LEAH SIN
Ever since I've moved from Master Jungkook's Palace to stupid Kim Taehyung's, I've hated it.
And that's ironic, because most people would kill to go from a servant to the Marked of one of the Three Heads in one day.
At least back at my old home everyone minded their own business, and at least didn't whisper and whatever everywhere they went.
Flipping the dark hood over my head, I shove my hands deep into my pockets and chew on my lip at the sight of the dark silver pair of wings forever carved into my collarbone.
The person who'd put this on my skin hadn't even said a single word ever since the stiff confirmation at our pretend marriage, locked up tight in his room for whatever reason.
Was he that determined not to talk to me?
As I'm furiously pacing the halls because I have nothing to do, someone bumps into me from the back. A startled squeal echoes in surprise, and I look behind to see a girl.
She looks barely five, holding an empty basket with her eyes wide.
"I-I'm so sorry." She exclaims, pushing her head down and trying to get past me in a hurry when I gently tap her shoulder.
"Where are you going with that?"
The hooded cloak she has over her shoulders nearly comes down to her ankles as she clutches the basket to her chest.
"T-The lady told me to go pick berries for her."
My lips purse in anger.
"How old are you?"
When she holds up five fingers, I struggle to keep myself in check. What kind of idiot would tell a kid to go out in this snow to pick berries? That would've been nothing short of suicide.
"Go to your room." I say, taking the basket from her. "I'll get some berries real quick and give them to you."
She fidgets.
"I, um— share my room with another kid. She'll tell her if I come in without the berries, and then she won't give me any food for the rest of the day."
"Don't worry about that." I say with a forced smile, making a mental note to deal with whoever this person was. No doubt she was doing this to the other kids as well. "Go to my room. It's the one upstairs, first one to the right. It should be open."
After she leaves, I hold the woven basket to my chest and head outside, feeling a bit back at home with something to do. I'd almost gone crazy sitting around and staring at the ceiling.
As soon as the fresh winter air hits my face, I take a deep breath and make my way towards the Iliad Forests. That was the only place berries would grow at this time of the year, and I knew the forest like the back of my hand with all the times I'd gone.
Maybe I could visit Lyr real quick if I moved fast enough.
Tightening the cloak around my neck, I feel snow give way under my feet as I enter the forest. My eyes flicker over the snow-covered bushes, searching for a tint of red, a flash of blue.
I go deeper.
There's nothing but trees around me now as I stop in front of one of the bushes, raising my eyebrow in disappointment when I find that the blue I thought I saw was nothing but a wilted flower.
Then I look over, and spy a flicker of deep red.
Rowan.
Plopping down next to the bush with a relieved smile, I start picking the berries by the handful.
Then a sudden sound chills the back of my neck— a low, quiet growl, barely audible even in the peace of the forest.
I freeze for a few seconds before carefully turning my head to the side, eyes darting anxiously. But there's nothing except for snow and more snow, and I turn back to the bush.
I'd probably just been imagining it.
"Yeah, stop being paranoid." I mutter to myself, closing my fingers around another berry before dropping it into the basket. "What kind of bear would already—"
Then I hear it again.
And it's not a bear.
"Dammit." I hiss under my breath as I turn to see a wolf, its ears twitching from side to side. Then it's yellow eyes fix upon me, and I feel so small as it scans from me head to toe.
I can't move, with terror freezing me to the ground and turning my blood into ice.
"Y-You want a berry?" I squeak quietly as its gaze shifts from me to the basket I'm holding with white hands, full of red fruit.
It growls, deeper this time.
"Okay, okay." I whisper as I slowly get to my feet, moving an inch per second with its eerie stare on me. And I don't realize how badly my hands are shaking until I drop the basket.
I. Drop. The. Basket.
The moment the berries spill to the forest floor, the wolf raises its head and howls— a piercing wail that I'm pretty sure is my death call.
I don't waste a second after that.
