Category: General Fluff

Characters: Soo-Won, Yona

Requested By: Chichi_needs_hug (Ao3)

Soo-Won's eyes were lidded as Joo-Doh's deep baritone voice echoed through the throne room. The sound reverberated off the grand walls and columns, making the room seem full despite the fact it was only the two of them- and Yona, Soo-Won's new personal assistant. At first, he had only given her leave of his study; he cared not if she perused the stacks and stacks of volumes contained within, after all, and he could see from the look on her face how she was vibrating with nervous energy. Had he continued to confine her to her bedroom, the girl would have done something reckless, and he didn't care for Yona ruining the well-laid plans he had toiled over with some brash act. No, it was far better to allow her to do as she pleased for now.

After a few days, he had been the one to propose allowing her to become his assistant. Kye-Sook was vehemently against it, but ultimately bent to Soo-Won's infallible reasoning; it was an excellent way to keep an eye on her. Furthermore, no one knew royal affairs better than Yona, so it was helpful to have her do part of his bidding. He had simply said, "She's not my prisoner. She came to ally with me, and therefore she is entitled to be treated as an ally, not shoved in a room to gather dust like a forgotten relic." Kye-Sook had turned a pretty impressive shade of reddish-purple before grudgingly consenting.

She had taken the job gracefully and was doing well under his watch, helping him record important information from Joo-Doh's briefings or fetching tomes from the library. It wasn't like she could go scheming with her dragons or Hak, given her quarantine, so Soo-Won wasn't particularly worried about what she learned. All the cards were in his hand, anyway; he doled out cards to those he needed to, but they never had the full deck, nor knew what hidden ace Soo-Won had up his sleeve.

Soo-Won found his mind, and eyes, drifting to the red-haired princess standing beside his throne. She really was a far cry from the shy little princess who had witnessed her father's murder that fateful night. She all but commanded attention now, her chin held high, and her eyes cold and emotionless as she regarded Joodoh as if he were but a necessary evil her eyes must bear witness to. Soo-Won supposed that in her mind, that wasn't an entirely inaccurate description.

Soo-Won tried not to care about what others thought of him, unless it was in the best interest of his endeavors. His goals were what he needed to focus on; pleasing people was not. Yet, every so often, he found himself wondering what the young princess thought of him now. She used to revere him so. Surely now, she thought him a wretch. He supposed that was justified, given what she had been forced to endure for Soo-Won's plans. Sometimes he wished he could just sit her down and spell it all out for her. He wondered if she would understand and join him in his efforts or oppose him. The variability in that scenario is what kept him from doing so. Soo-Won could ultimately only trust himself, in the end.

He didn't even notice that Joo-Doh had finished his report until he saw Yona respectfully dip her head to the soldier. Soo-Won's eyes flickered back to the man just in time to see him bow reverently to him.

"Thank you for your report," he responded vaguely. Recognizing this as a dismissal, Joo-Doh clicked his heels together in a salute before he whirled about, cape flapping as he took his leave. Soo-Won exhaled deeply; he hadn't listened to a word.

"You didn't hear a word of that report, did you?" Yona chided with a click of her tongue. Soo-Won's mouth curled upwards in an embarrassed sneer for a second, before he forced his usual serene expression back on his face and looked at her. Her dawn-colored eyes were trained on him, her hand primly holding the quill. "No matter. I recorded everything anyway, so you can always review them later," she shrugged before looking down at them. Soo-Won's eyebrows narrowed slightly. There was something off about her today.

"Princess? Are you unwell?" he asked solemnly as he straightened up in the throne. Her eyes flickered to him before looking back down at the documents she had scribed for him.

"I am just fine. Unless you have any more duties for me to perform today, I am going to read in the study. I'll set these on your desk for you to peruse at your leisure," Yona answered stiffly, and just like that, she was presenting Soo-Won the back of her kimono. He had to smile at her willfulness. He preferred people who pushed back a little against him to people groveling at his feet and obeying his every command without question… Although those kinds of people were useful, too.

