Kingdom

11.The Forbidden Pool (7)

Yoongi takes the Princess' hand and leads her back into his room. She follows him silently, shivering a bit in the cold night air.

The King takes his wedding robe from where he previously left it and covers Nori with it, her whole body disappearing under the heavy cloth.

"If you ever defile my orders again," he says, looking straight into her eyes, "if I see you in a place where I said you should not enter, not only will I send you home immediately, but I will send my armies after you, I will take over your whole country, even if I have to burn every single village on my way. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand you perfectly."

"Good."

"I will go change and then I will take you to your room. Do you want some clothes?"

Nori shakes her head.

"You know, I am not a wild beast. I don't lose control if I see a naked woman. If you think you are the most irresistible woman in the world, you are wrong."

"Your robe is warm enough."

"Fine. While I am gone, you can drink some of the tea that the servants left by the food tray. It should still be warm, the vessel that contains it is enchanted. It is a special tea, it will make you relax. Just drink it very, very slowly."

Yoongi is gone just for a few moments, walking behind the folding screens into his bedroom, quickly changing into a dry pair of pants and a long comfortable robe. As the adrenaline from before is gone, he feels extremely tired. He simply wishes to collapse into the bed and just leave the Princess to sleep on the floor. But he can't do that, he wants to be sure she is securely tucked into her bed, causing no more troubles tonight.

When Yoongi returns to the room, he finds the Princess sat on the floor drinking the tea like a person who's just found water in the desert.

"Wait, don't drink the tea like that!" he exclaims.

"Why not, I want to relax. I feel anxious."

"It is too strong, stop!"

Too late. Her mind is already getting clouded by the effect of the tea and she collapses on the floor. Yoongi grabs his head in his hands, cursing under his breath. Why can't she just follow his orders for one minute?

That woman will drive him crazy.

--------

Jungkook left the party early. He was given some herbal tea for his upset stomach and got a few hours of good sleep. But he abruptly woke up some time ago and could not sleep anymore. He didn't feel comfortable here. After tossing around his bed for a few minutes, the young man decided to check his new work area and visit the Queen's quarters.

The Palace has gone quiet, almost everyone already passed out from drinking. The Queen's rooms are situated in a separate small building, surrounded by a beautiful garden. There are a few guards in front of the entrance and all of them are asleep. Jungkook thinks this is unprofessional.

"Can you open the door?" he hears a voice and turns around startled.

He blinks a few times until he realises what he sees: there is the King in front of him, dressed rather informally, carrying the sleeping Queen in his arms.

"Is the Princess ok?" Jungkook asks with concern.

"She drank too much but she will be fine," the King answers coldly, "just open the doors for me, will you? I will have everyone punished tomorrow."

"Punished!?"

Jungkook remembers all the scary stories he had heard about the King of Daegu and horrifying images pass through his mind.