"Mother!"

The little girl's scream rang out through the dark night.

The girl and her mother had been taking a trip to visit one of the mother's friends. The trip had been fairly quiet for the most part. The two had been incognito after all. They went nearly four days of travel without incident.

It was on the fourth night that things went wrong.

After having already rested a good while in a nearby town, they ended up deciding to travel in the cover of the night when it would be cooler and there would be less foot traffic. Walking didn't particularly bother them like the two other members of their family, and they were actually enjoying themselves as they walked along the main road, giggling and telling stories to pass the time.

They were so caught up in their stories that they had forgotten to pay attention to their surroundings, and they didn't even notice the large group of men surrounding them until it was too late. They struck without a word. The mother was slain first, and the girl-

"Ji-ah, wake up," a soft, feminine voice called out, shaking an ebony haired girl from her sleep. "Ji-ah, Ji-ah! You promised to help me get ready today!"

The previously sleeping girl sighed before sending her younger sister a small smile. "I suppose I did, didn't I?" She sat up slowly before grabbing a piece of black cloth off her bedside table. She tied the cloth around her closed eyes and shifted her blanket off of her body. Ji-ah swung her legs off of the bed and slowly stood up, patting the top of her sister's head softly. "Why don't you go on ahead while I get myself dressed? I shouldn't take too long. I'm sure Min-soo will help you prepare any dresses or accessories that you might want to wear."

"Alright," Ji-ah could practically hear the pout in Yona's, for that was the other girl's name, voice. "But make sure not to forget, okay?"

"Of course," Ji-ah smiled down at the shorter girl and gently ruffled her hair. "I promised I would help after all. Have you ever known me to go back on my word?"

"No," Yona admitted, a cheerful smile growing on her face as she hugged her older sister tightly around the middle. "I can always count on Ji-ah for anything!"

"And never forget that, okay?" Ji-ah told her. "Now run along. I'll be there soon."

As soon as Yona left the room, Ji-ah let the smile fall off her face. She let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair tiredly as she sat back down on her bed. She had been having the same dream, or nightmare she supposed, for weeks, and it was starting to take a toll. Granted, it wasn't any worse than her usual dreams, but it still wasn't pleasant.

Most of the time, she would just write off her nightmares for what they were: bad memories. There was just something different this time. She had a feeling that something was going to happen that would change everything.

She just didn't know what.

****

"Hey Ji-ah," Yona started, messing with her hair as she looked at herself in the mirror. "How do you always manage to help me look so beautiful even though you're blind?"

The black haired beauty turned her head to 'look' at Yona from where she stood at the door after letting in Min-soo, who had arrived with tea. Ji-ah herself had made it to Yona's room ages ago and had been helping her with her clothes and makeup and had even helped her with her hair. It took a while for Yona to be completely satisfied with everything, but she still managed it. She wasn't entirely sure how, but she wasn't complaining.

Yona could be very hard to please to say the least.

In any case, Ji-ah gave her sister a soft smile in response to the question. "You look beautiful even without my help, my dear little sister."

"Well, yes," Yona pouted, twirling a strand of hair and not even noticing the older girl's deflection. "But you always know exactly what I'm in the mood to wear, even before I do." Yona paused before looking at Ji-ah curiously. "Are you sure you aren't magic?"

Ji-ah laughed lightly. "Who knows?" She questioned rhetorically, amusement in her tone. "If I really was magic, however, surely I would be able to keep my precious sister from making strange gestures right in front of my face. I'm sure that she would never do such a thing, though. Am I right?"

Yona froze in place, her arms still held up in a strange position right in front of Ji-ah. She sweated a bit nervously. Yona knew for a fact that it was impossible to see through the blind fold that Ji-ah always wore as she had tried it on herself multiple times before.

"You really are magic!" Yona exclaimed excitedly, pointing a finger at Ji-ah.

Before Ji-ah had the chance to reply, their conversation was cut by the sound of chuckling coming from the entrance.

"Father!" Yona exclaimed, surprised to see the man there. "What about the ceremony?!"

"As you can see, it's over," the king replied, a bit of amusement still leaking into his voice. This wasn't the first time that Yona had accused Ji-ah of being a practitioner of magic, and he doubted that it would be the last.

Meanwhile, Yona jolted in shock. She really hadn't realized that so much time had gone past. "Oh no..." she said disappointedly. "I'm so sorry, I..."

Luckily, the king only laughed. "Well, no matter," he reassured her. "It was merely a formality. There was no need for you to appear before the people."

"Um, father..." Yona started while Ji-ah moved to go stand next to Hak, who had also entered the room along with King. Hak sent the girl a nod and received one in return. Hak would never admit that he was also just as curious as Yona about how Ji-ah managed to do that. "Isn't there something odd about my hair?"

Ji-ah tilted her head. This wasn't the first time that Yona had abruptly changed the subject to her hair of all things, but it did amaze Ji-ah how she managed to switch gears so quickly.

