⊰ chapter seventeen ⊱

"Really?" Sam was astonished, her face in terror. She shook her head, "It's been two days and you are telling me brother was stabbed now? Unbelievable. Is he alright? How bad was he stabbed?"

"He is okay," Wineri set the plates on the table as Dara cleaned them with a white cloth before setting them in front of the kids who occupied the table with their low chatterings. The older girls had already left for their courses at the city early in the morning, "He was attacked. Both Dara and Jungkook. By that Eastern monster who is summoning the Curve. Jungkook stabbed himself on his arm to protect Dara—"

The children stopped their chattering before looking at Wineri who instantly regretted mentioning all that infront of them. Dara smiled at the children, seizing their attention, "Does anyone want to hear about the North Palace? Your brother, the Prince, has a big history which may interest you."

"Me!"

"Yes, please, Your Majesty," chimed the youngest son of the family, holding a fork over his break stick as he straightened in his seat, "Tell us how you met our brother!"

"Great," Dara put the plates away before grabbing the breadsticks and butter to spread over them, "Your brother was held captive at the soldiers quarter when he was sixteen. He was so mischievous, that he had himself beat up once because he kept ruining the market places by stealing horses from the stables."

Interested, Wineri sat across the table with a smile on her lips as she stared at Dara, listening with the kids.

"One day, the King asked the guards to bring your brother to the palace. They bantered and argued before your brother agreed to be his soldier. He became the most loyal soldier of the North. Absolutely the man every girl in the city wanted—he was a flirt at the markets, we should blame him. One of the citizen girls even sent him flowers everyday."

"Whoa," Sam raised his brows, "Thank God it was before you came. I can see Era's fate in some of the women's foreheads."

"Your brother became the King's favorite," Dara continued, "He became everyone's favorite. He became North's knight. They relied on him like he was their son. Even in the deepest of knights, Jungkook would show up at any inconvenience. He paid for the debts sometimes. From his salary. The King knew all of it, he wrote all of it on his letters to me. Eventually, the King loved Jungkook like his own ward. Even more than me. Every letter was about what a great son Jungkook would make, everyday it became less about me, but why not? Jeon Jungkook is worth all that praise. Your brother stood out everyone."

"That is so awesome," the kids awed.

Wineri stared at Dara's painful eyes as she smiled at the kids, serving them their buttered breadsticks.

"Then, he was chosen to be my soldier," Dara shrugged, "You can tell I brought many adventures to his life. The man never saw daylight again."

Wineri couldn't help but laugh along with the table. Sam shaking her head, smiling ear to ear. Adona's laugh from the kitchen audible as she breastfed the prince in her arms.

"We heard he bought you flowers at the dock," Sam reminded, "Were they white roses?"

"Yes," Dara nodded, lips tight enough not to stretch into a weak smile, "And lavenders. I punched your brother the first time I saw him."

"What?!" The table was surprised but not disappointed, instead their pale white cheeks were red and their noses rosy as they laughed out loud. Wineri stayed in shock with her mouth hung open before murmuring, "He probably deserved it."

Dara shrugged, "He was very charming though. It seems like time has passed so much. I keep forgetting faces but his joyous, striking and non-tired face will always remind me in the back of my head of the crimes I have done. Only in seven months, I destroyed his life."

"Jungkook did not know who he was dealing with," Wineri said, "Neither did we, Dara. When he first wrote me a letter about you, I knew I had to get rid of you if he needed that throne by next season. But every passing day, he wrote less and less about removing you. Then the letters stopped coming. He started hiding you from us. Our plans fell apart and we became hopeless. If I knew he was hiding such a capable woman for the throne, maybe I would never have come to the North. I would never interfere—,"

"It was your duty, Wineri," Dara said, "Of course you will come to see what your son is doing. That is why I accepted your letter of visiting. He lied to you. Of marrying a commoner. It did not give me joy to put your son into the dangers of my life—,"

"It was Jungkook's duty to make your problems his," Wineri said, "even if he was not your husband, he was your soldier. I taught my son duties. He served Arver, never stepped down his duties or him even if that man killed my son's father with his own hands. The day Arver died, Jungkook fed the beggars, lowers and uppers, the vulnerables with his own money."

