《 The Seven Princes 》

003

"You really need to work on your fitness," Jungkook says from in front of you, "You barely lasted 10 minutes walking." You sigh, looking down onto the ground from where you were sitting on Jungkook's horse, you really hadn't ever seen physical exercise as anything desirable. No, you were much more intrested in forms of activity that you could do whilst sitting down. For example cards, you were very good at playing cards, and don't even get you started in a game of jenga. But then again, you doubt the world is going to come down to you playing a game of jenga.

As you go over a small bump, you cling tighter to Jungkook's shirt, face flushing in the process. Jungkook looks back, and, noticing your red face, starts to blush too, quickly whipping his head to face forwards. He clears his throat, slightly too loudly, and turns back around to you.

"So," he says, attempting to start a conversation, "Are your ears really disformed?"

You blink, and look at him, unimpressed with the line he had chosen to go for. Sighing in exasperation, you say; "Does it look like that to you? 'Cause personally, for a human, I'm pretty sure they're pretty normal?"

"Well, yes," Jungkook says, contemplating your answer, "They look normal to me, but normally elves have like, this whole pointy thing going on with their ears." He says, and starts to mime out the shape of the ears over his own with both of his hands, dropping the reins in the process and causing you to lunge forward and grab them.

"What are you doing?" You breathe out in frustration, face now plastered to Jungkook's back, "You should never drop a horses' reins, he could trip on them, or - or he could run away!"

"What, Kana here?" Jungkook says, patting his horses' neck, causing the horse to look back at him in annoyance. "No, she loves me, she's a real sweetheart."

"Mmm, yeah, sure looks like it." You deadpan, handing the reins back to Jungkook, who pouted slightly at your tone, stiffening and looking forwards at Seokjin's back. "So," You say, awkwardly looking around you, "How do you know Seokjin?"

"He's my older brother," Jungkook sighs, "He's the ruler of this kingdom were in."

"Wow." You whistle, looking around at the surrounding hills, "That's pretty neat"

"Not for him it isn't."

Confused, you furrow your eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

Jungkook sighs, squeezing the reins ever so slightly tighter in his hands and breathing out heavily. "I'm in no place to tell you," he reluctantly says, looking straight ahead, "but let's just say the circumstances of his coronation weren't quite ideal."

"Oh." You say, realising that you probably weren't within your rights to pry, and also that this subject seemed very personal for both Jungkook and Seokjin.

Instead of asking further questions, you took the time to admire the surrounding landscape. The grass was a beautiful shade of lime green, and would spring up underneath the feet of the horses. The trees were emerald and had glassy fruits dangling off of them, in all natures of shades.

Overhead, there were tufts of clouds littering the otherwise tranquil sky, and you could just see the burst of coral beginning to appear around the sun.

In the distance you could see a small body of water, it's shores discoloured with the salmon hue of the sunset.

To your right in the distance there was an old, dilapidated building, covered in moss and with bits of rock hanging precariously off ledges and littering the ground. Despite being broken and unused, the ruins still seemed to stand tall, almost as if they were proud of themselves for just being there after all this time.

The gentle beating of horse hooves and breaths if exertion became monotonous, and soon felt more like a calming rhythm rather than a sound of discomfort.

And finally, directly in front of you, sat Seokjin on his silver horse, who was carefully placing its feet around the holes and dinges of the old mud path. It's rider seemed a lot less bothered, and he too was looking out around the surroundings, admiring the sun as it began to lay itself to rest.

"Hurry, Jungkook," Seokjin said, shattering the silence between you three, "We must make it back to Elker before sundown. Lord knows you can't ride after dark."

And with that, Seokjin set off, raising himself off of the saddle as he entered a canter, glancing around cheekily at Jungkook and you.

"That childish grandpa," Jungkook said, smiling widely as he ushered his horse into a fast trot. Looking back at you he laughed, "You better hold on tight." Before taking off after his brother, leaving you to grapple at his waist, not caring where your hands were touching, just desperate to hold on to something and not get chucked off the horse.

Once you had gotten used to the speed and the continuous jerking, you began to enjoy yourself and let the feeling of freedom swallow you whole, hair floating in the breeze and eyes watering, but you could not be sure whether it was from the wind or sheer exhilaration.

As you past the lake you had seen earlier in the distance, you were astounded by the fact that its hue was not due to the sunset, but instead the water itself was an alluring rose colour.

"The lake!" You shout, not really speaking to anyone in particular.

"What?" Jungkook says, turning briefly to face you.

"The lake! It's pink!" You shout in pure giddiness, a large smile covering your face completely as you continue to look at the glimmering shore.

"Yeah," Jungkook says, his face mirroring your happiness, "We call it The lake of Dreams because it's said that you can see your wishes in there. Seokjin says it's actually because of algae, but I prefer the Dream thing better!"

"Yeah, me too!" You agree, watching the lake gradually disappear from view.

Instead, over the horizon, you saw a large castle and surrounding city start to appear, medieval in both design and feel. The horses start to slow, breathing heavily as they ground to a halt.

"What's this?" You ask as Seokjin and Jungkook dismount their horses.

"This," Seokjin says, raising a hand to help you get down, "is Elker, our home. And you are under arrest on suspicion of being an elven spy."

Not this again...

Seokjin grasps hold of your arm and leads you towards the gate, Jungkook following behind you with the two horses.

Slowly, the huge gates open and you step into the city, which was bustling with life, despite it being nightfall. As you walked through the main road, townsfolk would stop and stare at your group, though whether it was because of you or the two princes, you did not know.

All of them seemed to hold some respect for the two men, they lowered their heads subtly as Seokjin and Jungkook passed them and grew silent.

Slowly, you approached the castle, which was surprisingly scantily guarded for a palace. The lone guard standing duty let you into the gates as soon as he saw the two princes coming, and hastily saluted them both, eagerly taking the horses off of Jungkook.

"Everything is just how you left it, sir." The guard says rapidly, "No attempts to break in. The only border intrusion report was the one you investigated earlier. By the way the mermaids were wondering when you would have your audience with them."

"Later. It'll definitely be soon." Seokjin says, leading you up to the front door, "I have a spy to deal with first."