Cars, it seemed, were not something that had been invented yet in this world, which meant that they were traveling by horse drawn carriage.
Donghyuck looked up at it wearily, standing still as servants bustled around him and made last minute tweaks and adjustments to make sure it was ready for departure. He wasn't sure what he was expecting—maybe watching Disney princess movies one too many times had given him the false pretense that carriages were supposed to be plated with gold and covered in glitter—but the carriage was pretty simple. It was still painted to look regal, with a few gold accents here and there, but it was still just made of wood, and honestly paled in comparison to Cinderella's.
"Your Highness, the carriage is ready to board," a servant mumbled, stopping in front of him and lowering into a bow. Donghyuck nodded tensely, glancing around in hopes of spotting John, or Jeno, or even Mark. He hadn't seen one familiar face since Jeno had left to help the other soldiers prepare, and it was setting him even more on edge.
"Where... where is the king?" Donghyuck finally asked, slightly embarrassed. He honestly would have rather asked for Jeno or John, but he thought the servant probably wouldn't question why he was wondering about the whereabouts of his "soon-to-be mate".
"His Majesty is preparing his horse. He should arrive shortly to begin the voyage with you."
Donghyuck furrowed his eyebrows. "His horse? Is he not riding in the carriage with me?"
"No, Your Highness. The king thought you might be more comfortable if you had the carriage to yourself."
Donghyuck scoffed to himself. What kind of idiot gives up the opportunity to ride in comfort inside of a carriage and instead chooses to ride on a stinky horse for days on end?
The servant stiffened a little, nodding somewhere behind Donghyuck. "The king is approaching, Your Highness."
Donghyuck whirled around immediately, and sure enough, Mark was standing behind him with a horse's reigns in his hands, leading a beautiful mare with a shiny coat and a bejeweled muzzle over towards the carriage. The king spotted him and gave him a small smile, handing the horse off to one of the servants to put the saddle on its back before approaching Donghyuck and the servant.
"Your Highness. What are you doing out here? I thought you'd be sitting in the carriage by now, we're about to depart."
"You didn't tell me I'd have to ride in the carriage all by myself!" Donghyuck hissed, before pausing and glancing at the servant out of the corner of his eye. The servant looked between the two of them before quickly taking the hint, scurrying away and leaving them to talk alone.
Mark frowned, looking confused. "I thought you'd prefer to have the space to yourself. It would be quite awkward for us to ride together."
"Yeah sure, but I wouldn't be bored at least," Donghyuck whined petulantly. He really hoped that his petty reason for being upset was believable enough, because he really didn't want to have to admit the real reason he didn't want to ride alone—he was scared, and he didn't want to be left alone with his own thoughts for such a long period of time. He had been looking forward to at least having Mark as a distraction.
"I'm sure you'll find ways to keep entertained without me," Mark chuckled, "if you ever need anything, all you have to do is open the window and call out for one of us, and we'll pull over right away, alright? The ride might be bumpy, but we've padded the entire interior, so I hope you'll find it's quite comfortable."
Donghyuck chewed on the inside of his cheek, debating. As much as riding alone in the carriage sounded unpleasant and lonely, he also hoped that it might be nice to have a tiny bit of privacy for a while, something that he hadn't really experienced since he arrived in this world.
"Okay," Donghyuck finally mumbled, swallowing his fear and turning to face the carriage doors, "let's hit the road then, I guess."
Mark took his hand, helping him ascend the tiny staircase into the pit of the carriage. The king poked his head in as Donghyuck sat down, making sure that the omega looked settled before he shut the doors.
Donghyuck let out a deep sigh as he heard the muffled orders of the soldiers, preparing the carriage for departure, and then they were pulling forward. He thought that maybe he could use this opportunity to get some rest, just so time would pass by a little faster if nothing else. He shifted around on the cushions surrounding him, making himself comfortable, before he laid down and closed his eyes, letting the gentle rocking motions lure him into unconsciousness.
