Prologue
A dark haired Emperor sat on a throne of wood and gold, his imperious eyes sweeping the throne room and the advisers before him. He heard their incessant buzz, like that of bees, as they talked among themselves regarding the move he would soon make. He had lost count of the number of times they had implored him to reconsider his decision, but he was the Emperor of Shinra Empire, and his mind was set.
"Your Grace, we beg you to reconsider," one of his advisers said, as he kowtowed before the throne. "The Princess Takiko is well loved throughout the empire, and she is the guardian of the—"
"Silence." He felt satisfied as the room went quiet at once. "We have watched our neighbors closely throughout the years, have we not? The Northern Kai empire is divided, and is of no threat, as is Southern Kai. Xing has been inconsequential, divided between two princesses. And Sei…" He made a dismissive gesture with his hand.
"For a decade, Kouka Kingdom has been ruled over by a coward of a king," he continued. "Kouka was nothing more than an ant its neighbors could crush at a moment's notice. However, with the recent death of its King Il, and the reign of its current King Soo-Won, Kouka has waged wars, and won them all."
"Within a few months of his reign, the new king has taken Southern Kai under his thumb, and has turned Sei into Kouka's vassal state." He paused. "Our spies in Xing report that the princess Tao plans on handing over her country to King Soo-Won as a vassal state as well. Her sister, of course, is not fond of this plan."
An unease began to rise in the room as his advisers glanced uneasily at one another. "Surely, your Grace, you aren't considering that upstart king as a threat?" one of them said.
The Emperor of Shinra rose from his seat. "Oh, I do consider King Soo-Won a threat. He has managed to accomplish much in less than a year of his reign. I am quite impressed."
The room began buzzing again, and another adviser spoke up. "But sire, our armies far outnumber Kouka's—"
"Outnumber Kouka's, yes," the king sad. He narrowed his eyes. "But should King Soo-Won rally Xing, Sei, and Southern Kai to him, he will be a force this continent has never seen before. Not even King Hiryuu had the potential to muster such an army."
"Sire, this is entirely conjecture," the persistent adviser said. "King Soo-Won is a greenhorn. Our princess—"
"Only a fool underestimates his opponent," the Emperor snapped. "You call the King of Kouka a greenhorn, but what a frightening person he will be when he gains more experience, and allies. I have already sent emissaries to Kouka Kingdom, and the princess Takiko has accepted the proposal."
"But who will be our new guardian?" the advisers asked.
"My sister will take my place."
The room went quiet as all eyes turned to the grand doors. A young woman of seventeen stood there. Her expression was solemn. She strode into the room, and stopped before her brother's throne. She turned to face his advisers.
"I have been Shinra's guardian for most of my life," she continued. "I live for my country and my brother. Whatever his commands, I will carry out. Therefore, I will go to Kouka Kingdom to offer an alliance with King Soo-Won as his bride."
"What about An Lili?" General Geun-Tae asked. "She's a good woman. She's obedient, yet strong. And quite tenacious. I'm sure she will make a good wife for the king." General Joon-Gi nodded his approval, his expression serene.
Soo-Won's eyebrow twitched. The only thing he agreed with General Geun-Tae on Lili was her strength. In his opinion, Lili's tenacity was a euphemism for her stubbornness, which, he supposed, was also one of her strong traits. He gave himself a mental kick as he glanced around at his five generals.
For a time, he thought he could escape the inevitable fate of finding himself a wife. His generals had dropped the subject after they had rescued Lili from Sei. However, with the arrival of the emissaries from the Shinra Empire, finding the king a bride was suddenly of tantamount importance to all five generals. Even Joo-Doh.
"An alliance with Shinra will be very beneficial to Kouka," General Kyo-Ga said, not bother to hide his exasperation with the stubborn Earth general.
"If we rely on foreigners, our strength will grow weak," Geun-Tae said, making a fist. "Besides, what do we know of the Shinra? Even farther than Northern Kai, we rarely get news of Shinra. The only thing we know is that their armies are strong."
"Their people also possess great strength," Kye-Sook spoke up. "It is said that when a Shinra babe is able to crawl, they are placed in a room full of weapons. The first weapon they crawl towards will be their companion for life."
"And you believe gossip?" Geun-Tae scoffed. Kye-Sook glared.
"This matter," General Joo-Doh spoke up. "Should be resolved by the king."
All eyes suddenly turned towards Soo-Won, who blinked slowly at them. For a moment, he resembled a bewildered owl. "Me?" he said, surprised. His cheeks were flushed.
"Your highness, your future queen deserves some serious thought," Geun-Tae said. "Besides, the Shinra could send us an ugly hag to be your queen, do you really want to spend your nights with someone like that? At least Lili is beautiful!"
For a moment, Soo-Won pictured Lili rolling around on the floor of her room had she heard Geun-Tae's comment. He shook his head. "Exactly!" Geun-Tae said, misinterpreting the gesture.
"Or maybe," Joo-Doh said quietly, "the king wants the passerby lady he was fooling around with in Awa."
Soo-Won's eyes widened as he remembered the way he had pulled Yona towards him that day in Awa. It had seemed so long ago now. And yet the incident was still fresh in his mind. He remembered the way she had looked at him with shocked eyes. He remembered his own disbelief at seeing her alive and well. He recalled the way she had trembled in his arms beneath his cloak. Remembered how she tried to draw his own sword from its sheath. He shook his head vigorously. "General Joo-Doh, it wasn't like that!" he said quickly.
"You know," the General of the Wind Tribe, Tae-Woo, said, "I do notice the king becomes very flustered when we talk about that lady from Awa."
"No!" Soo-Won said. He felt his face grow hot. "It's nothing like that at all." He let out a loud breath and closed his eyes. He held up a hand for silence, and when he opened his eyes, there was no sign of the bewildered owl from earlier. His gaze was sharp, like that of his falcon, Gulfan.
"The emissaries from Shinra have informed me that their princess is willing to make this alliance," Soo-Won said, his eyes grave. "We are running out of time, and an alliance with the Shinra will indeed aid us in battle."
"Are you saying you're going to accept an arranged marriage like this?" Geun-Tae said, exasperated.
Kyo-Ga glared at the Earth general. "And forcing An Lili on the king isn't an arranged marriage?"
"At least Lili is of Kouka,"Joon-Gi said quietly.
Soo-Won shook his head. "From the very moment the emissaries came to me with their proposal, I already made up my mind to accept," he said quietly. "I only wondered how my generals would react."
"Is that okay with you, then?" Geun-Tae said. "If you want, we can go look for that passerby lady. At least you had an attraction to her, right?"
Soo-Won's eyes bore into the Earth general's. "From the very beginning, General Geun-Tae," he said calmly, "even before I was king, my heart was no longer my own." The color of the dawn sky flashed before his eyes and he shook his head. "It can never be my own."
I only just found out about Akatsuki no Yona, and I have to say I am quite hooked. I've just come back from a very long hiatus, and had initially planned on finishing my other story, "The Reincarnation of Miko Midoriko", but this particular chapter just wanted to be written.
I hope this prologue was okay. It is quite short. I normally do around 20 pages or so, but I was thinking I might be able to update more regularly if I did shorter chapters.
And yes, this story has an OC in it. But I usually don't keep the spotlight on my OCs, as I find it to be such a waste of canon material. Yona and the gang will make their appearance in the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned.
Please let me know what you guys think in the reviews!
Ja-Ne!
