⊰ chapter eleven ⊱

Wineri kissed his forehead as she walked into the wild snow of the West, carrying him in her arms. Her hands freezing, her hair covered in snow. Jungkook cried out when his tiny legs were exposed to the cold, Winery quickly covered it with the piece of cloth she tore from her own dress to keep him warm. Wineri cried, "I am sorry. I will get us to warmth soon, please do not cry."

It was darkness everywhere and Wineri had no idea how she crossed the borders of the West in the middle of the night. There were little fire in every house porch, not very few people were walking towards their houses after work hour had came to an end. Wineri could barely walk anymore. Her legs were swore. When one of the citizens noticed the woman and heard Jungkook's cry, Wineri stepped back from the eyes staring down at her.

"Woman, who are you?" asked a man as people started to gather around.

Wineri broke into a low cry, voice hitching, "I need shelter. My baby and I have escaped Northern."

"Northern?" the men questioned themselves, "There is a war in North! The two princes had a deadly battle for the throne!"

"Yes. My husband was killed!" Wineri screamed and it only caught more attention of the people of West as people were opening their doors in the middle of the night, "I'm a northern concubine, I used be in the harem for Prince Arthur."

"Why do we believe a concubine? You are a low life," a woman said, "You have no pride. Not enough to be a part of our holy State. But we can keep you if you agree to be a part of our little pubs."

The men and women laughed heartily.

Wineri's lips twitched as she looked down at Jungkook.

"Make way!"

"Mr. Winters, good to see you. We have a low life from North—,"

"Keep silent!" a man walked past the crowd, his eyes peering down at Wineri who was on her knees on the cold slow, "Northern you say? What is your name?"

"Wineri Ryders." Wineri finally looked up at the men who were towering her with fierce eyes, "Jeon Wineri Ryders."

"You are the wife of the Prince Arthur?!" the man with the name Winters exclaimed, "Get the carriage! We take the woman to the Western Ministry right away!"

Questions bombarded the woman once she was there. Wineri's bruises came to light as she was put in a chair with Jungkook in her arms, a blanket covering them from the cold and before them was a hot cup of tea on a tray table. Wineri shivered still, "The middle brother, Arver, is unmarried. He had plotted my husband's death. We married after Arthur's coronation was announced."

"They have already announced Arver as the King of North," one of the ministry members answered, "It is being rumored that Princess Agnus's Eastern husband, the father of the Lux children were murdered along with her in the prison of murdering Arthur."

"Prince Consort Lux was Eastern but he loved Princess Agnus dearly enough to never harm her family. He and Arthur were close, Arthur agreed to marry him to Agnus!" Wineri confessed, "He would never. I saw Arver kill my love with my own eyes."

"Where is Arver now?" a minister asked.

"He is seen to ride his horse to the Southern to meet Lord Zurien of South," spoke another minister, "The Easterns have announced the death of one of their grand witch, Illari Koveski's death for committing betrayal. The Easterns are marching towards South for war."

The ministers processed the information together before coming to a conclusion, "We will give you shelter. But Mr. Winters, the member of the parliament may have a few conditions to portray whenever he needs to since he is the one who brought you and agreed for your shelter."

Wineri nodded.

"What is your son's name?"

"Jeon Ryder Jungkook," Wineri said.

There was an instant tension created all across the Ministry before two men came running to Wineri. Wineri was baffled when they seized her child and held him up in their arms. Their expressions only got more crowded with fear before they looked at Wineri, "Woman, what miracle have you brought to our realm?"

"What?" Wineri whispered.

"Bring the powder!"

They rubbed a powder across the child's chest. Wineri panicked.

There was a wave of relief or maybe the wave of joy and shock at the same time. The minister held the crying child to the faces of the audience, announcing, "Jeon Jungkook. We announce this child and his mother a Western pledged citizen from today."

Wineri frowned but her eyes widened at the unknown mark on her child's chest as he was being held up.

"The Blood Heir; Jeon Jungkook."

