Chapter Text
There was a distinct chill in the air, one that was out of place in the always sunny kingdom. This was no summer breeze, but something bitter and warning. Taehyung thinks he should’ve known from the way it made his hairs stand on end that something was wrong. But the frosty presence was so foreign to the omega he hadn’t understood at first what it meant. He had missed the unknown scents, masked by flowers that only bloomed in snow, that had no place in his bright and happy kingdom.
Jimin had just been telling him about how every eligible alpha in the kingdom would begin their proposals for courtship soon, when the change into mating season began. When the dry heat of summer made way for the humidity of autumn.
“You’re not even listening to me are you?” He said eyes hooded in annoyance.
“Hm?”
“The suitors Taehyung? You’ll need to pick one before the season ends? Or your mother will pick for you?” Jimin reminds him but Taehyung still isn’t listening staring off into the maze of hedges that decorate the palace gardens.
“Yeah yeah.” He dismisses, waving a hand. Eyes squinting and nose twitching because suddenly everything feels wrong and his instincts are screaming at him to get out of danger fast. “Jimin perhaps we should go-“
He doesn’t finish his sentence, there’s already a knife pressed to his neck, claws in his shoulder and an alpha breathing down his neck. “Scream and I’ll slit your throat, highness.” He snarls and Taehyung does as he’s told, he holds his breath and tries his best to think his way out of this but he can’t. Not when a quick darting of his eyes tells him the Jimin is in the same position, struggling while the blade leaves blood beading on his skin.
“D-don’t struggle Jimin, just do as they say.”
“Good boy.” The man behind him spits and he squeezes his eyes shut. He feels sick with fear and uncertainty.
“Kill that one. Let’s go Princess.” He says and Taehyung wants to kill him. He wants to rip him limb from limb, alpha or not he can take him, he’s not some weak little thing they want omegas to seem, he’s been trained in combat for this very reason. If he could just fight this guy off without getting a knife to the neck he wouldn’t think twice.
“No!” He says, watching as Jimin’s life flashes before his eyes.
“No?”
“I-I’ll come with you, without a fight.” He says, dead eyes looking straight at his captors in challenge. “But only if you spare him.” He says and the men scoff.
“Or you can come with us and we won’t kill you too.” One of the betas taunts, spitting with his words and making Taehyung blink in disgust as it lands on his cheeks.
“Just bring them both.” A sudden voice says. It seems softer than the other, more timid and yet it holds more authority than any other word spoken. All eyes turn towards it, to reveal a hooded figure, watching all the drama unfold in silent observation.
“We don’t have time for this. Move.” He says again, a little more annoyed, before turning away, leaving what the Prince can only assume are his henchmen to follow his command.
The omega furrows his brow as he’s dragged by his arms out, knife pressed to his back, Jimin pushed behind him. He cannot figure out who the mysterious figure is, but he feels like he’s missed a vital clue, one he is sure he will kick himself for when he finally gets it.
His hands are bound with rope and he’s shoved onto a horse only to find the hooded figure is pressed up behind him, arms caging him in and his breath hitches. He almost gets whiplash from how quickly they ride away and he thinks that someone really ought to have noticed the Prince is missing from the palace by now.
As if on cue just as he’s riding out of ear shot of his beloved citadel the alarm bells begin to chime.
They ride for what feels like hours, the air gets colder until he begins to shiver and he really thinks he should know who these men are, that he should’ve worked out what kingdom they belonged to from their vastly different clothes. The omega’s own kingdom is full of whites and purples and golds, but their clothes are black and thick, meant for a much colder, darker place.
“Have we met before?” He asks, risking a glance over his shoulder but he sees nothing but the dark hood of a cloak.
There is no response except for the tightening of fists against the reigns in front of him, making the leather creak as if in warning to stay quiet.
He gives up on questions and instead tries to reason an escape plan, but with Jimin currently sandwiched between two alphas twice the size of the beta there is no way that Taehyung can take them both and the other two men riding either side of him. And now that he’s up-close and the flowers have begun to lose their intensity, he thinks he can tell his capture behind him is an alpha.
The air grows colder still until he can see his breath in front of his face, white tendrils dancing away, mocking him as his mind convinces him that each crunch of frosty path below the horses hoof is another step closer to his death.
