39

674 36 4
                                    

Noor POV-- PART 1

My feet and legs ached from running, but at that point I silently wished we were still moving. No, unfortunately in that moment we had found ourselves surrounded. The small group of men chasing us from behind were not much of a threat, but when a group of enemy men stopped us in our tracks from the front, we knew we were in trouble. Four men had been perusing us, five men had halted our movement.

I looked to the group I had. Hoseok, Jimin, Princess Esther, the queen, and the king. It was nine on six, three of our group being royals who had probably never fought someone in their lives. Worry tinged in my heart. Esther's tears on her face had only just dried, but I could see new ones forming in her eyes. I took a step and placed an arm on her shoulder. She looked up to me with wide eyes, brimming with fear and uncertainty. I hated myself for not being able to give her reassurance. But honestly, I was just as scared as she was.

Our group stood, frozen, men stopping us on both sides. I swallowed as I caught Hoseok's gaze. He had his sword drawn high, just as Jimin and I did. The look in his eyes made a chill run up my spine. He had the same look Esther and I did. The same look we all had knowing that we were in an impossible situation. He had the look of fear.

A man from the new group spoke up. "Surrender the royals and your lives will be spared."

Silence swayed in the air, and I looked to Jimin and Hoseok, who's stares were dark. They stirred but did not speak up to accept the offer. I knew they never would have.

"Very well then," the man growled. "You'll all find yourselves at the sharp end of our swords."

The man then made a small wave of two fingers, and his men pressed inwards. Panicked, I could feel my group come closer in fear. We collectively and silently stepped slowly towards each other and towards the wall of the corridor.

The men only came closer. Everything seemed so similar to a lion hunting their prey. Moving stealthily, waiting to pounce. I re-gripped my sword. I was ready to fight. I wasn't positive that we would win this fight, an unfair one I might add, but I was prepared to protect the ones I loved. The one I knew y/n loved. My mixed feelings about the king and queen dimmed then. They weren't cornering me with blades pointed at my neck, so their threat seemed small. I didn't like them, but they didn't deserve to be murdered.

Suddenly, a small yelp from behind me. I swung my head. Esther had tripped, knocking over a stand with a large candelabra. I gasped as I watched the small flickers of light emitting from the candles lick at the curtains draped along the wall. It seemed too fast. Faster than natural, but all in our benefit, but before anyone could even react, flames had engulfed the window on one side of our group. The men that were closing in from that side stepped back hurriedly in an attempt to dodge the fire.

I hadn't realized it, but Hoseok had been thinking, and his knight's instincts seemed to be more in tune than all of mine combined. Because just as the fire made a brief distraction, he lurched forward and slashed his sword across two men's torsos.

The men groaned and fell to the floor. Not dead, just incapacitated for the moment. But that's all we needed.

Hoseok's actions instigated the fight, and thus it began. I pulled Esther behind me from the ground she laid on and raised my sword as an enemy man ran up to me. Our swords clashed against each other, sending shock waves through my hands and arms.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Jimin and Hoseok also fighting. Jimin was guarding the king and queen, and Hoseok was fighting all around. I had a sick feeling in my stomach but zeroed in on the man I was trying to stop. Repeatedly, our blades hit each other. A seemingly endless game of strike and defend. He would attempt a lethal blow on me, I would block it. I would do the same for him and he would defend himself all the same.

I heard Esther whimper behind me. She reminded me of who I was fighting for. Y/n. But not only for y/n, but for what she stood for. She was one of the best friends I've ever had. I hadn't known her for very long, not like other best friends had, but she was still one of the most important people to me. And Isabella, who I felt the same about. I fought for Hoseok who I had feelings I've never had before for. I fought for the boys who had come to the castle and become my friends. I fought for Jungkook, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of being good.

He stood up for what he believed in, and now it was my turn to do the same.

An opening.

A slight miscalculation in my enemy's movements.

I knew I had him.

I swung my weapon as hard as I could, and this time, there was no time for him to block my strike. My blade cut through the air swiftly, not faltering when it came in contact with his neck. A clean cut. Right in between his body and his head. And then they were not connected. I watched the flash of fear in his eyes. The regret. The surprise. And then the nothingness.

All of him fell the ground. Esther let out a small scream. I didn't blame her. The sight of his head rolling several feet from his body made my stomach twist in a way that made me nauseous. I swallowed. I carried on.

I hadn't realized how much the fire had spread. In that part of the castle, we had neared the knight's quarters and the corridors had gotten a little less flashy. There, the walls were lined with wooden paneling, and the floor was wood as well. This was dangerous, as the flames grew larger and larger on the wall. Soon they would consume the floor, and everyone on it.

I looked around hurriedly, the air now laced with smoke. I coughed lightly but knew that soon the black smoke would be too thick to breath or see through. It was time to go.

I could see Hoseok and Jimin both still fighting. I blinked, my eyes now stinging. I looked to Esther behind me. The king and queen were behind Jimin only a few feet away. Only a few feet away, but still too far for me to reach out and help as I watched the scene unfold.

An enemy approached the king and queen from the side Jimin wasn't protecting. The king saw this. The royals were unarmed. I pressed my lips together, ready to go and fight to protect them, but to my ultimate terror, I watched as the king pulled Jimin away from his fight and in front of him. The attacker pulled his sword up to attack, and the king used Jimin as a shield.

"You coward!" was all I could manage to scream.

Jimin was caught off guard by the betrayal of the king. Jimin's reflexes were fast, though and he shot up his blade to counter the attacker's. What wasn't taken into account by the king, though, was the man that Jimin was fighting before he pulled him away.

My feet felt like cement, but even if they didn't, I wondered if I would've done anything differently. I watched it happen but didn't feel much remorse as the man that was once fighting Jimin drove his sword through the chest of the king.

My ears felt filled with cotton, my mouth dry. The king let out a throaty yell, not too loud, but teeming with pain, nonetheless. The queen was silent. Esther dug her face into the skirt of my dress.

The air was now hot and burned my throat as I breathed. The man grunted as he pulled his blade out of the king's chest. The king fell to the ground, lifeless. The ruler of our land. The monarch. The father of my best friend. The king was dead.


to be continued...





The Suitors: A BTS fanficWhere stories live. Discover now