Spinning on my heel, I break into a run. Adrenaline drives my legs forward faster than I've ever gone before, and my breath goes ragged when I hear the terrifying sound of a wolf running.
Not wolf.
Wolves.
I don't even think about screaming for help as I run, everything else black with fear in my mind except for getting the heck out of this place.
Then my feet tangle.
A soft curse leaves my breath when I crash into the snow, and I struggle back up to start running again when I realize that I'm surrounded.
Surrounded by five hungry wolves, their glowing yellow eyes haunting.
With my back pressed tight against a tree, I hear the sound of my own breathing drown out everything else as one of them drops low, getting ready to pounce.
I can't even close my eyes.
Then a pained howl cuts through the air as a knife slams into its body, and the next thing I feel is a firm arm around my waist as he pulls me up to my feet.
V...?
His eyes are shining when he looks down at me, face flushed a soft red as he presses something firm and smooth into my palm.
"Don't cut yourself." He says quietly, and I look down to see one of his silver knives blinking up at me. I probably look stupid, with a blank expression on my face and breathing roughly. "Start running."
Then he pushes me away from his grip, a pair of new blades clutched in his own hands as the wolves howl. I fall completely still, my back still pressed against the tree trunk.
He's going to take on all of them?
Then the wolves leap all at once, and I watch as crimson splatters against the white of the snow. V's dark-clothed figure moves like winter wind between the crazed animals, jaws snapping and eyes wild.
There's a flash of light silver, a howl of pain.
Within seconds, three lie dead on the ground.
"What are you doing?" He roars when he notices me still there, his eyes losing the calmness from before. "I said to go!"
"I can't just do that!" I yell back, my thoughts a jumbled mess but knowing it was so wrong to leave him here to fend for himself. "Hold on!"
My left hand barely gripping on to the handle of the knife, I bend down with shaking hands and scoop a bunch of snow with my right.
Crushing it into a packed ball, I hurl it at the nearest wolf.
My strategy works.
Its murderous eyes turn to me, and I see its fangs from all the way here as I instinctively wrap both hands around the blade.
It's coming.
My heart races against my chest as I see it lunge, and my pitiful reflexes are the only thing that saves me as I grip the knife forward so that the point faces front.
The sensation of the tip sinking into flesh, combined with the sticky wet blood that splatters against my face, is more than enough to make my legs give out clean underneath my feet.
"You're crazy."
A strained voice echoes next to me, and I suck in a harsh breath as I hear him finish the wounded animal with a final blow. When he drops to the snow next to me, I shiver at the sudden smell of blood.
"Absolutely insane."
"Your arm." I breathe in shock, pointing blankly at the scarlet mess. When I look closer at his eyes, I realize they're severely unfocused with the blood loss.
"It d-doesn't matter." He whispers, flinching when I come closer. Unclasping the cloak from my neck, I ease his ashen fingers from the wound and press it against the bleeding slash.
The sound of weak laughter echoes from above.
"That's— That's not going to do much." He murmurs, coughing as he falls back to the trunk of the tree behind him, the usual intensity in his gaze weak.
"You're a healer." I realize, recalling when he had come to heal Lyr and Master Jungkook from before. "What do I do? Should I—"
"The way you express yourself." He suddenly says, and my mouth drops open an inch at the random statement. "Fascinating."
Okay.
He was either going crazy from the blood loss, or he just snapped completely. Both options didn't seem much helpful to this situation.
"Back to this." I say urgently, swallowing when my hands come off wet with red. "Taehyung, seriously. What do I do? I-I think Lyr's palace is close to here."
When his face turns another shade of pale in the cold, I seriously begin considering that idea. But the thought soon fades away— there was no way I could leave him like this with possible wolves still around.
"V!"
"Don't shout." He says softly, his eyes slowly opening again. I'm about to retort back in reply when he suddenly stares right at me, his gaze something like curious.
"Why can I see you so clearly?"