Donghyuck's breathing came in quick, short gasps, fear rapidly overtaking him. Mark reacted quickly, grabbing the omega's wrist and pulling him behind his frame to block him and protect him.
"Don't move," Mark whispered, standing stock still and surveying the surroundings with the sharpness of a hawk on the prowl for prey. He took his right hand and slowly unsheathed the sword sitting against his waist, and Donghyuck's eyes widened as he looked at it.
"Woah! You're gonna use that thing?" He whisper shouted. Mark threw him an exasperated look over his shoulder.
"What else would I use to defend you? Would you rather I pick up a stick and pray for the best?"
"I mean, no, but like... the sword seems kinda intense, don't you think? Maybe if you have like a little dagger or something—"
At that moment, the assailant jumped from the bushes and lunged at Donghyuck at top speed, ironically with a dagger in his hand. Donghyuck screamed reflexively, squeezing his eyes shut and covering his face. He heard a loud thump, and when he peered up from between his fingers, Mark had the gang member flat on the ground with his boot crushing his chest and his sword poised at his neck. The dagger had fallen out of the stranger's hand in the impact, landing a few feet away, and Mark's features were dark with anger and disdain as he pinned the alpha under his feet. Donghyuck really shouldn't have found it as attractive as he did.
"Who are you?" Mark pressed, determined to at least get a few answers out of the vermin before he took his life, "were you sent by the Red Moon?"
The alpha on the ground coughed, lungs rattling under the pressure of Mark's sharp heel. Even with a blade inches from his neck, he did not tremble or flinch.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He grunted. Mark snarled and pressed the sword against his skin, just enough to draw a little blood. Donghyuck watched with widened eyes and bated breath.
"I am still your king," Mark said, his voice low and ice cold. "You answer when I ask you a question. If you cooperate, I may just spare your life."
The stranger on the ground paused, seemingly considering his options. Donghyuck inhaled shakily as he glanced back and forth between the two alphas, nervous energy thrumming through his body. Mark was completely calm and collected, his eyes locked on his target and not even bothering to spare Donghyuck a single glance.
"I am a member of the Red Moon," the alpha finally admitted, tone reluctant, "my leader sent me here... on a mission. To kill the Queen."
Mark hummed noncommittally, leaning forward to look the alpha in his eyes. "How many of you are out to kill him?"
"Everyone. The leader offered a great..." a cough, a sharp intake of breath, "great reward. Whoever brings back the queen's head gets the prize."
The alpha wheezed, partially suffocated by Mark's increased weight on his sternum. Donghyuck felt goosebumps erupt all over his body. They're all out to kill me. Every single one of them.
"Donghyuck," Mark said coolly, finally looking up to meet the omega's eyes. Donghyuck almost felt startled by Mark's attention on him—the Mark that was currently interrogating the alpha on the ground was vastly different from the Mark he'd gotten to know over the few weeks he'd been in this world, and it felt weird to hear Mark's unforgiving and professional tone directed at him.
"Look away. Turn your head and shut your eyes, and cover your ears," Mark commanded firmly, leaving no room for argument.
"You bastard!" The alpha cried immediately in protest, starting to flail and squirm under Mark's boot. It was no use—the king held him down with ease. "You said you would spare my life!"
"I said I might," Mark said with a sadistic grin, one that sent chills down the omega's spine. It took Donghyuck a moment for his brain to catch up with Mark's command and the implication of their conversation, but when he finally realized, he was quick to obey, whirling around and facing the opposite direction as he clapped his hands over his ears, squeezing his eyes shut.
All he heard was the last muffled pleas of the Red Moon member, a gargled scream muted by the barrier of his hands, and then—complete silence, eerie and chilling.
Donghyuck stayed stock still and didn't move for what felt like an eternity, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but when he turned all he saw was Mark, looking almost embarrassed with a line of blood splattered across his robes.
"I dragged him away so you wouldn't have to see his body. It's all over, you can look now," he said softly, in complete contrast to the steely tone he had used on the alpha. Donghyuck shakily brought his hands down and away from his ears, eyes lingering on the blood stain. Mark followed his gaze and uselessly tried to cross his arms over himself to cover it.
"I'm sorry. I'm usually not the one in charge of the actual killing... but the guards are too far away, I couldn't risk keeping him alive in case he tried to hurt you."
"It's okay," Donghyuck murmured softly, forcing his eyes back up so he could meet Mark's gaze. "Thank you... for saving me again."
Mark looked almost sheepish as he surveyed himself, going to pull out another robe from the bag Renjun and the other servants packed for them back at the palace.
"I didn't know you were trained in combat too. You looked... very experienced."
Mark froze, looking up at Donghyuck before he smiled shyly, shrugging.
"All the kings are trained in combat. It serves as a precaution, so we can protect ourselves and our queens in the event that there are no guards available. It's usually a bit frowned upon for the king to be the one that takes a life, though... I'm sure John will be very cross with me tomorrow morning when he finds out."
Donghyuck laughed a little, despite his body and mind still fighting to grasp their situation. His laughter seemed to help Mark relax a bit, the tension bleeding out of his shoulders.
"You and John have such a funny relationship," Donghyuck noted, resting his chin on his palm as he looked at Mark, "you're supposed to be the king, but I feel like he definitely holds more authority in your personal friendship."