Dara nodded, "He has done a lot for me, Wineri. It is only my responsibility to fight the Curve and bring him to his throne. My ways of ruling and politics are not fair anyways."

"I will side with Jungkook if he says he does not want the throne anymore." Wineri debated, "I don't think he wants the throne anymore, Dara."

"Nonesense," Dara was nervous now, "He had been waiting for twenty five years for this. His birth was no miracle. It was destined for the blood throne. He must rule it. In my absence or presence."

"What do you mean absence?" Sam frowned at Dara.

The woman swallowed before looking at the cautious and enthusiastic looking children, "My loves, should you go to your rooms and draw me flowers? Then we can go find the exact flowers in the garden and dry them on your scrapbooks."

Wineri noticed the purpose to send the kids away upstairs since Jungkook's footsteps were descending down the stairs, his arm bandaged heavily with white gauges. Jungkook waited for the kids to go away before coming to the light out of the corridor, Wineri standing up quickly to help her son walk to the table, "Mother. I can walk. Rest it—,"

"Sit here, I will get you soup," she walked to the kitchen quickly, tearing down the cups and plates in a second to make her son soup.

Dara watched in awe at Wineri's tiny steps around the kitchen, Adona snickering lightly.

Jungkook looked at Dara, "You did not wake me up. Why let me sleep for this long, my body aches now."

The red hair was frizzy today, she hadn't been taking care of it at all as it seemed to Jungkook. Dara pushed her chair towards Jungkook's, closing the gap, "Let me check your wound."

"You checked it last day, let it stay." Jungkook urged.

"Jungkook," Dara gave him a look, "You stabbed yourself with the blade of the compass. I cannot heal it since it cost you the wound. It should heal fast so you can work with it. There have been three letters since morning, asking for your presence at the Caucus. You should claim the residence once more, Wineri has been working your spaces too at the Caucus. And you are refusing to get out of the house."

Jungkook was not denying.

Jungkook was confused. He wanted more space to think. And Dara wanted to send him off to work to distract him from thinking any further. The more he would think of it, the more clever he might get about the incident two nights ago.

"Listen," Dara said as she unwrapped Jungkook's wound, "I shielded the West. It is protected. It won't be coming around any sooner. We need to continue with our—,"

"I am not afraid of it," Jungkook said, "I want to know why my blood would scare it off. I am no one related to the matter of the Curve. It was trying to cut you. But in my dream that night, I myself kept telling myself to make it smell my blood. And you saw it. When it smelt my blood, it left. This is haunting me now."

Dara swallowed, guilty.

Jungkook looked at Dara's throat as she unwrapped the bandage, examining his arm. He lifted her chin up, "Lord, look at those marks. It made me do this, didn't it? Are you putting ointments? Herbs, maybe."

"Yes," Sam nodded, "It looked worse before. Almost blue. Dara couldn't swallow a thing for a day. It's better now."

"The handprints are mine," Jungkook sighed unevenly, "This is bizarre. I should stay away from all of you—,"

"Jungkook, you are overthinking!" Dara insisted, "if anything the summoner can do by invading you again, it will come for me not the rest of the house. It needs me, not them. And you know me. I am enough to fight that bitch,"

"You are not ready to fight it," Jungkook made a point, "I know this because when it was in my body, I was losing myself. It's made of silver—,"

"I am made of gold," Dara cut Jungkook, "Do you notice one thing? It has no body. It's a spirit. It wanted to finish me through your body. It can invade anyone to kill me, not just you, Jungkook. Stop worrying!"

Jungkook stayed silent as Dara wrapped his arm with a new gauge. Wineri fed her son the soup, Jungkook making faces as he swallowed the herbal soup, shaking his head each time.

"I will be off," Sam stood up.

Jungkook frowned, "Where are you going so early in the morning?"

"It's not early at all. It's almost noon." Sam walked towards the door, "I am going to Hoseok's. And then maybe the market."

"You stay at Hoseok's more than your own house. Are you planning to marry each other soon?" Jungkook asked. Wineri exchanged a look with Dara whose gaze was fixed at Sam's afterwards, wondering how to make Sam leave.