He watched her turn the corner with lidded eyes. Why had he bothered asking, anyway? He knew damn well that Yona was sad, being deprived of her beloved four dragons, the medicine boy, and her loyal retainer Hak. Soo-Won knew that giving Yona unrestricted access to them at this point was dangerous to his carefully crafted plans. As much as he despised seeing her so blue, he couldn't risk her developing some half-baked revenge plot against him. That wouldn't do. He frowned into the palm of his hand as he tapped his index finger against his cheekbone. Unrestricted access was troublesome, but…

"You there!" he called to servant boy who had entered a few minutes ago to begin sweeping the vast throne room. The boy scurried up to him, asking how he could be of use. "I have a few messages I need you to deliver…"

As soon as Yona turned the corner and was out of Soo-Won's eyesight, she exhaled miserably and flopped against the wall. She cradled the pieces of parchment against her front, not caring that the still-drying ink smudged her kimono with black-purple splotches and pretended for a few precious seconds that it was one of her dear friends she was embracing. Pitiful imaginary visions were not nearly enough to appease her loneliness, however, and very soon, she felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. Stop that, she scolded herself with an angry sniff. She rubbed at her eyes furiously with the heel of her palm. Now is not the time to cry. I need to do more research in Soo-Won's study to find out what he's up to! Steeling her frayed and fragile nerves, she set off with renewed vigor down the hallway.

As promised, she set the documents on Soo-Won's desk for him to attend to later before diving headlong into the voluminous stacks of books piled high throughout the room. There were all manners of texts- atlases, history books, personal recounts by soldiers, testimonies from courts, memoirs of various royals and well-to-dos, even a set of love letters between a courtesan and a knight from one hundred years ago. They were all interesting reads in numerous respects, but none of them elucidated any inklings of Soo-Won's motives in murdering her father and assuming the throne.

After about an hour of rifling through the stacks of papers, Soo-Won finally came along and asked her to retrieve a few titles from the castle's expansive library. Rooting through the books had done Yona little good anyway, so she supposed a walk clear her head, lest she get too frustrated and miss something crucial.

She held the scrap of parchment listing the books Soo-Won wanted as she plodded through the halls toward the library. Yona knew her way around it well now, so she didn't bother the library attendant with her searches, instead diving right into the area of shelves she knew they would be. She recounted the titles she passed under her breath as she strolled alongside the towering rack. As she came upon the desired title, she tugged it out and tucked it under her arm before proceeding to the next search. In no time at all, she was exiting the stacks with three dusty tomes gathered under her armpit, but they all flopped right to the ground when she saw Yoon standing in the middle of the aisle poring over a textbook of medicinal herbs.

"Yoon!"

"Ah! Young miss!" Yoon gasped as she addressed him. He snapped the book shut and held it to his chest, scurrying over to her and bending down to help her retrieve her dropped books from the red-carpeted floor. "Long time, no see," he smiled with a hint of sadness as he straightened up, holding out a book to her. She smiled with equal misery as she took it with him and secured it back under her arm.

"Yes… How is the castle treating you? Are you allowed to study as you please?"

"Ah, yes. I came here because His Majesty Soo-Won sent a messenger to inform me that they had just acquired a most recent publication on the local herbs, so I came right over to read it," he said, holding up the book as evidence. Yona didn't know quite what to think about the odd occurrence. Surely it was just coincidental that they had acquired a new manuscript and Soo-Won had only been kind enough to tell Yoon. He wasn't purposely instructing the librarian to keep an eye out for medicinal books on the market, right? Her arm was beginning to ache from holding up the weighty tomes, so she shifted them to the other.

"I see. I hope you learn something new."

"Indeed!" He looked like he wanted to say something more, as he shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Ah… We miss you. We worry about you. Are you being treated okay? No one has tried to hurt you, right?" Her eyes widened slightly as he stared despondently at her, a light blush painting his cheeks. "We don't know what to do without you…" Yona smiled sweetly and reached out to cup his cheek reassuringly. He leaned into her hand, looking at her with unsure eyes.

"Don't worry, Yoon. I'm okay. Thank you for your concern," she told him gently. It hurt her to see Yoon this way, because he tried his best to be strong and capable a lot of the time. Yona's heart was aching to break down into bitter tears about how miserable she was, but now was not the time for self-pity. If she did that, Yoon might say something to her dragons, and the next thing she knew, they would be storming the castle and causing all sorts of ruckus that just wouldn't do. I must be strong so as not to worry them needlessly. I need to wait until the time is right. I still have their support. "I am doing my best, so all you need to do is do your best as well," she smiled brightly at him before pulling her arm back and tucking it back underneath the cumbersome stack of books. Yoon smiled serenely. He looked genuinely reassured, which Yona was glad for.

"Yes, young miss, I will. Someone has to keep those four knuckleheads in check." She laughed radiantly at his uncouth insulting of them. The townspeople sure worshiped and revered them, but Yoon and Yona knew that they were really just a bunch of dorks. She was glad that Yoon was taking it upon himself to look after them.