“Where are you taking me?”
More silence.
“You kidnap a Prince and you don’t even have the courtesy to answer his questions?” He wants to sound harsh but his voice wavers with each shiver that wracks his body and so he sounds afraid more than anything. He’s starting to feel it.
There’s a quiet scoff behind, one that seems like it comes with a roll of its eyes. That gets him thinking, as he gets farther from the warmth and safety of his own beloved kingdom and closer to whatever cold hellish prison awaits him, about who his captor may be.
There’s a chilly breeze, and it wafts the smell of Alpha to him and he stiffens. At least he has something to grasp onto, something to hint at who wants something from him.
They arrive at a palace, but it seems old and crumbling, there’s not much upkeep on the outside, snow falls lightly around them, having dusted everything in a white blanket. Taehyung shivers, taking in the supposedly abandoned place.
Something feels familiar, something in the back of his mind in niggling away at him, is screaming at him to work it out, to understand why he feels like he’s figured something out. He’s missing something important.
When they arrive at the crooked gates they halt, there is someone on guard. The only sign this palace is still functioning as a real one and not just abandoned for the winter forest to reclaim.
“Don’t turn around.” It’s firm, an alpha command, one that Taehyung’s whole body begs him to obey even though he doesn’t want to. But snow is leaving water dribbling down his spine and he just wants to get out of the cold, so he does as he’s told. He can hear shuffle, sees the alpha’s arm disappear behind the omega and he realises he’s removing his hood, showing his face to the guard so that he can see who approaches.
The gates open with loud protest, the hood goes back up and for some reason Taehyung feels himself take a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.
“Who are you?” He asks and the alpha still doesn’t answer.
“Don’t struggle, I don’t want to hurt you.” It’s mumbled, barely audible with the sound of the horses hooves ricocheting off the cobbled entrance to the stables. The omega blinks, about to ask what he means when he feels the horse come to a halt and he’s being grabbed, pulled off the horse with a startled growl.
“Let go of me!” He says but the men don’t listen simply carry him like he weighs nothing down a series of winding stone corridors, Jimin yelps behind him, growling and thrashing around trying to break free too.
“J-jimin don’t fight them j-just, don’t let them hurt you!” He says, trying to hide the shake in his voice or the way his whole mouth is dry. He’s man handled into a cell, the barred door slammed behind him. Jimin however, is thrown into the adjoining cell instead, a lot less gracefully leaving the doors to be locked shut.
The leader of the men is there too, watching with black eyes and it’s then that Taehyung realises, as all the other men file out briskly, causing the hood to slip back and his face to come into the dim light of the dungeon.
He gasps, fingers numbly clinging to the bars as he pushes forward to get a better look at the Alpha’s newly revealed face. If he’s scared to have his face revealed he doesn’t make it known, his face remaining stoic and blank. But Taehyung is in awe of the alpha, his strong jaw and round nose, eyes that seem more of a fiery brown now. But his eyes draw away towards the three thick scars across his cheek, the clear claw marks, and suddenly it all makes sense.
The alpha’s jaw ticks but he simply steps closer, abruptly pulling the omega Prince’s hand through the bars to begin undoing his tied wrists, gruffly.
“You’re him aren’t you?” Taehyung muses, wide eyes gazing at the Alpha who is entirely focused on his task. Their skin brushes and Taehyung thinks he can feel the tremor in his fingers but he’s not thinking about anything except that he’s finally figured out why he’s here and who took him and who he’s standing face to face with. The omega licks his dry lips. “You’re the Northern King’s son. Prince Jeongguk right?”
So those stories he’d overheard his parents sharing, they hadn’t been “bedtime stories” as his mother had reassured the young pup. They were true and from the scars on Jeongguk’s face, much worse than he remembered.
Jimin watches them, eyes wide as he sees the way the alpha flinches at the use of his name. He sees the way the two Princes stand eye to eye, the alpha halting in his task.
“What do you want with me?” Taehyung asks, now they’re holding each other’s eye. His instincts are screaming at him to stop, that he’s going to make the alpha think he is challenging him, but he doesn’t care. He’s already locked up in a dungeon he hasn’t got much to lose, but also, there’s something so gentle about the alpha, something about him that makes the omega prince feel like he isn’t going to hurt him. Not all alpha’s are aggressive and domineering after all.
