THE RAVEN KING, yoonkook

bonus content - tae's story: chapter iii

The room was silent as the boy king's uncle stepped through. The hawk king sat on his throne, waiting anxiously. It had been three days since his youngest son—only son, now—had been discovered missing. Despite scouring the entire city and mountains, the young boy hadn't been found. No one had seen or heard anything.

"Any news?"

"He is still missing, Your Majesty." The king, despite placing so much importance on appearances, slumps back in his chair. He looks tired, having been kept up all night stressing. This pleases the other man—weakness in his enemies is always a delight. "But, I have heard some things."

"What have you heard?"

"It's rumoured that Prince Taejoon has been seen near the raven kingdom... with Taehyung. It sounds as though he is being held in the castle." The king frowned, immediately about the object, but the other male continued, "It is unsurprising. Your sons were always close, it would have taken very little for Taehyung to convince His Highness to sneak out to see him. Then, he would only need to kidnap him and run. He might have even had help."

The thought that the ex-prince—presumed traitor or not—would stoop so low as to steal the now heir to the Hawk throne clearly troubled the king. He sat in silence, brow furrowed and gaze distant, as though he had forgotten about the company he kept. A deep sigh left him, still very reluctant to accept these suggestions.

Having worked alongside the hawk for years, it took very little for the crow to convince him. Usually. Jungkook's uncle assumed it was the topic matter.

"Taehyung was quite happy to betray us before. I imagine he'd have no problems with doing this, especially with the bitterness he would have grown."

"I just can't believe... I didn't raise him like this." The king sighed softly, head dropping to his hand. It was a pathetic sight, especially for a king, and this pleased the crow. "It's so unlike my son."

"Taehyung has always been against our plans, always on Jungkook's side."

"I know... but, I just can't believe it." The man repeated, falling silent again. The silence dragged agonisingly slowly, each second feeling like a minute as the crow waited impatiently. A scowl hid behind his blank mask, twitching against his expression as he stared at the man. The king looked old—each day seemed to be taking its toll on him. This, at least, brought some pleasure to the spy as he waited. The pleasure only grew as the hawk nodded slowly, resignation resting in his sad eyes. "Do my best to find my son and bring him back. If Taehyung is at the bottom of this... see that he's brought back too—alive. If it is him, I will deal with it myself."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"I can't believe... my sons." It always surprised the crow that even the Hawks, renowned for being strong warriors with cold hearts, could be so terribly sentimental.

Though, he wasn't complaining—it did make it rather easy to manipulate them all.

*  *  *

When Taehyung wasn't out doing jobs, the wingless male would distract himself by playing with his golem. It was still a small creature—that had never changed, he could never quite make him as big as the fighters he'd see in the army—but it could do more than pat a hand now. He had had plenty of time to practice, plenty of time to learn because doing nothing let his thoughts wander. Apart from the size, he was pretty sure it was passable as a natural earth's golem; others had seen it and no one had commented on it. More built for offensive actions, the young male had found himself relying more heavily on his few earth powers than life—it was a lot easier to attack someone with sharp rocks than magic curing.