But Sam was no typical girl to listen to banters.

And Jungkook's words came off as mean banter.

"I may, yes," Sam shrugged, "Do you not know your friend well enough to guess that he will not harm me? Do you not trust him or are you starting to think like Era?"

"What did Era do," Jungkook's ears were tomato red now before he looked at Dara, "What did she say, does she know anything we do not?"

"No," Dara shook her head, "You know how she is. Always after picking on me or Sam about our love lives. She said Sam should get married and not stay in a relationship—,"

"She should!" Jungkook yelled out, "We have so much on our plates already. Almost at the brick of getting kicked out of this realm. We almost lost our home if not for Dara, mother only got back her position at the Caucus. I am being attacked by Eastern spirits. A war is coming ahead—I have no idea if we will live it out—my siblings need to be entrusted to someone. Of course she should marry as soon as possible if she is seeing him so often. Westerns have rules—,"

"Jungkook, she is eighteen—,"

"When you were eighteen, you were working your ass off at Meyrem to become a Queen, Dara, do not teach me how ages work. If she is seeing Hoseok at eighteen and fulfilling all her duties at eighteen, then might as well stay committed. Mother did not bring up a girl to put the entire family down."

Dara became silent.

Jungkook had a point.

It was too much on their plates.

Wineri had no say in it either.

Sam stared at Jungkook with watery eyes, lashes soaked.

"You will speak to Hoseok as soon as possible about marriage. And if he denies to marry you, I will curve his brain out of his skull. Do you understand that?"

"Look at the state of your own marriage and then be the one to talk about others!" Sam screamed and stormed out of the residence.

Jungkook punched the wooden table, toppling off the plates as she crashed before their feet as he ranted, "See? See how she behaves? This is your daughter? How does she talk to her brother like that—she has no manners. Mannerless. Ungrateful. She needs a beating. A good beating. She has taken after her sister-in-law. Now another Dara Koveski that we have to deal with! Amazing!"

"More the merrier," Dara commented as Jungkook stood up from his chair. The brown eyes and the frown over his brows eased upon seeing Dara's lips curve into a smile. Jungkook sighed heavily, eyes restless. It didn't look like he got enough sleep at all, but Dara did not want to tell Wineri about it. She rubbed his back, "Go rest in your room. I will help with the broken plates—,"

"No," Jungkook said, "Mother. Don't. I will pick it up—,"

"Before you break more stuff, go back to your room you ungrateful idiot!" Wineri smacked Jungkook's back before taking small steps to the kitchen, "Always doing something stupid, shamelessly. Has no barrier when he starts speaking, who will teach a twenty five year old man all these manners—,"

"Manners?" Jungkook laughed sarcastically, "Sam has no manners! Did you see the way she spoke to me—,"

"Shut up!" Wineri screamed from the kitchen, "You should have been married to that Era! Shut up and go to your room!"

Dara bit her lower lip to stop herself from laughing. Jungkook, embarrassed, looked at her and immediately shrugged off any sign of joy from her face, "You go upstairs. I will bring you tea."

"You better not make fun of me," Jungkook eyed the woman from head to toe before mocking his mother with an eye roll, leaving the table with heavy, grumpy steps up the stairs.

Dara slowly turned her head towards Adona who was staring back at her with Theodore in her arms. The two broke into a wild laughter at the family's loud arguments.

"And they call us crazy," Dara clapped her hands joyously, trying not to think of the troubles of their lives that could crush them down any moment.

It was snowing heavily outside. Dara's steps on the snow were small and heavy as she watched her own footprints plunged into the heavy snow. She stuck her tongue out to taste the snow. The woman chuckled as she spit out the snow, whipping her mouth away. Dara heard the hiss. She looked back to find Yoongi loading a little cart with woods from the ground, gloves in his hands and heavily coated for the work was wool over him.

"Yoongi," Dara smiled, mostly sarcastically, "Haven't seen you in weeks. Where have you been—,"

"Go inside," Yoongi hissed again before picking up a heavy wood. Dara predicted the wood would fall over him so she approached Yoongi, grabbing the other end of the wood before Yoongi dropped it, "I said go back. This is not your job—,"

"But I can do it better than you," Dara pushed the wood into the cart along with Yoongi without wasting time before asking him, "How is your leg? You did not let me check it—,"

"I am fine," Yoongi sighed, nodding.

