I had been circling the camps on the field outside of Agora for hours now, suffering under the weight of exhaustion, anger, and sadness that weighed me down as I continued to let my feet carry me around the area.
The darkness had covered the world in a veil of shadows and secrets, and I could barely see the ground underneath my feet as I continued walking down the path I had found.
The meadow had been completely ruined underneath the weight of the thousands of feet that had trampled over the tall grass and beautiful flowers.
Now completely flat and ruined, it was covered in hundreds upon hundreds of tents.
I stopped for a moment, watching them glow in the light from the flames in the lanterns all around the camp, brightening the area, covering it in a golden glow.
They looked like stars on a night sky.
But as I turned my head to look up, I realized that there weren't any.
The beautiful dark blue canvas that usually hung over the Kingdom of Agora every night, splattered with droplets of white and yellow that glinted in the night, was nowhere to be seen.
Hidden by a thick layer of clouds.
Luckily, the storm was nowhere to be seen.
I huffed, feeling annoyed all of a sudden, and then getting annoyed at my annoyance as there was really no reason for me to be feeling that way.
I shook my head, suddenly wanting to cry.
I couldn't think straight and even hours of fresh air hadn't been able to fix it.
Running my hands through my messy hair, I tried my best to hold back a yawn but there was no fighting it, my legs could barely hold my own weight anymore.
I sighed, deciding to make my way back to the big red tent where I knew the others would have gathered by now, knowing that I should be there as well, that I had a duty to be there as well.
I trudged into the forest on the outskirts of the camp, encircling the meadow like a blanket of darkness around a single star, trying its best to snuff out the light.
The darkness got denser the further into the woods I got, my surroundings just as gloomy as my mood.
The trees reached high into the sky everywhere around me, reaching over the small path like shadows in the dark; tall, eerie.
I didn't mind them, simply brushing off the sounds of the dead leaves they had abandoned on the ground as they sand their last songs underneath the crushing weight of my feet.
Another feeling that weighed me down was guilt, I realized all of a sudden.
Guilt over the way that things had gone so, so wrong.
Guilt over how I hadn't been able to defend San, how easily I had been pushed back when he went down, how I hadn't been able to go back for him even though I wanted to.
Guilt over how many lives had been lost in the span of a couple of hours as the provinces' armies went into the city to fight for my kingdom.
And guilt over how I had run away from my responsibilities as the crown princess of Avalon once again.
Hiding away in the outskirts of the camp and leaving the job, the burden, to the others instead, to Seongwha, Hongjoong, Yunho-
The thought itself made me want to cry.
I kept moving through the forest, finally spotting a couple of flickering lights through the rustling leaves and thick trunks ahead, walking a little faster.
And then I heard the sound of a branch cracking somewhere behind me.
I immediately froze, coming to an abrupt halt as I subconsciously held my breath, feeling the hairs on my arms stand up as a shiver went through my entire body.
I stood completely still for a couple of seconds, simply taking in the sounds of the night, searching for something, anything, that wasn't supposed to be there.
The leaves rustled in the subtle wind as a soft breeze went through the forest, like the trees themselves were breathing everywhere around me.
Whoever had made the sound had gone quiet.
My senses sharpened as my eyes began to burn bright red.
I clenched my fist, feeling it heat up as I got ready to summon a flame.
Not yet, I told myself, continuing to listen as best as I could, still searching.
Not yet, not yet, not yet-
A low rustling sound made me whip my head around almost immediately, throwing a single ball of fire in the direction of the sound.
My heartbeat picked up as a sharp grunt followed by a crunching sound rang out through the silent forest.
Someone had been hit.
Someone had fallen over.
I bolted in the direction where my flame had disappeared only a couple of seconds earlier, jumping over branches and stones hidden underneath the blanket of dead leaves behind coming to a stop.
My ribs strained to keep up with the effort of catching my breath as I tried to calm my thundering heart.
I found myself standing over a figure on the ground, dark against the lush undergrowth, completely black in the starless night in the forest.
I summoned another ball of fire, feeling my breath catch in my throat as I recognized the hat on the man's head.
He turned to face me, his features covered by a familiar mask.
A man in black, I realized, feeling my inner fire awaken at the sight in front of me. One of Daios' servants.
I was livid, my hands shaking with rage as I carefully lowered my flaming fists to my sides, trying to control my breathing.
The rebel scrambled to his feet, staggering back a couple of steps as he quickly raised his hands in a defensive gesture in front of him, raw panic in his eyes.
"I-" he began, his voice low and rough.
He moved his hands to his face, to his mask, and I flinched at the movement, raising a blazing fist as if on instinct.
He immediately froze, breathing hard.
"Put your hand down," I growled, my own voice sounding foreign and far away as the words slipped past my lips.