"Not true!" Mark protested, pouting a little. "He's my captain. He answers to my rules."
"Mhm," Donghyuck giggled, "but here you are, worried that he'll disapprove of you defending us."
"Defending you," Mark corrected quickly. Donghyuck flushed immediately.
"Well, do you think he would've just let you live after he got me? You saved yourself just now too, y'know."
"I'm aware," Mark said easily, finally finding the robe he was searching for and holding it against his chest. "But you are my top priority. I'm not worried about myself."
Donghyuck's cheeks burned bright red. He hoped to god it wasn't visible in the faint moonlight. "That's stupid of you. Only idiots disregard their own safety."
"Idiots, sure. But also brave men," Mark grinned, "men with a responsibility to protect. I would put my life on the line for you over and over again, because that is my duty, and if I die trying to save you... then at least I can rest in peace knowing I did my job to the best of my abilities."
Mark then left him to sit in silence and soak in the words he just said as he stepped back into the tent to change. Donghyuck's body burned like it had been lit on fire, and he pressed his cool hands against his cheeks in a weak attempt to bring them back to their normal color.
Mark would die for him, he said. He was willing to sacrifice his own life to save his.
He could barely sleep for the rest of the night, the whole incident leaving him feeling a confusing mixture of grateful, terrified, worried, and perhaps the worst of them all... giddy.
┈ ୨ 👑 ୧ ┈
As expected, John was not happy the next morning when he had discovered what had happened during the night.
"When did this occur, Your Majesty?" John said exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"The moon was just barely at its highest point... so maybe around midnight?"
John whirled around to face the soldiers with a withering glare. "Who was responsible for the midnight shift?"
The guards all shrunk back, looking nervous and guilty. One soldier that Donghyuck had never spoken to stepped forward, slowly raising his hand. "I was, Captain."
"And what on earth were you doing while this attack was taking place?"
The guard hung his head. "I stepped away from the camp to take care of my hygiene, Captain."
"Your hygiene?" John scowled, stepping forward and hitting the guard hard on the back of his head in reprimand. The other soldiers flinched, but said nothing. "You thought the state of your hygiene was more important than the lives of the king and queen?"
The guard's soldiers hunched up to his ears, wincing, but he stayed silent.
"And you," John continued, turning back to face the king. Mark gave him a nervous grin, and Donghyuck watched with widened eyes as John leaned down towards the king's face, his gaze serious.
"You know that you're supposed to use the signal when you're in danger. You took a life on your own, without any backup, and in front of your queen nonetheless. Do you know how shameful that is in the eyes of the royal court? Don't you realize that the priests would rip you to shreds if they knew?"
"Technically, I didn't do it in front of the queen," Mark mumbled weakly, "I had him turn away and cover his ears... he didn't see the body either, I dragged it away before he could."
He looked more nervous in front of John's anger than Donghyuck had ever seen him before—and though the omega felt bad for him, he couldn't deny that he was slightly amused at the ease the captain was able to break down Mark's authority over him.
"Do you honestly think that makes it any better?" John hissed, reaching forward and tugging harshly at a strand of Mark's hair—the farthest extent of physical reprimand that John was allowed to give to someone as high ranked as the king. "You idiot. You could've gotten the both of you killed."
"Ow!" Mark whined dramatically, bringing the hand to the back of his head and looking up at John ruefully. "I get it! I'm sorry, okay? Jesus."
Donghyuck then had to turn his head and hide his laughter behind the palm of his hand, because despite the seriousness of the situation, Mark just looked like a cute little kid being scolded by his older brother, and Donghyuck was enjoying every second of it.
John sighed, seemingly accepting Mark's apology, before straightening and turning back to his guards.
"You will no longer have the privilege of individual watch shifts, instead we'll be doing it in pairs."
The guards all groaned quietly. Pairing up on shifts meant that they all collectively got less sleep, but one scathing look from John silenced their complaints immediately.
"And as for you two," John said, turning back to Donghyuck and Mark, "you no longer have the privilege of privacy, perhaps I was naive to grant it to you in the first place. You will both be sleeping with us in the same camp for the rest of the journey."
"Oh no," Donghyuck drawled sarcastically, finally jumping on the opportunity to lighten the overall mood, "now everyone is going to know about the wild hate sex we have every night."
Mark looked up at him in open mouthed mortification, his face turning bright red. Near the back of the group of guards, Jeno snickered, causing Donghyuck to smirk in satisfaction that his joke had at least landed with someone.
"Enough," John snapped, glaring at the omega. Donghyuck cowered, immediately hanging his head and mumbling an apology, suddenly understanding why Mark was so uneasy when John was angry at him. John might be a gentle giant most of the time, but he was terrifying when he was mad.
"We've already lost precious time by standing around and having to resolve this issue," John continued, crossing his arms and looking at the whole group sternly, "we better get on the move now, before the other Red Moon members find us."
The soldiers all nodded and scurried off, getting to work packing up the camp and loading the supplies into the rear of the carriage, separate from the part of it that Donghyuck had been riding in.
The omega turned to John cautiously, trying his best to look remorseful for his comment, but when they met eyes John had the hint of a grin tugging at his lips.
"Come on, Your Highness," he said with a sort of fond exasperation that was similar to parents having to scold a child for a crude joke even when they themselves also found it funny, "go get your things from your tent, and I'll help you get settled in the carriage for the journey."