"I'm grateful to you, Yoon. It does my heart good to know I can trust in you to keep them safe." He flushed and mumbled something shyly under his breath. Yona grimaced as her other arm began to burn with the strain of keeping the books held aloft, so she switched arms again. "I'm afraid I must go. I need to deliver these books to Soo-Won." She would really rather stay and talk with Yoon more, but Soo-Won would come looking for her eventually, and she didn't want anything to happen to Yoon if he found out they were talking. Yoon nodded in understanding but looked just as regretful about it as she felt.

"Of course. I hope to see you again soon, Yona," he said and stepped aside so she could walk past him down the walkway. Yona kept looking back at him as she exited the library, feeling like she needed to commit his face to memory lest she forget it in all the days she was wasting away within the castle, just waiting for the pin to drop.

She made a point to make up for lost time by all but running down the hallway back to the study; by the time she made it there, she was red-faced and panting. She plunked the books down on Soo-Won's desk, and after holding them for so long, her arms felt like wiggly jelly. She took a seat on the stool nearby to take a moment to catch her breath, fanning herself with her hand.

"I apologize. I did not realize they were so heavy," Soo-Won apologized in a flat tone without looking up from his reports. Yona straightened up a little as she was addressed and stopped cooling her hot face, trying to seem less worn out than she was.

"They weren't they heavy."

"You took a while in there. Did something happen?" His glittering eyes fixed on her, and she gulped. He held his quill aloft, dripping ink down onto the pristine white sheet of parchment. It almost seemed like he knew the answer without asking and was just trying to see if she lied.

"No. It just took longer than I thought to find one of the books because it was misplaced. That's all." The lie came out easy but burned like acid on her tongue. She didn't like lying, even to Soo-Won or his cohorts. It just felt wrong, and on top of that, it would likely come back to bite her in the behind later. His face was completely expressionless as he gazed measuredly at her through lidded eyes. Soo-Won always had such analytic, piercing eyes, like they could see right through her. Yona was even more aware of that now that they were turned upon her.

"I see," he answered simply and turned back to his desk, dipping the now-dry quill back into the inkwell. "Thank you for retrieving them."

"You're welcome." She picked up the book she had been reading before she had been sent on the errand and cracked it back open. It was a memoir of a priest from the elder days. She only got a few paragraphs in before Soo-Won said in an almost expectant tone of voice, "I was hoping you could join me for lunch today, Yona." She looked up at him, red eyes blinking in surprise. He had a small smile on his face as he regarded her, cheek in hand.

"I would love to." Another lie, another flood of bitter acid over her tongue. It wasn't that she hated Soo-Won. She wasn't sure how she felt about Soo-Won, and so when they were alone, she buried herself in menial tasks to avoid dwelling on the cascade of questions his person always set off in her mind. Lunch with him would be a maddening ordeal. She would have to be on her guard as well; there was definitely a motive behind everything he did. Every move was calculated like chess. He would likely be subtly interrogating her, and she would have to have her wits about her to keep from divulging anything he could use as ammunition. It was challenging when she was trying not to think about her father's murder or his motives or her confusing feelings-not feelings for him. "I would love to," she repeated, softly, almost trying to convince herself that it was like old times, that she really would love to.

"Very good. I have everything arranged. Shall we?" Yona's mouth dropped open as he suddenly stood from his desk, shoving the half-read reports aside and regarding her expectantly.

"N-now?" she sputtered, caught way off guard. She hadn't expected him to propose it and already have it planned! Did he know that she would agree? How did he know? Oh, Soo-Won, you cunning- she thought as she bit the inside of her cheek and snapped the book shut again. It wasn't like it was a useful read, anyway. She cleared her throat, closing her eyes to clear her mind and body back to equilibrium. Be at ease, Yona. It's just lunch. Alone. With Soo-Won. Your father's murderer and previous love of your life. As her train of thought all but derailed into a ravine of self-pity and discomfort, a scowl tried to work its way onto her face. Thankfully Soo-Won was already out the door, kingly robes swishing as he called for her not to tarry. "No worries at all," she grumbled under her breath before following.

Yona did not know how long ago Soo-Won had concocted this plan for lunch, but if it were within the last few hours, the castle staff did an excellent job throwing it together. The servants had placed a small table in the castle garden, situated on a small round plaza surrounded by shady trees and aromatic shrubbery that was currently in bloom. The table was just long enough to provide respectable distance between the two of them, on opposite ends with at least six feet between them. The mahogany table was overlaid with a silk tablecloth and already outfitted with all their cutlery and plate ware, two glasses of water already poured. As Yona sat down in the chair that Soo-Won pulled out for her, she found it odd that the table was set for four others as well. Are his advisors attending as well? She wondered, nervously tucking the folds of her kimono under her thighs. She didn't know if that was alleviating, as she would not have to deal with Soo-Won alone, or worrying, as she would be outnumbered. Soo-won's sparkling eyes watched her with all the intensity of a coyote's but revealed nothing.

