A Queen and Her Seven Servants {BTS}

Chapter Forty Four ~

The quill pen I held quickly danced across the page, leaving behind a dark trail of black ink the color of pitch. I looked at the penmanship that decorated the bottom of the letter and sighed. "I used to practice my signature all the time but it never quite turns out how I want it to," I murmured before folding the letter and handing it to Namjoon who slipped it into an envelope before he poured hot wax onto the tip of the opening. He then firmly pushed a stamp into the purple wax before pushing the letter to the middle of the table.

"To King Baekhyun," he said, looking at Marina who stood nearby. She took the letter and placed it into the basket she held. She had offered to take any mail that needed to be delivered into town so the boys wouldn't have to go out of their way.

"And the other is to the royal family of Cheliyan, correct?" she asked, making sure the other envelope was in her basket.

Namjoon nodded. "But stress urgency," Yoongi quickly added.

Marina bowed. "Yes, of course. Anything else before I leave?"

I looked at the scattered papers all over the table and shook my head. "I don't think so. Thank you."

"My pleasure," she responded before turning back and going inside. I watched her leave before looking out at the green courtyard around me. I was sitting at a shaded table with Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok getting a little work done under the early summer sun. Jin said that I needed to spend more time in the sunlight, but since my skin was just a few shades away from being snow-white, I decided to stay in the shade. As for the others, Jimin and Jin were starting to prepare the garden for the warm weather that was approaching – err, already here. Jungkook was off somewhere in the courtyard, having wandered off, and Taehyung had been outside as well, but he had run inside to get started on a new dress idea, afraid that he'd forget it before too long. With his memory, though, I'm sure he wouldn't be able to forget it even if he tried.

I fanned my face that was beginning to sweat. "It's way too warm to be early April," I hissed. I leaned back into a more comfortable position and pulled my legs up in the chair. "I think you seven need to work on combat. Close-range, that is."

"What do you mean?" Hoseok asked.

"If this war does happen, what are you seven to do if I am separated from my ring again?" Taehyung's story had been weighing heavily on my mind and I couldn't shake the feeling of the impending doom that came with it. "Sure, you were good at it once before, but that was almost three years ago. You are used to being protected and not having to worry; therefore, I want you to practice fighting without having my ring to protect you."

"But it's not like it makes us inhuman," Yoongi noted. "It shouldn't be that much of a difference, right?"

I shook my head. "It still affects you. Sure, I haven't given you the ability to shoot fire from your fingertips, but you are different. You don't get tired, meaning your stamina is always up, your wounds heal faster than normal if not immediately, and if you are hurt, you don't feel it. Either way, you have several advantages that normal opponents do not have. If you are used to those advantages, you'll falter when they're not there. Understand?"

The three nodded. "How do you suppose we'll practice combat, though? It's just us seven," Namjoon asked.

"Eight," I corrected. "There's eight."

***

I dropped the purple stone ring into Yoongi's palm and picked up the dull sword that he held in his other hand. There was a deep violet ribbon tied to the end unlike all the others hidden inside Aaliyah's castle, meaning that the blade was special. I adjusted my grip, familiarizing myself with my old sword before looking up at Jimin. "I'm sure I'm rusty at first, but I'm lucky oil is quite common," I stated.