(Jimin's POV)
I paced back and forth in front of the doors to my chambers, chewing on my bottom lip. I couldn't think, couldn't focus.
We need to stay calm...
Being calm isn't an option right now.
Don't be hasty, everything will be fine.
You don't know that, screw your intuition about it too. No one knows what's going to happen.
"You're still out here little brother?" Jin's voice pulled me from the growing argument with my Dragon.
"Yeah, the healers and Mother are in there looking after Tourmaline. You... brought her more soup?" I asked him, looking down at the wooden tray he held in his arms. He nodded.
"Yes. It will hopefully ease the pain and help her. It helped Sapphire, she's feeling much more herself." He replied. Just then the doors opened and Mother stepped out with the three healers with her. She thanked them and they bid us farewell as they continued on their day. I turned quickly to mother, Jin nodded to her and entered the room to deliver the soup to my girl, my mate.
"Is she... okay?" I asked, that overwhelming feeling of nervousness and anxiety was crawling through me again.
"She's..." My mother paused and placed her hand on my shoulder. "The healers believe this has something to do with the Unity ceremony." She said, her eyes conveying a soft sadness behind them.
"But we haven't- Oh.." We hadn't had our Unity ceremony, I wanted to wait for my best friend. "It's because we haven't... finalized it?" I asked, even though I knew the answer already.
"That's what the healers believe. It's not usual, but she's not usual. Like Pearl and Sapphire there's something unique about her. In her case- She's changing into a Dragon faster than most, but she can't finish that transformation because you're not united with her. It's the Dragon's blood that completes the process. The exchange of bodily fluids ignites it but does nothing but just that. It's the blood, the marking you'll give her- that's what completes it. But with no Unity ceremony she's-"
"In pain... a lot of pain because of me and my desire to wait for my brother." I replied. I was responsible for this.
"Jimin, dear. She doesn't blame you, she wanted to wait as well. Don't hold this against yourself, it's her choice too you know." Mother tried to make me feel better. I wanted nothing more than to make Tourmaline feel better. I had tried the potions and elixirs I'd made but none stopped the pain that coursed through her body.
"I know.. I just wish I hadn't even had the thought." I was slipping again and I knew mother was only trying to pull me out of it.
"I'm sure Taehyung will be back soon, Tourmaline is strong. She's doing well and not in any real danger yet." Mother responded, her words didn't make me feel better though. It was the yet I was afraid of, if Tae didn't hurry back soon then-
"Majesties." The gruff voice of one of my guards caught our attention and pulled me from my thoughts.
"We received word from the guards at the bunker that his Majesty arrived safely along with Master Lee and the young women. We were also informed that his Majesty left with one of the women some time ago. They should be here soon as they took one of the Steeds." The man said. It was good news, very good news. As long as we could start the ceremony as soon as they came back. My sweet girl wouldn't have to be in pain anymore.
"That's excellent news. Thank you." I replied to him with a nod. He bowed to me then to mother, who was smiling. She turned to me again and wrapped her arms around me, taking me into her warm embrace.
"See, things will be fine. Tourmaline will be fine. Everything will work out." She mused as she patted my back gently. I smiled against her shoulder and nodded.
"Thank you, Mother." I replied, slowly pulling from her comforting hug.
"Come on, let's go see about preparations for the unity ceremony. We'll need to do it as soon as possible." She spoke as she hooked her arm with mine and led me down the hall.
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(Ruby's POV)
"Beautiful, we're almost there... look." I opened my eyes as Blue boy's voice touched my ears. We passed by a large lake, up a long path to a pretty impressive looking stone gate. I noticed the cracks in the stone and one side had some scaffolding, it looked like it was being repaired, though it was too late at night now and no one was working on it.
I turned my head more to see a beautiful building in the distance, the palace I assumed. There were guards walking about, some stopped to bow as we trotted passed. The horse had slowed as we got closer to the palace. There were lights everywhere, more guards patrolling around. There were four guards at the front of the structure. One came down as we came to a stop, blue boy hopped off the horse with a big bright smile. He reached up for me but I hesitated, this is... till the two very large front doors to the palace opened and Sapphire and Pearl came barreling down the steps. Their eyes widened and they ran a little faster. Both in long gowns, their hair pulled up in classy buns. It was only then that I threw myself into blue boy's hands so I could get down. Once my feet touched the ground I pushed myself away from his hold and darted to them.
"RUBY!" Sapphire yelled with a big bright smile.
"Sapph, be careful!" Pearl called to her. "Ruby!" She then called out to me. I jumped into Pearl's arms and was welcomed by her embrace. She swung me around just in time for Sapphire to collide into us, the three of us tightly holding each other.