"Are we to have guests?" she inquired politely.

"Yes, indeed. They should be escorted in any minute now," the king responded smoothly, lacing his fingers together and laying his chin on them- elbows on the table like he had no care for manners. It was such mannerisms that almost fooled Yona into the idea that Soo-Won wasn't a noble at all. So aloof and uncaring and mysterious… It was amazing how long you could know someone and not have any idea what they're thinking. Soo-Won… What are you doing all this for? She wanted to scream, but she knew he wouldn't answer her. She would have to discover the answer for herself, somehow.

A chittering noise distracted her from her melancholy thoughts, and she glanced down just in time to see Ao vault herself from the neat stone path up into her lap. Yona stared at the chipmunk in an awed stupor as she scurried up her arm to nuzzle violently into her neck. Where Ao went, a dragon followed-

"Princess!"

"Kija?!" Yona jumped up at the white-haired boy's voice. Sure enough, there he was strolling into the garden with the three other dragons not far behind him. Yona gathered her skirts about her so she could take off in a fluster, barreling across the path to all but throw herself against Kija. He turned red and began sputtering shyly, but knowledge of his bashfulness was forgotten to Yona, for she was so relieved to see her beloved companions after such time. "I missed you all so much!" she cried, pawing at Jae-Ha and Shin-ah to tug them into a sloppy group hug. She only had two hands, but it didn't matter because Zeno had attached himself to her waist anyway.

"We missed you too, young miss!" he trilled as he nuzzled the side of her belly affectionately. Yona had her face buried into Kija's chest, smearing tears of joy all over his front while his fingers curled into the fabric. For a moment, she wondered if she had fallen asleep in the study and was dreaming. A cruel dream it would be, for she had to awaken eventually, but at least she could have momentary bliss. They went to pull away from her, but she adamantly held her grip on them.

"Please… For a moment, just let me… know you're here for real," Yona pleaded in a small voice. She heard Jae-ha snort before his hand came down to reassuringly stroke the top of her head.

"Don't worry. We're here, Yona." At Jae-ha's quiet comfort, Yona was finally able to peel herself from the very flustered Kija and look at all of them. A big smile split her face as she realized, yes, they were there, she had her dragons beside her. Hurriedly, she wiped her tears with her knuckles before tipping her head with a beaming smile.

"I'm so glad to see you, everyone!"

"Good! Now that that's settled, what are we eating?" Zeno yipped at her hip and sniffed the air expectantly. He detached himself from the princess to scamper over to Soo-Won, grinning in that childlike manner of his. "Thanks for the invite, Mr. King! We were getting stir-crazy without the young miss." Yona's eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder at Soo-Won, who smiled gracefully and told Zeno that it was no trouble at all. She thought back to the happenstance run-in with Yoon in the library.

Did Soo-Won… arrange all this because he noticed I was sad? Once more, his glittering gaze turned upon her, and she was electrified. His lips curled upward into a confirmatory smile that seemed to say, "Are you pleased?" It wasn't sarcastic or malicious in any way… In fact, he almost seemed to be relieved that Yona was happy now. Involuntarily, her hand clutched at the fabric of her kimono resting over her heart and squeezed it tight.

Soo-Won… I can't… I can't read you… What am I to you?

Minsoo was very elated to hear that his last-minute lunch planning had been very successful. Beaming, he said, "I could see the princess' smile even from within the castle. She looked so delighted. I am very grateful to His Majesty for allowing her to see her dragons that she missed so dearly." Yes, Yona had been thrilled indeed. For a second, Soo-Won had almost been fooled that the same plucky, oblivious little girl had been standing before him. Surrounded by her beloved dragons shedding tears of joy, her smile was as radiant and bright as the moon at full-height, making her dawn-colored hair seem all the redder and fierier in that moment. Soo-Won had found himself smiling, too, until that dawn hair reminded him of the legend of the Crimson Dragon and his doomed family lineage. Then his mouth had run dry with the bitter ash of regret and fear. Every man feared his impending death; Soo-Won was no exception. He feared not completing his dream before his illness claimed him.

Soo-Won did very little talking during that lunch. They certainly lived up to their rowdy reputation. They all had such distinct personalities that they clashed in tumultuous thunder that was both loud and entertaining. At one point, food was even being chucked across the table. Soo-Won didn't mind; he found the carefree atmosphere quite refreshing, actually. He was made for royalty, but he didn't enjoy it. All the rules and expectations and manners… It was all so tiresome.

