Your Divine Grace {NamJin}

fourteen

"I haven't been fishing since my father passed away," Namjoon began quietly, startling the still figures of the general and the guard in front of him. The two looked behind them, their bodies unmoving save for the muscles in their necks to acknowledge their kind, reserved ruler. Their strong brows arched up on their sympathetic, rosy faces, welcoming Namjoon to join them on the bank of the enormous, greenish blue river that forged ahead in its current. Once the king stepped forward, the men on each side realized immediately the difference in posture and aura; Namjoon no longer wore the airs of a king set on a pedestal and worshipped almost religiously, instead, his modest, single robe told of softspoken acceptance as an equal to those surrounding him.

"You're welcome to join us, Your Grace"-- Yoongi said, mirroring Namjoon's faraway, near melancholy tone.

"No," he smiled, looking down at his bare, wet feet cushioned by the soft mud of the river. "I'd rather watch, if that's alright."

"No problem, Your"--

"Please," Namjoon sighed, smiling forcedly. "Just Namjoon."

Yoongi and Jimin looked at each other before nodding at Namjoon and continuing their hunt for dinner that night.

"My father and I loved to fish. He'd take me fishing almost every weekend, even if it rained or the weather wasn't good. We always talked and laughed...it wasn't like it was in the royal court, you know? We always had to be so formal and strict, affection didn't matter during negotiations or meetings."

Jimin and Yoongi nodded empathetically, looking up at Namjoon to let him know that they were listening but keeping silence to let him continue.

"There was this one time when my father was holding a banquet for all his advisors and the lords of court. I was but a little boy at the time, maybe six or seven. I couldn't sleep because of nightmares, so I sneaked out of my room...I heard that my father was holding a banquet, but I went to him anyway because he was the only parent I had at the moment."

No one asked what happened to his mother, despite their tingling curiosities.

"I crawled into that banquet in my sleeping robe and I said, 'Father, I can't sleep.' I remember everyone's eyes on me, wondering why a child of my age was allowed in an adult venue such as the banquet; then on my father, wanting him to do something about it. I now understand why my father rebuked me the way he did that day, but back then, when he scolded me for leaving my room and coming to an adult event uninvited and unaccompanied, I barely left the room without tears."

Jimin looked down, fighting back the floodgates behind his eyes that threatened to burst open and release clear salt rivers of strapping current like the one he was fishing from. Yoongi knew Jimin was at his limit, and Namjoon had already cried every tear from his body -- had he any water left, he'd be crying at that instant.

"But that weekend...he took me fishing. We didn't talk for a good ten minutes or so, and all we could hear were the birds around us chirping...and the wind rustling the green leaves of the trees...and we refused to look at each other. It's not that we were angry at each other, we were just embarrassed, I think. Eventually, he wrapped an arm around me, and he said, 'Son, I'm sorry I was so harsh on you. I didn't mean to hurt you, it's just that the court is strict and I had no other choice.' "

"I apologized for intruding as well, and I promised never to do it again. We forgave each other, and we ended up catching the biggest fish this kingdom had ever seen," he ended, laughing a bit. Jimin managed to hold in his tears, nodding and smiling at the story with a relieved and empathetic Yoongi.

"N-Namjoon?" the youngest murmured, drying his wet, burning eyes.

"Yes, Jimin?"

"As a general...as a person...and as a son who never knew his father, I respect you as not only a father-like figure to me, but a father figure to this nation. And I respectfully ask, as a son of this nation, to fish with my father."

The sun fell on their shoulders, warming their backs and their wind-blown, raven-colored hair and pulling a bluish navy blanket of vast, star-embroidered night with it. Peach, blood orange and dotted remnants of the cerulean sky of day kissed the violet plume of smoky haze that darkened the world around them and eased the last hours of the day on earth.

"What a wonderful idea. Come, my sons, let us fish together."

Yejun fumed angrily, the indigo tint and wire-like outline of his veins popping from his tanned, sweat-studded temple. One hand stroked his chin, covering his nose and mouth lightly; while the other tapped nervously on the polished applewood table he sat before. His clean, trimmed nails boasted his noble status, but masked the dirty schemes plotted in the intricate web of his mind.

"Sungkyung."

A tall man cloaked in black, face hidden in the shadow of his large hood, stood in front of Yejun. His presence alluring and his ambience darkly depraved, Yejun smiled as the young figure in front of him responded with the silence, obedience, and readiness of an emotionless, apathetic tool.

"It's time, Sungkyung," Yejun laughed, hollowly rocking himself back and forth. "Seokjin is going to find me tonight. He's going to find me and put me in jail, maybe even kill me. Even if I don't live to see it, you must do it, Sungkyung."

The man called Sungkyung walked over to the screen door and stood by its entrance, while Yejun completed his instruction.

"And you, Jinmo," Yejun panted, now breathing hard. "You must do it as well. Help Sungkyung fight the war...the war we've been preparing for."

The other figure stood as well, sliding his feet against the smooth floor as if he were hovering over it. He ghosted himself over to Sungkyung, standing next to him.

"You will begin at midnight. Sungkyung, you take the western half of the palace grounds -- Jinmo, the east. Get your katanas, your best swords. Kill all who stand in your way, make no exception for women or children."

Yejun ran over to the doors and threw them open, gritting his pearly white teeth in anticipation.

"Kill! Kill, my sons! Restrain yourselves not, for the time has come."

Sungkyun and Jinmo bowed before Yejun, who was now cackling.

"Save Kim Seokjin for last...I want him to watch his friends killed before he dies by your swords! Make war on the heavens that have cursed you so! Spill blood everywhere! The palace shall be red by the time you're done!"