"Put your hand down and look me in the eyes," I whispered.
He did as I said, taking another step back as he, like me, tried his best to control his erratic breathing.
"I just wanted to-" he tried, but I cut him off with a growl.
"You," I sneered, stepping forward and closing the distance between us.
"You!" I pushed him against one of the dark trees, forcing the side of my arm against his throat. He choked on a breath.
I glared at him, the anger I was feeling was so overwhelming that I almost couldn't think straight, couldn't find the words I wanted to say.
My eyes burned, and then widened, as I saw his eyes turn red as well.
I almost took a step back, but I stopped myself, pulling off his mask before yanking his hat off as well, revealing the person behind all of the treachery.
A mop of unruly and messy blond hair fell into his face, perfectly shaped eyebrows, and cheekbones revealed as well; a handsome face for a traitor.
Almost impossibly perfect except for a small scar by his right eye, one of the few things that made his ethereal face look human.
But what caught my attention more than anything else was those smoldering red eyes that stared back at me, flickering with flames in the dark night.
"You're a fire elemental," I whispered, taking a step back in surprise, feeling disgusted to share the same element as someone like him.
Feeling ashamed of how I saw myself in those eyes of his; unsure, scared, and guilty. I was guilty as well, I realized, feeling my heartbeat pick up.
Guilty of treachery, of abandoning my responsibilities, as the heir to the throne of Avalon, as the daughter of my parents, as San's friend, someone who cared for him.
I was a traitor as well.
To my surprise, yet again, he looked down, bowing his head in submission.
My inner fire flared up at the sight.
"What's your name?" I said, my voice still shaking with emotions and the bottled-up rage I was trying so hard to contain.
I needed information, and this man was going to give it to me.
He looked up, as if surprised by my question, hesitating for a moment before answering.
"Taeyong," he stammered, locking eyes with me, "Lee Taeyong."
I decided to skip the formalities since he obviously knew who I was already, and what kind of person would I be if I didn't introduce him to my friends?
We may have been fighting on different sides in this war, but that didn't mean that he couldn't at least say hi, I thought bitterly.
And so, I dragged him through the last stretch of forest, looking back at times to glare at the treacherous fire elemental that stumbled along with me as he tried to keep up.
I mumbled to myself as we kept moving, finally spotting the red tent just outside of the dark trees, glowing in the night, towering over the rest of the camp.
Hopefully, it was big enough to house the egos of the provinces' generals, I thought to myself, remembering the uncomfortable meetings I had experienced when I was younger, shivering at the thought.
When we finally reached the canvas door, I came to a halt, taking a deep breath as I stood up a little straighter, trying to get a hold of myself and my thoughts.
Taeyong stood nervously behind me, looking as if he wanted to say something as he shifted his weight from foot to foot with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment before I grabbed the tent opening, pushing past it as I made my way inside.
The room inside was so drastically different from the world of darkness that I had just left behind that it took me a minute to adjust to the bright lights and smell of candle wax.
The conversation I had picked up from outside of the tent had stopped, a heavy silence falling over the group as everyone's eyes turned to me; red, blue, brown, purple, black, gold, and green.
I wanted to say something, anything, when I suddenly realized that something was wrong.
I furrowed my brows in confusion.
Something was missing.
Something that brought back the same sadness I had been dealing with all afternoon, all evening, all night.
I counted the people inside the tent over and over again, but the number of generals didn't add up no matter how much I wanted it to.
Seven districts, I realized.
Seven colours.
Seven provinces; Ignia, Amane, Lurra, Aire, Tume, Lumo, and Moru.
Seven elements; fire, water, earth, air, darkness, light, and nature.
I was about to ask where the general of Kankara, the ice province, was when Wooyoung got out of his seat and took a step forward.
"y/n-" he began, cutting himself off when he noticed Taeyong step into the tent behind me, his attention turning to the man in black as his eyes locked with the traitor's own red ones.
"Who is that?" Hongjoong asked, his white hair poking out from behind Seongwha, the two elementals standing together by the middle of the table, looking as if they had been in the middle of a discussion with the generals opposite them.
Seongwha's dark eyes flickered to the fire elemental behind me as well, though it was impossible to tell what he was feeling, thinking, at the moment.
"I, uhm-" I said, clearing my throat as I turned to the seven generals and gave them a small bow as a greeting.
Now was not the time to drop the formalities, I told myself, remembering how my father had always told me to respect these people, to show them that I also held power and a strong opinion.
I imagined his face just like the day of my coronation, smiling at me from the other side of the tent.
Standing proudly behind the generals that looked at me with expectation and curiosity in their eyes, gesturing for me to speak my mind.
"I brought a guest," I said, dragging Taeyong forward to stand at my side.
A/N:
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