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"Ugh..." Seungkwan groaned as the pressure of sleep lifted from his eyelids.
He woke with a heaviness on him, the weight from a toned brunette's arm wrapped far too severely around his waist.
Seungkwan believed that the wretched hold Mingyu had on him, in his unwavering slumber, was far too bold for strangers.
He fluttered his eyes a bit, allowing his vision to focus. He hadn't realized the shift he made in his bed. He was now facing Mingyu, almost cradled in his arms, a moving chest sprayed across his view.
Seungkwan placed his hand on the other prince's chest. He could feel his warmth pressing down on his fingertips and through his palms the faint beating of a heart.
For a moment Seungkwan closed his eyes and imagined that it was Vernon's chest he was held to. That Vernon laid close to him, wrapping around his smaller frame, his grip severe and wanting. That it was his knight who craved to be closer to him and would have Seungkwan pressed against his chest allowing not an ounce of his body heat to escape him.
Finally, he opened his eyes and glanced up at the man who was truly holding him, Mingyu, his fiancé. Sure he was not Vernon but at least he was someone. At least there was a presence and a reassurance that he would not run off at the break of dawn.
I wonder... when did I become so lonely?
Then there was light. A bright beam hit Mingyu's face, brightening his features. It was morning, early morning. A new day has arrived.
-
"So, how's royal life fairing?" Hye-Jin said as she placed down a bucket of water in front of her former commander.
Vernon shook his head as he poured the water into the bin for the horses to drink.
"Oh, com'on with that attitude again. It can't be that bad," Hye-Jin shook her head and leaned on her hip.
"You're right. It isn't as bad as I anticipated," Vernon said, because it was true, somehow he found himself not completely despaired because of a certain someone. "But I don't consider guarding the prince 'royal life.'"
"Well it beats rolling around in the ditch, don't it?" Hye-Jin said she patted Vernon's tough back. "Fighting for scraps, shooting the old man and seeing the babe cry, throat dry and wailing for twig'ol' mummy. The horrors of day and the god awful silence of night."
Vernon knew her words weren't coming from a place of envy, but rather of compassion. She understood what the battlefield meant to him and how the royal family had scorched him. All she wanted was to make him feel better about his predicament. Make him feel like he was blessed to leave the nightmare forced on him at such a delicate age.