Jungkook woke up from the screeching pain on his arm, screaming out to open his eyes wide at Adona who was pushing him down to the bed, her face sweating with panic and fear. He looked to his left with his red, warry and restless eyes to find Dara's golden eyes, her lips murmuring something before she kissed his arm. Golden light gleamed across the room, glinted strings appeared around them and constellations wrapped him back to sleep.

Dara was in the most magnificent red dress. Her breasts pressed against his open chest as her right thigh wrapped around his waist, her fingers kissing his jaw and up his cheeks. Her hair was long again, blocking the sunlight in the royal room to touch his sleepy eyes. Her lips were crescent red and her eyes were decorated with little pearls and golden moons. Jungkook frowned a bit then smiled down at her tangled body. He felt the light breeze back and forth from the green fan Dara was fanning him with. His eyes found themselves in the Northern royal chambers.

"You look lost,"

He looked at her again, "I do?"

"You don't remember anything? You were drinking so much last night," Dara got off Jungkook, fixing her dress with an eyeroll, annoyance spread across her face, "The dress went to a whole waste."

"Why?" Jungkook sat up, grinning down at the dress she wore. Definitely, this was different from all the dresses she owned. Dara hardly liked wearing dresses that were fit for the heat. Something about that was modest, her choosing the mischievous dresses to wear inside the chambers while she looked like a saint with the high neck and full sleeved embroidered dresses outside the chambers. More like a secret. People knew less.

She had nothing to prove.

"You came to bed and toppled asleep," Dara complained, "And you know me, I cannot wear the same dress twice for you. The next time I wear it, it will be old to your eyes."

"If you knew me enough, you would know that I don't care too much about the dresses. They fall below your knees anyway," Jungkook held her chin up into his palm, pulling her closer before fruitfully kissing her lips. Dara breathed heavily before sniffing, slapping his hand away. Jungkook laughed like a child at the scene, "What's wrong?"

"You smell like rum!" Dara cringed, "I should have never allowed you to the soldier's quarters to drink that cheap rum! Go clean yourself!"

"I could clean you first—,"

"Out, Jeon Jungkook, out of my chambers and sight!"

Jungkook closed his eyes, smiling. The next time he opened them, Dara's hair was short.

She was in front of the Curve.

Her mouth bleeding.

A sword plunged through her.

She was kicked. Her body was stepped on.

Stepping on her head was the one sitting on the Curve. Silver hair.

Face unrecognizeable.

Dara's dead eyes staring back at him before the green of her orbs died.

The compass in the silver head's hands, swinging from one end to another.

"Jeon Jungkook," said the voice, crushing Dara's head with a kick as her body rolled down the flight of stairs below the Curve, "Congratulations on your victory of the Blood Throne."

Jungkook stared at Dara's blood.

"You need to let go off somethings to achieve the others," the voice said, "The red hair had to go. Since she was the very reason you got rid off me once upon a time, did you not?"

Jungkook looked at his hands.

Blood covered his fingers tips.

A white rose in his hands.

Once again, Jungkook opened his eyes to the pain in his arm reduced. He stared at the wooden ceiling above him. His chambers. The Western chambers. His body sweating. His head hurt.

Nightmares. Those were nightmares.

One of them was a dream.

But he couldn't identify which one of them were a foreshadow.

Jungkook walked down the stairs to the living room area after hearing the joyful chatterings coming from there. His arm was wrapped with clean gauge and he had no idea how the pain was reduced. The screaming ache between his bones was no more. His steps alerted the living room and soon everyone's chattering came to a quick end. The siblings stood up upon seeing their elder brother. Adona's laughter came to an end as she held her smile at Jungkook, "You are up. We thought you would take another week to gain consciousness."

He was asleep for a week.

Jungkook skimmed the room to find Dara's hands in Wineri's, the two sat close as if interrupted from a conversation. Wineri stood up quickly and rushed to her son, touching his face into her hands, "My love, are you alright?"

"I am fine, mother," Jungkook whispered, his eyes glued to Dara.

She was in one of the Western chiffons, white, with gold ear rings and her short hair well combed. Dara crossed her legs, keeping eyes tied with Jungkook's as the room stayed silent. Wineri was tensed though, "Does your arm hurt?"

