JUNGKOOK
She laughs.
It's a beautiful laugh. But it makes me more terrified, than I would've been if she'd rather held me by my throat with a knife.
Her eyes turn to me again.
"When did you notice?"
"Last time." I say, trying to keep my voice steady under her penetrating gaze. "I saw your ears. And you just kept calling me human. I would've caught on sooner or later, honestly."
"So why tell me, Jungkook?"
My eyes flash up. She'd told me her name the first time we'd met, but I'd never told her mine.
"How..."
"Why let me know? There must be a reason, no?" She asks, undoing her hood from her head. Her blonde hair spills behind her shoulders, in a icy curtain of silk.
Arlen smiles.
"What can I do for you?"
God, she'd read me like a book.
"I...so my sister." I start, feeling weirdly nervous in front of her. "Rinei. She's been seeing this elf, and he courts her. Almost every day, until for the last week. He stopped coming, as if something's happened."
"His name?"
"I've heard her call him Tae."
Amusement crosses her face before she bursts into laughter again. This time it's like she genuinely finds this funny, that an elf is courting my sister.
I cross my arms.
"You know, it's really not that fun—"
"The Elven Prince is courting your sister." She cuts me off, her fingertips tapping thoughtfully against her upper arm. "But an outsider. I would've never thought..."
"You know— wait, he's the what?"
"Kim Taehyung is the Second Prince of Elven." She repeats, her eyes glowing. "And the King holds hatred for the outsiders. I'm aware that he punishes anyone who leaves the forest boundaries without his permission."
"So you think his father found out? That he's been coming to see Rinei?"
She nods, lips pursed together.
But then I blink.
"Then aren't you also in danger? You're coming to see me right now. What if he finds out about you too?"
She smiles. "Are you worrying for me?"
"...no."
"You don't need to. No one would suspect a noble Lady to be sneaking out like this, every night. I tend to stay very ladylike when I'm at the Palace."
I give her a look. "You sure?"
She looked like the type of person to slit the throat of any men who came to court her instead.
She raises a perfect brow at me for my doubtful reply. "You think I'm not ladylike, Jungkook?"
I change the topic right away. "So what do you think is happening to him? He's really done a lot for my family, and I—"
"If Lord Elven did find out, he is most likely being punished." She says, and the blood slowly drains from my face as she continues in a flatlined voice.
"He is probably being held in the deepest room in the undergrounds of the Palace. The King is very violent— especially with his sons. He'll be locked there for at least the next month."
My face is pale. "What...will his father do to him?"
"I'm not completely sure." She murmurs. "He'll use his magic— and the King's magic is pain. It's torture itself."
God, please.
This was so much worse than I'd thought.
"And no one can help him?"
She shakes her head. "Not until the King orders for him to be freed. Until then, there is nothing any of us can do. Any elf that goes against Lord Elven is nothing short of suicide."
"What about a human?"
She gives me a sharp look. "Jungkook. If you were ever caught, he would kill you. After making you go through each of the seven Hells."
I swallow.
He'd just helped us so much. It would be—
"But what if I can do it? You can take me there, and I..."
"No."
She gets to her feet, looking unhappy. Her blue eyes are deep, firm with her answer.
"I am not going to lead you to your own death, Jungkook. The Prince will survive. He does not matter to me as much as you do."
She glowers.
"My answer is a no. And it will not change, even if you ask me a thousand times."
________________________________
TAEHYUNG
Am I really back here again?
My hands and neck are chained to the low ceiling. I can feel the cold silver against my skin, even in the dark. There isn't a single window.
It's quiet. I can hear my own breaths.
And I close my eyes. A faint visage of Rinei flickers in the depths of my mind, and I shift the slightest towards the side. The chains grind against each other, with my weight.
I couldn't be here. How much time had passed since that day? I couldn't be here— I had to be hunting, for her family. They wouldn't be able to eat without my hunt.
A soft groan echoes from my lips.
My neck. I can't move it.
Something warm drips down the line of my jaw. My father had made a visit earlier, and I hear my blood slowly pool under me, in soft, steady drops. It's a repeat of what had happened seven years ago.
I remember faintly, that the last time it had been two weeks before he'd let me out again. I hadn't been able to eat or drink for the couple days following after, too weak to stomach anything as a child.
It's cold here.
I want her warmth.
And I take another shallow breath, before drifting into unconsciousness again.
________________________________
RINEI
Darkness.
There's no light, nothing at all. It's a darkness that squeezes into me, pressing into all the sides of my body and swallowing me up into nothing. It's a darkness that makes a person go insane.
And chains, on my wrists and on my neck. It's holding my body up, and I can feel it grinding horribly every time I make a single motion. My feet barely brushes against the floor.
My arms hurt. They're numb from the pain, having been like this for too long already.
Help.
Help me.
Get me out of here.
It's cold. It's scary.
And I can't even scream, to hear myself.
Get me out.
Then someone shakes me awake. My eyes flash open to see the familiar face of my brother, staring down at me with terrified eyes. His hands are gripped around my shoulders, as if he'd been shaking me hard.
"Rinei."
Jungkook.
I shiver, as he hugs me tightly. I can still recall the chains, the pressing darkness. But it'd all been a dream.
What had been that dream?
"You're okay, you're fine." He whispers quietly into my ear as I tremble, breathing shallowly. "What happened? Tell me. You wouldn't wake up, for so long."
It's just a nightmare. I sign.
"But you haven't had nightmares since forever."
My eyes turn downcast. I don't know. I don't know why I dreamt something like that. It was horrible.
"Will you tell me what it was?"
I bury my face into the crook of his shoulder. It was dark. It felt like some prison, and it was just really dark and cold. There were chains.
"It's okay. It's just a dream." He murmurs, as I let my hands fall to my sides after signing. "A really bad dream. It won't happen again."
Jungkook pats the top of my head. "Want to come to the market with me? We can get sweets."
I nod silently.
Anything. Anything to try and forget.
But that night, I dream again.