Taking so many turns in the maze i had no idea the layout of, i was soon tucking myself away in a corner, trying to hide in the shrubs as much as possible. With each rustle of the plants and wind i grew more and more tense.
i suddenly remembered a certain song you were taught recently that was instructed by the king for me to learn. It was a song of calling when in danger. If ever there was a time to test it, now was that time. So, under my breath i whispered weakly the lines of hymns you were taught.
Taehyung was in the study with his father when the air shifted outside. Looking out the window, he stared out into the open gardens of trees, flowers and bushes. Even further, he could see the open sea of his island kingdom. He wondered why the air felt heavy so suddenly. He felt suffocated and stuffy as he pulled at the collar of his turtleneck shirt.
The king noticed his son's discomfort. "What is it?"
"It just got really stuffy in here," the prince replied, "that's all." Yet as he returned to his lessons, the uneasiness in his chest didn't stop. For minutes it lasted until dahyun's name flashed into his head like a siren as his skin pricked before he was hearing her sing again.
Taehyung jumped from his chair, pushing it back with enough force to kick it back onto the floor, startling the king close to him. Taehyung's golden snake-like eyes were wide as they looked out the window beyond the palace walls.
The king slowly stood, unable to determine his son's sudden burst of haste. "Taehyung," he tried, but the prince's attention wasn't drawn.
"dahyun," he whispered. He walked around the fallen chair and to the window, placing his palms on the glass panes as he looked down into the gardens. Flashes of the shrub maze playing in his subconscious as he listened to her shaky, fearful song play in his mind. He saw the faces of two strangers, a bowl of clay, fire and then her back retreating into the maze before he started to panic. "Father," he called in haste as he turned to the king behind him. "There are intruders in the garden and they're after dahyun."
The king was quick to act. Immediately dispatching guards to the gardens to catch the uninvited guests before they caught her. Taehyung couldn't settle down, even with his father trying to convince him it would be okay and that help was coming to dahyun. It didn't help calm his blood that screamed to find her first.
I saw him ,His gaze stuck outside, my voice still echoing in his head, my song replaying over and over again as my fear pounded in the center of his chest. He didn't even register himself ripping his arms out of his father's grasp as he ran out of the castle and into the gardens to find me himself, knowing exactly where you were.
It was two hours later when the culprits of my attempted abduction were caught and imprisoned, followed by a party of castle guards finally locating on my hiding spot. Only, they were shocked to see that Taehyung had been crouched in front of me, holding my head on his chest as i cried before eventually falling asleep.
It was hard to explain to his parents and my mother how he could hear your songs, and feel your emotions. It was even harder to explain how he was able to know exactly where you were and know what had happened as if he had been there himself. It was that very evening that the king had made a decision that would affect you both in the coming years.
