Queen of Roses

23) First Alliance

Chaeyoung was in no condition to meet anyone's family, let alone Kim Taehyung's. Her dark clothing was still damp and wrinkled from the previous night's heroic swimming in the river of death. Her long, chestnut hair, though dry, had soaked up all the humidity available in the air and now hung in loose, frazzled waves down her back. If she felt this sticky and gross, she could only imagine what she looked like.

Now, as her horse followed Taehyung's towards his precious home town, and the prospect of meeting his loved ones became unavoidably real, she was beginning to panic.

"Lisa," she whispered urgently, turning her head slightly to glance at the woman seated behind her on the horse, "how does my hair look?"

Lisa's eyes scanned Chaeyoung's face quickly before flashing a stiff, almost sympathetic smile, "do you really want me to answer that question?"

"It looks like it used to be a hen's nest but has since been abandoned by all living creatures due to its lack of moisture and life."

"Shut up Yoongi," Chaeyoung turned fully around to whisper yell at him. Though she would normally appreciate his bitter sarcasm and dark sense of humour, this was no situation to take lightly, "stop eavesdropping on our conversation."

At that moment Seokjin decided to add his input on the matter as well, "Yoongi doesn't know what he's talking about. It does not look like a hen's nest."

"Thank you –" Chaeyoung began to say with a relieved smile.

"It looks more like a crow's nest."

Everyone, excluding Taeyong who was tied to Jisoo's horse and remained as silent as a ghost throughout their journey, laughed at that comment. Even Yoongi managed a light chuckle – a rare sight that was probably in part due to the fact that he was also home. Though, he didn't display his excitement nearly as blatantly as Taehyung did.

Chaeyoung glanced in front of her in amusement as she noticed how far ahead Taehyung was from the rest of the group. It looked like he couldn't reach the gates to the town fast enough. She could tell how important this place was to him, the realization only aggravating her anxiety.

"Namjoon," she called the older man over, "do we even have time to spend in Daegu. I mean, we do have a time-restricted mission and those weapons aren't going to find themselves. Plus, there are many other things we must take care of first – like alliances, and troops. A war is brewing, so we have no time to rest –"

"Relax, your highness," Namjoon responded in his ever-calm voice, "there are exactly 1440 minutes in a day, taking a couple of those to rest and rejuvenate will not be the end of the world. Even the strongest of warriors and the most committed workers need their rest. Furthermore, Daegu is known to be home to some of the country's best archers, so the potential for alliances still exists here."

Chaeyoung sighed, not even Namjoon was on her side – so this was surely an unavoidable situation.

"Why are you so nervous about staying in Daegu anyway?" Jisoo asked with a knowing smile.

"I'm not."

"You've been smoothing your shirt and combing your hair with your hands since the minute Taehyung announced we've reached Daegu."

Chaeyoung's hand froze mid-way through her hair, realizing that Jisoo was right. But Chaeyoung couldn't answer her question honestly, "If I'm supposed to be the future Queen of Goryeo, I need to make a respectable first impression on the people."

"Nice excuse," Yoongi snickered, "we all know it's because you're about to meet your future in-laws."

Chaeyoung sucked in a sharp breath at the word "in-laws" and what Yoongi was blatantly implying. Although her mind would occassionally wander towards the direction of imagining a life with Taehyung, she never allowed herself to become fully immersed in such an impossible fantasy. It could never happen.