The king looked a bit surprised himself, but quickly shook it off. "Of course not!" He told her. "Your beauty surpasses that of any jewel-"

"Yes, that of my face," Yona cut him off. Though, she looked fairly pleased. "I believe I was born with quite a cute face." Ji-ah and Hak shared a look at the red haired princess' 'modesty.' "But why is this hair so red and unruly? It won't behave at all!" Yona began pouting. "Why couldn't it be more like Ji-ah's? Her hair is absolutely gorgeous!"

"Oh dear~" Ji-ah placed a hand to her cheek in faux embarrassment, speaking only loud enough for Hak to hear. "I'm going to blush~"

Hak turned his head so that he could hide his smirk.

Ji-ah may be calm and quiet natured, but she definitely had her moments in the humor department. Hak was lucky enough to be able to witness most of them as she didn't joke very often in front of most. He knew for a fact that she never joked around with Yona or the king. Though, that may be in part because she had taken on a motherly role for Yona, and... well... the king was still the king, even if he was her father.

"My hair makes me look weird!" Yona finished her ranting.

"That's not true," King Il told her despite the fact that they'd had this very conversation many times before. "Right, Hak?"

Hak kneeled as Yona froze momentarily. "Yes, King Il. Who would ever say that the princess' hair looks strange? If I may be so bold to say... It's her brain that's strange."

"Quiet, knave!" Yona grit out in an irked tone before immediately beginning to throw objects at the man, including teapots and teacups. Hak managed to catch most of them, but Ji-ah made sure to catch any of the ones that he had been forced to dodge after running out of space in his hands. "Father! Do something about this impertinent cretin! Even though he's my servant, he's so arrogant!"

"Now, now," King Il tried to placate his youngest daughter while Ji-ah and Hak placed the tea set down on a nearby table. "Hak has been yours and Ji-ah's friend since childhood, and he is one of the five generals who protect this castle at only eighteen. It's only natural that he'd be your bodyguard."

"You don't understand!" Yona protested, throwing one last tea cup that Hak caught with ease. "If I need a guard, then pick someone more lovable!"

"Speaking of lovable..." Hak drawled, gaining a curious glance from Yona. "Shouldn't you be trying to look more lovable yourself?"

"Huh?"

"It seems Lord Soo-won has already arrived," he told her, his facial expression not even twitching.

"Eh?" Yona's eyes widened. "Why didn't you say so sooner?!"

And with that, Yona was off, bursting through the door and running off to go find Soo-won.

"Soo-won?" King Il questioned after Yona had already left the room. "Is that why she was so worried about her hair? He won't mind her hair. He's her cousin."

Ji-ah felt a sliver of pity for her father.

"You don't understand women, do you?" Hak sipped his tea.

The king sputtered in shock.

"Am I to believe that you understand them any better, Sir Hak?" Ji-ah asked her friend with a small, mischievous smile after her father had to leave with Min-soo due to paperwork that needed to be finished.

Hak raised a brow at Ji-ah as the two walked out of the room in a far calmer manner than the others. "Sir?"

"Oh, there's no need to call me sir," Ji-ah smiled, clasping her hands behind her back as she walked with ease.

"Haha," Hak smiled sarcastically. "Since when did you decide to call me 'Sir Hak?'"

"Well, I see no reason not to," she told him. She was already a few paces ahead of him. "After all, you are my sister's knight-in-shining armour. Are you not?"

"I think you may be mistaking me for Lord Soo-won, Princess Ji-ah," Hak commented casually, but Ji-ah could still hear the slight edge to his voice as she stopped in place causing the general to stop as well in confusion.

"Perhaps," Ji-ah replied airily. The smile had fallen off her face. "But I'm honestly not sure how good a match those two would be as much as I would love to support them."

It was true. As much as she loved both her sister and cousin, she could just feel in her gut that they could never truly be together, and she trusted her gut feelings. They were the only reason she was still alive after all.

Hak stayed silent. As rare as it was for Ji-ah to joke around, it was even rarer for her to explicitly state her thoughts like this. He, admittedly, wasn't quite sure what she had against Yona and Soo-Won being in a relationship. She had never said a word about it to Yona, he knew that much.

That was probably for the best, though.

He could only imagine the red head's reaction.

In any case, she always seemed more the type to just sit and watch things from the sidelines. Though, Hak supposed that even she had her own opinions, no matter whether they lay unspoken or not.

"On another note," Hak broke the tension that was beginning to form, and the two began to walk again. "Are you sure that you haven't been reading too many fairy tales with that idea of a knight-in-shining armour that you seem to have?"

Ji-ah didn't reply.

Instead, the girl just gave the general a deadpan stare that was honestly kind of impressive for somebody with a blindfold on.

It took Hak a minute to actually understand the look.

"Ah," he turned away a bit in embarrassment.

"'Ah,' indeed."

*****

2084 words excluding A/N

Finished - November 9, 2021

Bye ~