He could only hope that this whole thing wasn't a huge mistake.
┈ ୨ 👑 ୧ ┈
Donghyuck awoke to the carriage hitting a sharp bump in the road, causing him to jolt forward and nearly fall off of the seat he was laying on.
He groaned quietly, lifting his head and blinking away the remnants of sleep as he tried to get his brain to catch up with where he was. He heard the muffled voices and quiet laughter of the guards outside the carriage, and could see a bit of the sunlight peeking through the curtains covering the window, and he was disappointed to note that it didn't seem like much time had passed or that they had traveled very far.
He slowly pulled the curtains away, blinking to get his eyes used to the sudden blinding sunlight, and poked his head out of the window to look around. To his surprise, Jeno was on a horse walking right up against the carriage, and the poor soldier startled at Donghyuck's sudden appearance.
"Your Highness," Jeno breathed, quickly trying to school his facial features back into indifference, but Donghyuck shot him a teasing smile anyways for getting surprised so easily. "Is something the matter? What can I do for you?"
"How long have we been traveling?" Donghyuck hummed, reaching up to rub away some of the remaining dry sleep from his eyes.
"It's been about three hours so far, Your Highness."
Donghyuck groaned. "And how much longer to go?"
"We estimate that we'll reach our first destination in about two days."
Donghyuck whined, covering his face with his hands. "I'm so over this already. I hate being trapped in this stupid stuffy carriage."
"Would you like me to request that we pull over so that you may stretch your legs?"
Donghyuck pursed his lips, tapping his fingers against the makeshift windowsill. "How much longer until we're scheduled to take a break?"
"We will stop in a nearby village for food in about another two hours. Then we will travel for another six hours, and stop somewhere near the edge of the woods to spend the night."
"I'll just wait the two hours, then," Donghyuck mumbled, "surely stopping for food will give me enough of a break to last until we stop to sleep."
The ride towards the town was painfully uneventful, as was their short visit. Donghyuck got to walk around a little, marveling at the landscape and the small village, and enjoying their food. They boarded the carriage again, and though Donghyuck was bored and anxious out of his mind, he managed to withstand the six hour trek towards the forest of large oak trees that stood proud and tall against the horizon.
Donghyuck saw Mark again for the first time in hours when the king came and opened the door to the carriage for him, holding out his hand and helping Donghyuck down the steps. His legs shook, tired from being rendered useless for so many hours on end, but his exhaustion melted away momentarily as he looked up and marveled at the gorgeous tree line.
"Holy shit, they're huge," Donghyuck whispered incredulously. Mark followed his gaze and laughed softly, looking at the omega with an expression that almost seemed like he was endeared.
"We shouldn't venture too far into the thick of the trees," John said suddenly, appearing at Mark's side, "it would make it harder for us to keep a watch on you two. We'll set up our camp a respectable distance away from you both to give you privacy, but just make sure to never leave our line of sight. Your Majesty, you know the signal for if you find yourselves in danger."
"Of course," Mark nodded agreeably, tying his horse to one of the nearby trees before stretching his arms high above his head, "I'll keep my sword with me as well, just in case."
John and the other soldiers then left them alone, setting up their camp a good twenty or so feet away. Mark immediately got to work setting up their own camp, with all the fancy supplies Renjun and the other servants had packed for them. Donghyuck stood awkwardly on the side, rocking back and forth on his feet. He wanted to help, but he felt like he would end up being more of a nuisance since he had no idea how to set up their tent or sleeping pads, so he just waited in silence until Mark was finished.
"We should have some leftover food from our stop at the town today," Mark mused, looking over to the soldier's camp. "I'll go over and get it for us. In the meantime, you can use the tent to change into your sleeping robes, if you'd like."
"Alright," Donghyuck agreed easily, relieved to have the opportunity to change by himself. Mark walked away and he entered the tent, closing it behind him and quickly putting his robes on.
