The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 111: Measures of Safety

Turning away, he grumbled about not having any say in the matter since she was just going to do it anyways and stalked off.

She gazed after him regretfully, wanting to repair things but they didn't have any time. Patting the shoulder of the black horse beside her, she guided his head down.

"Good boy." Calista whispered, laughing softly as he nickered, pushing against her cheek.

"Oh no you don't, Bat-Ears. Come here." Came Hak's familiar drawl as he dragged her, carefully, over to where the blue dragon was standing. "Stay with Shin-ah."

Then, mimicking her tone, he asserted, "You two can't be separated."

Calista stuck out her tongue at him as he stole her line. "That's just rude. And that's only for you and Yona since you both manage to get yourselves in the worst situations imaginable when you're apart."

Noticing the heavy weight that seemed to have possessed the princess, she added on to lighten the mood, "Like when we were kids and having a snowball fight on opposite teams."

She paused dramatically for effect. "And then our dear princess was hit by a rogue snowball, knocking her out cold. If you had been there, you could have been the one drinking hot chocolate in bed for five days instead of her."

"Yeah, but Gramps also would have murdered me."

She grinned. "... Possibly. But you would've been able to make up for it."

Boredom painted on his impassive face was hilarious. "How?"

"From the grave." She snickered.

At the sound of a barely restrained giggle slipping out, Calista stopped her theatrics and smiled apologetically at Yona.

And even though she didn't explicitly say it, the red-haired princess knew she felt bad about earlier. Smiling back reassuringly, the gap growing between them disappeared.

Yona came closer, ignoring the way her heart fluttered as she stood by her bodyguard. "Hak's right. You should go with Shin-ah."

It didn't matter to her in terms of protection as Hak saw it. She just knew that after all that had happened, they needed to be together before they headed into the fight.

Glancing at Shin-ah out of the corner of her eye, Calista called out questioningly, "... What do you think?"

Him tripping over his feet in his haste to stand by her side to make his point answered that question.

Meanwhile, Yona was staring up at the only unclaimed horse left with a distant look in her eye.

That's right... the last time I rode one... She squeezed her eyes shut. Soo-won, why?

"You can't ride one?" Yoon appeared beside her, his bag slung over his shoulder for the journey ahead. "I thought for sure you could since you said to prepare them."

"I've..." She swallowed thickly. "Only ridden once."

His expression gave way to hidden fear, blue eyes shining with unchecked worry. "Are you really going?"

Turning to face him, Yona couldn't find the words to say, but he could read that look in her eyes clear as day.

"Got it. I won't stop you." He exclaimed, then spun on his feet with renewed vigor, running back to Jae-ha. "Instead, I'll go along with you, regardless of what happens!!"

With him gone, there was nothing stopping the memories from flooding as her fingers brushed against the leather of the saddle. Yona gulped, heart pounding so loudly that she was afraid everyone could hear it.