"You have no idea how much we missed you." Pearl said with a smile, both of them had tears in their eyes.
"Hey hey, no crying. If you cry, then she's going to cry, then I'm going to cry and y'all know I don't like that shit." I muttered to them, trying to hold back my own tears.
"Haha, our typical Ruby." Sapphire giggled out. We just held onto each other until something pulled me from this moment of happiness.
"Where's Tour?" I asked. Pearl and Sapphire pulled away slowly, the look on their faces making me not too happy. "Where is she?" I asked once more, it looked like Sapphire was going to say something but I was not in the mood. I pushed away from them and stormed up the stairs to the palace.
"If that mother-fucker hurt her I'll kill him... seriously. Fucking. Kill. Him." I grumbled out loud as I made my way through the doors.
"Ruby, she's fine it's just that-" Sapphire started but I didn't want to hear it.
"Where is she? Where's her room?" I asked, looking around the front entrance. If I wasn't hell bent on finding my friend and destroying the purple asshole who ruined her then I might have been able to appreciate the beauty of this place.
"Ruby, calm down." Pearl said as she grabbed my hand. "Come on, we'll take you to see her. Taehyung?" Pearl turned and called to blue boy. "You should go see Jimin and Kirsa, they're with the elders right now in the great hall." She said to him before turning back and leading me down a long hallway. We turned right at some point and eventually stopped at a set of double doors with two guards positioned at either side. They both bowed to Pearl and Sapphire before they opened the doors and let us in.
We entered into a living room looking space. There was a fireplace and a sofa as well as some chairs and things. To the left were steps that led up into another room.
"Pearl?" I heard a voice, a male voice ask from behind the sheer curtains that hung down. Sapphire went past us up the steps and tied back one of the curtains.
"Brother Jin, is she awake?" Sapphire asked as she tied the other curtain back. Once she was done she turned around and Pearl and I followed up the steps behind her.
"She's awake, the soup isn't helping much but I tried." He replied. His eyes widened a bit when he saw me. "And who's this?" He asked. I looked at the large bed he was seated next to, in the bed laid Tour. She looked more pale, her eyes slowly opened.
"Ruby?" She asked, slightly confused. I stepped away from Pearl and Sapphire and approached Tour.
"Tour? What happened to you?" I asked her, concerned and yet angry. "Did he do this to you? I swear.... I shouldn't have let you go with him." I said to her, she smiled a bit and shook her head.
"I'm fine, or I will be fine. Sapphire's the only here who got really hurt." She noted, looking past me to Sapphire. I turned to Sapphire who smiled.
"Yeah, well you should know that nothing can hold me down." She smirked.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Oh you know, rebels who want to destroy us. My leg took the most damage but I'm all better now." She replied.
"You were hurt? What the actual fuck Saph?" I asked her. She laughed like it was nothing.
"Calm down. Look, there's rebels... they don't want our Kings in power, they also don't seem to give two fucks about the people as they've been pillaging villages and making it difficult for supplies to get transported." Sapphire started to explain.
"Not to mention the fact that our existence seems to be pissing them off." Pearl added with a grin. "I of course didn't help matters by giving birth... and to a son no less." She seemed to smile wider at that. I was beyond confused. The guy in the chair just nodded along, a bright smile on his face.
"Who the fuck are you?" I asked wondering why this guy was just sitting in Tour's room. I remembered what Jimin looked like and this guy wasn't him. Pearl laughed, followed by Sapphire and the guy with blonde hair.
"I'm Seokjin, just call me Jin. I'm the eldest King." He said with a small smile. He was way too pretty to be normal, I should have known he was another fucking King.
"Are all of you like this?" I asked, motioning to him with my hand. This caused him to chuckle. "Seriously, is your whole family filled with narcissistic good looking- way too beautiful men? Cause what the fuck?" All three laughed again, Tour was trying not to laugh as she sat up more in bed.
"Same old Ruby, lets her mouth run before she can think about what she's actually saying." Tour replied with a grin. "They are all good looking, yes. But they're anything but narcissistic." She answered. I scoffed a bit.
"So I take it you've been giving Taehyung a hard time?" Pearl asked as she folded her arms over her chest.
"No doubt." Tour added with a light chuckle.
"Hey, Blue boy can handle himself. I haven't been mean." I responded.
"He's your mate then? Have you accepted it?" The blonde guy asked.
"Accepted what?" I asked. Blondie had a look of confusion mixed with sadness.
"So you haven't... this isn't good." I noticed he looked past me to Tour. I had no fucking clue what was going on.
"We should.. take Ruby to where she'll be staying." Pearl interjected as I was about to speak again. "We'll come back and have breakfast with Tour in the morning, okay?" Pearl added. I nodded.