While he was changing, he suddenly heard what sounded like rustling in the nearby bushes. He paused, suspicion and fear washing over him, but the forest was silent. He convinced himself it must've been the wind or something, and shook it off as he tied his robe around his waist and stepped back out into the cool evening air.
Mark came back over with a couple of bread loaves, and they ate in near silence, with only hearing their own chewing and the distant sound of the soldiers chattering joyfully.
"I was nervous about this first day," Mark admitted quietly after a while, breaking the silence, "but it seems like it's gone quite well so far. I'm relieved that we haven't encountered any issues yet."
"Great. Now you totally jinxed it," Donghyuck joked, although he shared the king's feelings. Things seemed to be going relatively smoothly, and little by little his original anxiety was starting to drain out of him.
Mark rolled his eyes a little, smiling before dusting off his hands and standing. "Shall we prepare for bed, then? It's best for us to sleep early, we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."
Donghyuck nodded, casting a glance over at the soldier's camp. They had a campfire going, and the sounds of conversation had gone quiet, meaning that they had probably begun their sleeping shifts.
The omega waited patiently outside the tent as Mark changed into his own sleeping robes, then awkwardly shuffled back inside once he was done, uncomfortably aware of how close together their sleeping pads were. Mark was sitting at the edge of his own pad, looking just as sheepish and awkward as Donghyuck himself felt. The brunette cleared his throat and crawled onto his sleeping mat anyways, shuffling under the blankets and making himself comfortable. He heard light rustling beside him, indicating that Mark was following suit.
In their close proximity, Donghyuck was suddenly hypersensitive to Mark's scent hanging thick in the air. It should've been unpleasant, suffocating even, with the aroma of smoky firewood dominating the atmosphere of the tent, but Donghyuck felt oddly comforted by it, by Mark's presence.
"Goodnight," he squeaked quietly, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could even think twice about them. Mark paused for a moment, then let out a deep chuckle that had Donghyuck's body tingling.
"Goodnight, Donghyuck."
┈ ୨ 👑 ୧ ┈
Donghyuck was startled awake once again, this time by the sharp sound of snapping twigs.
His eyes shot open, turning wildly to look at Mark beside him. In a panic, the omega realized that the tent was empty and that Mark was not there, and his heart leapt up into his throat as he scrambled to his feet and rushed out into the cold night air.
The first thing he saw was Mark, standing stock still a couple feet away and silently scanning their surroundings. Relief flooded his system, but then was quickly replaced by fear and confusion when he looked towards the soldier's camp and noticed the light from the campfire was gone, and it was too dark to see if the guards were even still there.
"Mark!" He whisper shouted, and the king flinched, turning around to face the omega with wild eyes.
"Donghyuck," he hissed back, cautiously moving towards him, "what are you doing awake? You shouldn't be out here, it's dangerous."
"I heard a twig snap, and it woke me up, and I didn't see you in the tent. I thought... I worried that maybe you were..."
Mark's gaze softened almost immediately. "Hey, it's okay. I'm alright, I'm alive."
Donghyuck exhaled shakily and nodded, repeating the sentence in his head. Mark is okay. Mark is alive. He didn't leave me here all by myself to die.
"You should go back to sleep. It's not safe for you out here, especially at night time."
"What's going on? Do you think someone is here?"
As if in answer to Donghyuck's question, they both suddenly heard the whoosh of air being displaced. Out of the corner of his eye, Donghyuck say a blur of fabric move towards the bushes. He froze, heart stuttering in his chest. Mark met his eyes for a moment, his face reflecting Donghyuck's own panic, and realization washed over him.
There was someone nearby, and they had spotted them both. They were lying in the dark, completely camouflaged, waiting for the right moment to strike.
And Donghyuck was a sitting duck, with a silent camp of soldiers twenty feet away and nothing but the alpha king to protect him.