For that brief few hours, he was able to enjoy the unrestricted freedom Yona had experienced while journeying throughout the land- and he found himself sorely envying that. That is not my path, he had to remind himself, knuckles glaring white as he clenched his fingers together and watched her through lidded eyes. Smiling, laughing, talking… but every so often, her red eyes would fix on him, questioning, demanding, challenging. He certainly had a worthy and tenacious adversary in young Yona, if he ever provoked her enough. He was grateful that, for the time being, she was relatively complacent and docile. Allowing her to see her dragons and the medicine boy was the right choice, he decided.

Undeniably, however, there was something- someone- missing.

As his hawk flew overhead, screeching into the wind, Soo-Won thought of him. He had considered it. Really, he had. He knew how much Hak meant to Yona, especially after everything that had happened. However, he would already be in hot water over this orchestrated event. Kye-sook would give him an earful if he allowed Yona and Hak to meet.

On top of that, the Thunder Beast was anything if unpredictable. There were too many uncertainties and variables involved. Soo-Won had elected to forgo bringing Hak into the equation, hoping that these two meetings would be enough for the princess- and for a while, he thought his little scheme had worked out swimmingly.

That is, until that night.

After the lunch, they had returned to Soo-Won's study, where Yona had dived back into her reading with gusto. Soo-Won finally finished reading all the reports for the day a good hour after the sun had sunk below the horizon. With a small yawn, Soo-Won leaned over the back of the chair to crack his back and stretch his arms. In so doing, he cast a fleeting glance at the princess. His gaze fixed upon her form, slumped over in a stool with her head bobbing up and down. The open book in her lap was slowly slipping over her knee in inching increments. As it threatened to drop and hit the floor with surely enough noise to startle her awake, he swooped in to catch it. He marked the page and set it aside before looking down at her. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed deeply and quietly, shoulders rising and falling in rhythm with her chest. He could also detect a slight shiver in her form and a paleness to her skin.

"You'll catch a cold like that," he scolded her gently. He kneeled, sweeping off the outer layer of his robes and throwing it loosely around her shoulders. He edged a little bit closer to her, on the flats of his feet to preserve his balance, then carefully gathered her in his arms. She was really such a light, petite little thing, he noticed, as he easily straightened up with the princess bundled in his grasp. Her head lolled into his shoulder, and her dawn-red hairs threaded into his long, light brown ones. He swept a few of them out of her face before exiting the study.

Joo-Doh had been stationed outside the study. His eyes grew wide as he looked upon the king carrying the princess out of the room.

"Your Majesty," his gruff voice said respectfully.

"It's all right," Soo-Won interjected before he could say anything. "I am not straining myself." Joo-Doh looked uncomfortable but was not the type to argue, so he just wordlessly followed Soo-Won as he delivered the girl to her quarters. Soo-Won crouched down beside her futon, keeping her body nestled between his body and bent legs as he nudged back the covers. She must have been exhausted, for she didn't even stir as he lowered her down into the blankets. It would be too much of a bother to tug his coat off her, so he just left it and laid the sheets loosely over her so she wouldn't get too hot. Just as he was rising to leave, her tiny hand snapped out to grab hold of the hem of his robes.

"Hak…" Her voice was so small. So pleading. So needy. So lost. Soo-Won stared down at her with a flurry of feeling writhing inside him as a single tear leaked out from between her lashes to roll down her cheek. Behind him, Joodoh was standing resolutely in the doorway. Soo-Won kneeled back down, acting like he was adjusting the blankets.

"Don't worry, Yona." His whisper was but a breath and would be drowned out by a mouse's chitter if one was nearby. "I'll find a way for you to see Hak very soon, so don't worry. Be at ease." The corner of her mouth twitched, almost like she was trying to smile in her sleep. Her breathing had hitched for a second when she had called out Hak's name, but it settled back into the steady rhythm of sleep at Soo-Won's words. He stared down at her, the princess who was attached to him by a cord of fate he knew not how to cut, nor had the will to.

Soo-Won had all the cards. He doled them out as he needed to, but no one but him had the entire deck, nor knew what ace he could be hiding up his sleeve. But Yona had a deck of her own, waiting for the time was nigh to play, and Soo-Won could never be at ease as long as Yona believed they were at odds. Such a dangerous game Soo-Won was playing, but a game he simply had to play. "Be at ease," he whispered again, but knew not if he was talking to the princess or himself.

Only time would tell, as a most dangerous game continued to evolve in a country steeped in secrets and mysterious forces…