Meanwhile Jeongguk is frozen like a rabbit in the headlights, everything in him seems to come alive when he sees the fire in the omega’s eyes. There’s something so enticing about him, and he understands just from a minute of looking at his beautiful features why he is the most eligible omega of all time. He thinks it’s not fair that his father is doing this to him, not right that anyone be used as a tool for war. He knows it’s because they’re compatible ranks that he wants to be closer to him, so he ignores that, instead simply closes himself off, refocusing to the last tug of rope, freeing the omega’s hands.
“When my father arrives, just do as he says. He won’t be afraid to hurt your friend to make you obey,” He says, clearing his throat and refusing to look up again, just as he turns away he makes eye contact again. “Or something worse.”
He’s gone then, leaving Taehyung swallowing hard and watching his back retreating.
“Did you just imprint on the guy who kidnapped us?” Jimin asked, voice cracking and Taehyung snapped to look at him.
“Of course not!” Taehyung shrieked horrified.
“Then what was with that whole staring contest?” Jimin asked, poking his hands through the bars that divided their cells in gesture for him to untie his wrists. Taehyung doesn’t dignify that with an answer, instead he just begins untying his friend and confidant.
“We need to get out of here.”
Jimin grunts in agreement, massaging his now free wrists before he eyes the bars of his cell. He wraps his fingers around the bars and uses all the strength he has in his body to try to pull them apart but nothing happens. He grunts and tries again, straining so hard Taehyung thinks the beta will probably pop a vein or something but still nothing happens and he stumbles back panting.
“It’s no use.” A sudden voice appears behind them and Jimin yelps, jumping about a foot in the air as someone makes their presence known behind him. Taehyung runs forward pressed against the bars to see who is sitting in the back corner of Jimin’s cell.
The stranger stands up, dusting themselves down.
“What?” Jimin asks now he’s finally finished having a heart attack.
“I said, it’s no use. Even the strongest of alphas can’t bend those bars trust me I’ve tried.” They says winking at Jimin and Taehyung has to fight the urge to roll his eyes.
“Is there anyone else in here with us?” Jimin asks, frantically turning in a circle to eye the other cells opposite but the stranger shakes his head.
“Just me.” He says. “I’m Seokjin by the way.”
“Jimin. This is Prince Taehyung of Haeleum.”
Seokjin’s eyebrows shoot up and he is quick to bow at Taehyung in greeting.
“So the King is finally gonna get his war.” Seokjin muses, going back to sitting in his corner with a huff that sounds like it should come from someone much older than he looks.
“What war?” Taehyung asks with a furrowed brow. He has no idea what the Northern King would want from him.
“He’s trying to unite the four kingdoms so he can be the one true leader of this land. He’s gonna use the fact that he has you to get the others on side probably.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal, like it doesn’t make Taehyung suddenly feel incredibly vulnerable. He dreads to think of what the King intends to do with him, especially when he’s of age and expected to court someone this mating season.
He feels dread slip down spine like an icy dagger being dragged through his flesh and he collapses to sit on the floor out of fear.
Jimin is there, hands clutching his tightly while he promises to do everything in his power to get them out of there, to protect the Prince with his life. Taehyung just nods numbly, not really listening instead he curls in on himself and wills it all to be over. The worst part is, he’s really starting to feel the draft seeping in, he’s starting to feel a little too cold for his liking.
The prisoners are startled awake by the sound of the old gates being swung open and a bowl of some rather unappetising food being dropped at their feet. Taehyung starts violently, accidentally yanking on where his fists are so tightly clutching at Jimin’s own through the bars.
He blinks up at the figure standing over him, shuddering as his body realises where it is and how cold the air rushing in from down the dark corridors is.
“Morning.” Seokjin croaks out cocky as ever. And the Prince finally moves away, locking the cell door and moving to the next cell to open it and let the servant with him in. He has his hood up again, to hide his face but his alpha eyes are still as piercing as ever as they watch them intently.
The servant scurries off, and leaves him to lock the second cell back up.
