiar by now, having been a few months. He watched as she finally let her eyes close. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, felt the way her legs wrapped up around his waist, and relished in how she belonged beside him, and only him, like those perfect couples. A thought ran through his head of the what ifs, the maybes and the possibilities. The loud mess in Seoho's head soon was drowned out by the darkness of sleep, and before he knew it, the morning came.