Then there was silence.

"Are you really the Empress of the Curve?" Yoongi looked into Dara's forest green eyes. His gray blue, crystal eyes dimmed today. His perfect hair brushed back, his mullet dyed blue nowadays.

"Not yet," Dara whispered.

"Will it cost you Jungkook to be the Empress of the Curve and save North?" Yoongi asked, his genuine voice audible to Dara's ears for the first time. It was soft, tender, and warm. For the first time, he wasn't barking.

"I won't let your family come to any harm, Yoongi," Dara said, sensibly, "I swore to protect Jungkook and his family with my life. Your brother will rule North like you all dreamed—,"

"He won't rule it if you die, Dara," Yoongi looked up from his palms, pacing up and down restlessly. He shook his head, "Do you see his state? He looks tired, restless, as if he is dying everyday with every new thing that comes up the plate. Jungkook has always been a fighter. But he is human too—,"

"Yoongi," Dara said, "Jungkook will live. And rule. I promise. With or without me."

Yoongi shook his head in denial.

"You were right. I should have never come back. You were right about everything," Dara nodded, cheeks hot, "But I am challenged. My hands are tied. If I knew, I would never ruin your perfect lives."

"It was never so perfect anyways," Yoongi sighed, leaning against the wooden card, "My mother died and left me to her sister, Wineri. Me and Jungkook grew up together until he was swept into the royalty that he always deserved to be surrounded with. Then the girl I liked was bonded with him—,"

"You like Era?" Dara cringed.

"Liked," Yoongi sighed again, heavily, regretting the spill of secret, "Before she turned into a first class brat."

"The description suits me too, be careful," Dara warned.

"Sorry," Yoongi whispered, before continuing into the silence with his words, "Then Jungkook brings home the most beautiful girl and everyone is suddenly disturbed by it. Including me. Lucky isn't he?"

"Is he?" Dara looked up the upper window of the residence before them where Jungkook was resting, "Jungkook is probably the most ill fated man in Zisk. All royals are, I won't argue."

"At least you sent the Winters to jail," Yoongi sniffed.

"Who told you?" Dara stared, "Hey, this is confidential, alright? Only Jungkook knows—,"

"Of course he knows. You aren't sly enough to get away under his nose—he watched you turn into a monster from a human," Yoongi commented, "I saw your soldiers kidnap Wineri."

"And you havent opened your mouth about it till now, what the fuck?" Dara felt restless now.

Yoongi shrugged, "Because it was the right thing to do. No one has been able to get rid off these Winters. They have had illegal black money, some new, some ignored, we know and we did nothing about it. West is a very pious realm, Dara. It's sacred. We cant have unholy intentions here. I am a strong believer of the religion here and we practice our laws extremely well."

No wonder Yoongi was so agitated about Dara's stay here. Of course, the Eastern blood was unholy for this realm. It was pure danger. Dara did not blame Yoongi.

"You are an intelligent woman, Dara. Educated than most of us. You hold a sword better than us. You know the laws better than us—you made laws, in fact. So you also must know what it may cost you to be with my brother. He is no ordinary. He is the Blood Heir."

It sent shivers down Dara's arms.

"Your husband is the crown holder. He has reasons to be angry, to feel wrath and pain. Respect him—,"

"I do—,"

"As your King," Yoongi whispered, "Don't you think he deserves that respect from all of us? And not be treated as some mere soldier anymore despite your marriage and our family bonding with him?"

Dara nodded.

Dara was always respected by Jungkook as a royalty even though he very well hid the fact that she was not worthy of the blood throne.

"Respect comes before love." Yoongi went back to picking up the woods, "My mom lost my father because of the lack of respect, then she lost herself too."

After watching Yoongi finish loading the cart with wood, Dara wanted to take her leave when the man spoke again, "Dara."

"Yes?" the woman turned.

"Thank you for saving me that day. I didn't think you would."

"I am not so bad, sir," Dara gave him her youthful smile.

****

"We cannot war now,"