Free // BTS AU //

Chapter Eleven

Hye settled in with the boys even more than she had the other day, she was running through forests side by side with them, keeping her pace with them but only just about, she sat in taverns with them, drinking the ale the barkeep supplied them with, telling stories around the campfire...

Hye looked at the seven men sat around the crooked table on even more crooked wooden stools in the tavern, they were all laughing and joking with one another and she couldn't help but smile. She looked over at Taehyung who didn't drink, but was still as merry as the others - despite him looking a bit glum all the time otherwise - and he radiated their same happy aura that the others did.

They were soon silenced as the tavern door burst open and men in armor came barging into the tavern. Hye looked and saw they carried the dove on their hilt of their swords and her throat tightened, her heart pounded more than it did when she ran away. The boys kept quiet, and Taehyung pulled up the collar of his shirt to hide the black markings on his neck. She knew the seven men around here were probably just as wanted, if not more, than her. She knew she'd give herself up to the knights in front of her, just so the other boys could walk free.

"We're looking for the Royal Princess." One of them spoke, voice deep and reverberating off the walls of the tavern that were once already occupied with the busy and drunken chatter of its patrons. "We believe that the Royal Princess was kidnapped a short time ago. Has anyone seen her?"

Namjoon looked at the men in the metal plated armor and then his eyes glanced over at the girl who was sat in front of him, his eyes widened in realization but he soon recovered from his shock. He couldn't let on to the knights that he had even realized. One of the men walked right past them and pinned a piece of paper to the wall with a drawing of her face on it, and a sum of money for whoever managed to get her back to the castle.

He knew that none of the boys would be tempted by the money, so he knew she was safe with them for now, but if anyone recognized her they were screwed, they'd all be brought in and most likely his family would be sent to the gallows. Hye turned and watched the knights pin the actions before they stopped in their tracks at the door again. They waited to see if anyone looked like they knew anything about her before leaving.

Her heart began to beat at a normal pace once they had left the tavern, and she let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding in. Namjoon looked at the girl who almost deflated on her stool and studied her. With the short choppy and messy hair, the peasant clothes, and the dirt she was covered in, if Namjoon wasn't aware of the kingdom that neighboured the one he used to rule, he wouldn't even think Hye was a girl at first glance, never mind the Royal Princess.

The boys finished their ale and stood up, Jungkook tapping Hye on her shoulder. "Let's leave. That was too close of a call for us." He spoke. Hye simply mindlessly nodded, still in shock from seeing the knights and stood up. The boys watched her wearily.

"Has she drank too much?" Yoongi asked.

Namjoon simply shook his head and led the group out the tavern and into the alleyways that led back into the forest. He looked behind him occasionally to see that the boys were still following, and he noted at how dazed Hye looked. He didn't even attempt to question her about it, if she was anything like he was, she had a reason for running away and that she would tell them soon.

Or at least, he hoped he would tell her soon.