"No," Jungkook whispered.

"Dara cured you," Sam said, igniting another fire in Jungkook's heart, "She sucked the poison with her own mouth and kissed the wound clean."

Adona grinned at Jungkook before raising brows at the Jeon siblings, "Guess we need to empty the room for the two talk—,"

But Jungkook left before anyone could move. Wineri looked at Dara, hopeful.

"I will go and speak to him," Dara whispered and walked through the family in the living room.

When she entered their chamber, Dara quietly kept the platter of food on the study to the left of the chamber and found Jungkook before the snow fall outside the windows. His ears shot up as her presence came closer until she was watching the snow with him. Dara cleared her throat a bit, her hands nervous, "I never thought I will like the snow so much until last week. While you were asleep, Sam and I went to the local markets. Wineri was very happy with the chiffon I bought her. We cooked too. She taught me to how make eggs. I almost burnt my fingers. But it was worth it. I don't think your little siblings liked my porridge though, but they still ate the entire cups of it. Yoongi woke up yesterday, his wound wasn't very deep. Adona was able to cast out the infection. I can't believe Adona hid her powers from us—,"

"Why did you come back?"

Dara's jaw dropped for a bit before she closed her mouth and looked away, back at the snow. Her heart clenched to hear those words but she left no reactions for him to theory upon, "I never left."

"Is it you speaking or your pride?" Jungkook asked, unmoved.

"Don't act like you were fine," Dara looked at him, stepping closer to take a better look at his face, "Big words aren't helping at the moment. It's your face. I can see you are suffering—,"

"Suffering from what?" As he moved closer to her, Jungkook turned to face her once more. Although their foreheads were only a few millimeters apart, Jungkook towered above Dara. Dara swallowed as she observed the fury on his face., "From you asking me to stop hoping or you ending all the things that I was working hard for?"

"What were you working so hard for that i was only hurting?" Dara argued.

"Looking for ways for us to be together in an unknown realm was not a joke, Koveski. Neither was dealing with your anger and stubborn mind who would not understand the purpose of my actions in the past. I am a man, not a God," Jungkook yelled out, "Funny how you would expect me to not feel anything and take my silence for rejection."

"You never say the things I should hear."

"You have to let me!," Jungkook barked, "You never left me any space! It was always about you."

Dara felt her guards fall down. Her brows eased with shock.

"You shouldn't have returned," Jungkook's brows arched instead, his cheeks looked weak to make further expressions but it sure was disappointment there, "You should leave—,"

"Make me leave," Dara said, jaws tight, "Make me leave if you can. Because you don't look like you want me to leave, Jungkook."

The man seized his eyes away from hers, "I want nothing from you."

"You want all of me," Dara urged.

Jungkook let out a sarcastic, cold chuckle, "Those days are gone."

"Stop lying to yourself," Dara chuckled back, "Your eyes tell."

"You don't need to know if I'm lying or not, you left once—,"

"And I came back for you," Dara tilted her head, smiling at Jungkook's nervous eyes, "I always come back."

"GET OUT OF HERE, KOVESKI—,"

Dara put her lips to Jungkook's while holding his face in her hands. She pressed her lips against his, twisting and swirling her tongue against him while Jungkook's scowled brows thinned into a tiny line. Jungkook's forehead was folded from what appeared to be pure pain and relief at the same time, and his heart was on his throat, possibly swimming in the air.

His heart burned.

His world came crashing down. Every time she moved against him, it felt brand new.

Dara rested her lips against his lips before slowly pulling away, staring into his unsure yet wanting eyes—they were mad enough to rip her into pieces, "If you are crossed, then you might as well give me a chance to make it up to you."

"Leave me alone—,"

"I missed you too," Dara walked out of the chamber after kissing his lips one last time, smiling ear to ear with the taste of his lips on hers.

Once again, Jungkook couldn't think straight.

I am way too broken than you think, Dara. I am a wooden doll you broke as many times as you wanted to.

"A mute doll," Jungkook whispered to the snow.

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fr see u next week im tired as fuck