“So, when’s daddy dearest getting here?” Seokjin asks shamelessly scoffing the contents of his bowl. He’s making light breakfast conversation as though he’s not talking to the man who has him locked in a prison cell.
“Next week.” Is all his gets but the sound of the alpha’s gruff morning voice has Taehyung perking up a little.
The omega shudders again as his hands cup around the still warm bowl of food and Jimin notices. Catching the alpha before he can fully turn to leave.
“You can’t keep us down here.” He shouts and Taehyung hisses at him to stop. Jimin’s stubborn nature means that naturally he ignores him. “It’s too cold down here, we can’t stay here. The Prince is freezing.”
Taehyung wants to growl at him to stop but he can’t deny he’s right when he’s literally shivering over his food. He shrinks a little as Jeongguk’s eyes fix on his, but there is nothing else said before he turns and leaves.
Time seems to go by so slowly in the cells, there’s no one around, which Seokjin is quick to explain that the men hired to kidnap him will have all but left.
“It’s only the Prince and a handful of servants and guards. The King keeps all the important people at his Palace, this is just where he hides his son from the world.”
Taehyung frowns, what kind of father would abandon and isolate their pup in such a cruel and lonely way? He suddenly feels so blessed up until now for having been loved by everybody and only treated with kindness.
“I know that look.” Jimin grunts.
“Huh?”
“Stop sympathising, I know that it’s an omega empathy thing but cut it out. You are not going to feel sorry for someone who has you locked in a cage.”
“I don’t feel sorry for him, I’m just trying to understand him. Knowing a person’s motivations is always the key to finding their weaknesses Jiminie.” He tsks.
The beta rolls his eyes, shuffling closer to reach through the bars and clasp the omega’s icy cold fingers in his to warm them. “Fat lot of good all that training did you though.” Jimin mumbles, thinking of all the hours of lessons the omega had been given growing up supposedly to prevent these sorts of things.
There’s more awkward silence, more time spent in his own head playing over all the worst case scenarios all the ‘what if’s and the ‘please no’s.
“J-jimin?” He says, whimpering between violent spasms of his body from how hard he’s starting to shiver.
“Hm?” He sounds half asleep.
“What if th-the King tries to mate m-me?” He’s so afraid to ask it, but the silence that rings back is equally as terrifying. Seokjin shuffles uncomfortably on the other side of the cell.
“I won’t let that happen to you.” Jimin says, defiant and Taehyung knows he can’t make that kind of promise but he wants to believe it so badly so he just nods. Lying down and curling into as tight a ball as possible for warmth and letting sleep overtake him.
He thinks he hears voices but his eyes feel glued shut, he’s not awake enough and he can’t take in what anyone is saying only the sudden warmth that is engulfing him and he sighs.
“If you let your father touch him…”
“I would never.”
“Jeongguk, as your friend, please, don’t- don’t do this. You don’t need to prove anything to him.” He thinks the voice is Seokjin’s but he’s almost certain he’s dreaming and he drifts back into the darkness of sleep much too quickly, missing the rest of the conversation.
The winter seems to only get stronger as the next few days drag on, leaving Taehyung to get colder even with his new blanket. Seokjin and Jimin do their best, huddled together and pressed as close to Taehyung as the bars allow to keep each other warm but it’s not working for the omega.
He’s drowsy, barely able to keep his eyes open and his lips are turning a terrifying shade of blue.
“He’s never been outside of Haeleum, there’s only sun there, he’s not used to the cold at all, please he’s going to die if you don’t do something!” Jimin begs through chattering teeth. The alpha prince stands over Taehyung lifeless body, having just brought their morning meal.
He ignores the way Jimin is asking questions, shouting at him not to hurt him and asking what he’s doing as he scoops the omega up into his arms. He kicks the blanket towards them and Seokjin snatches it up, wrapping it over them both.
He makes eye contact with Jeongguk but nothing else is said as the Prince leaves the dungeon.
Taehyung feels like ice, he’s not even conscious as his head lolls onto his shoulder and Jeongguk feels his heart pounding with fear as he takes in how dead he looks.
“Fetch a heat pan and hot towels immediately!” He calls to his maids as he carries him to his bedroom.