"Uh, sure." I replied as Sapphire took my hand and led me down the steps. "See you Tour." I called to her.
"I'll see you guys in the morning." She replied. Blondie followed us out of the room, the guards closing the doors behind us.
"She's been getting weaker, but it's only temporary.. at least that's what the healers say." Blondie added as he looked down the hall. I noticed a few guards were standing there talking. "If you'll excuse me Sisters. I'll see you all tomorrow." He added as he walked off toward the group of men. Sapphire and Pearl walked with me to another corridor, down the lit hall till we reached another set of doors. The guards here had blue on their armor. They bowed and opened the doors to the room. The layout was pretty much the same, only the decor was different. This room was a mix of dark and light blues, which only confirmed my fear that this room was already occupied.
"Why am I in Blue boy's room?" I asked plainly. Sapphire smiled softly at me while Pearl looked at me with slightly troubled eyes.
"Blue boy?" Saph questioned.
"Yes. Tall, blue, gorgeous, orgasmic voice? Ring any bells?" I asked back. Sapphire started to laugh, Pearl followed right behind her. "What?" I asked, confused by their laughter.
"I'm sorry, it's just that you calling him Blue boy sounded like your usual rough self. But then you went on to compliment him and I think you were drooling as you did." Sapphire teased. I grumbled at her and folded my arms over my chest.
"I did not..." I may have pouted as I spoke. They still giggled at me and while it was annoying, it was so damn good to hear them again. I was once more embraced by them, they hugged me tightly again and I enjoyed the warmth.
"He's your mate though Ruby. You have to accept that, in truth... we and mostly Tour need you to accept that." Sapphire said.
"Saph, she doesn't need to hear that now. It should be her choice." Pearl commented and I pulled away from them, looking between the two of them. Clearly there was something I was missing out on, especially since Sapphire stopped talking and Pearl couldn't look me in the eye for a few moments.
"Alright, whatever is going on I'm going to need you two to start fucking talking before I start lighting shit on fire." I spoke with a stern voice.
"You'll get along great with Brother Yoongi." Pearl smiled.
"I'm serious Pearl, what's going on?" I asked again for an answer.
"Sleep. Tae should be back, you can ask him if you really want. I'm sure he's been told of the situation." Pearl answered, though maneuvered around answering the actual question I had. I sighed and looked around the room more.
"I mean... it is a nice room." I commented. Both girls smiled.
"You should rest. Oh and when you wake up, don't freak out on the two women who will most likely be hovering over you with food, or clothes." Sapphire said with a grin. "They're your hand maidens, or personal assistants if you prefer. You're in line to be one of the next Queens so it's a given." She smiled a bit wider, this was going to be a lot to take in.
"This is..."
"Too much?" Pearl asked with a grin. "You'll get use to it, and we'll help you. But, for now just rest. Let this much sink in." She pulled Saph with her and turned to the door. "Goodnight Rubes, see you in the morning." Pearl added with a softly smile. I nodded to her in return.
"Goodnight. Don't stay up too late." Saph winked and I knew what she was playing at. I shook my head at her and waved them both bye for now. Once they were gone and the doors were shut I turned and headed up the stairs. The bed was huge, like the one Tour was laying in. I looked around and went to the closet space on the right, it was filled with clothes, I opened some of the drawers and found a long soft blue button down shirt. I grabbed that and headed back down to the living room are, searching for a bathroom.
The back left door was the correct one, once I stepped inside I nearly dropped the shirt. It was big, beautiful looking. Blue and gray marbling, it looked great. A large circular tub in the center, a standing shower along the back right side of the wall and a stall that I assumed led to the toilet on the left side of the back wall. I ran a bath for myself, deciding that I really needed it. Soaking in the tub felt nice, I'd never soaked in such a large bath but it was kind of fun, relaxing too.
Once I was done I grabbed a towel from the towel rack and dried myself off. I put on just the shirt and left my underwear and bra in a woven lidded basket that I assumed was for dirty clothes. I exited the bathroom and looked around again, wondering if Blue boy was here yet. I didn't see him though so I went back up to where the bed was and climbed in, situating myself on the right side with the pillows propped up a bit. I noticed a few books scattered around and decided to take a look at the one that was on the bedside table next to me. I sighed and looked at the book before opening it and reading. I found myself lost in the pages soon enough though. I didn't know the title of the book but it seemed to be about this world, there were mentions of the Dragon gods, Dragon Kings. It was interesting for sure.
I got more comfortable, laying on my stomach with the book laying flat on the bed. The night shirt I'd chosen rode up a bit and barely covered my ass, but I didn't care. I was too invested in these stories of war and conflict. So invested in fact, that I didn't even hear the door to the room open.
Then came a familiar throaty growl....