Chapter Text
A cool evening breeze whipped through one of Hiryuu Castle’s many courtyards. It was Princess Yona’s sixteenth birthday, but even though the entire day was meant to be a celebration in her honor, she felt trapped. Lords and ladies from across the Sky Tribe, and even some from Kouka’s other four tribes, had come to bring her beautiful gifts, but they hardly knew her. The princess they were congratulating was one who only existed in their minds: an extension of her father’s reign, with no concerns of her own, no thoughts for the future. Finally, as the setting sun cast a pale pink glow over the palace, she managed to escape and find the one guest whose company she did welcome. “There you are, Soo-won!” Even though her cousin had been at the palace for nearly a week—his longest visit in months—it felt like she’d hardly had a chance to talk to him at all. “Do you really have to leave tomorrow?”
“Sorry, Princess, you know I do.” He smiled, and the notion that he might have been deliberately avoiding her fled from her mind. Still, though—
“Hmph!” Deliberate or not, it was frustrating. “And you won’t even tell me why you have to go!” At least he’d told her where he was going—not just back to his estate, but all the way to the Earth Tribe, to see General Geun-tae. “I wish I could go with you.”
“You know I’d take you if I could.”
“I can go ask Father … it’s my birthday, so maybe he’ll relent …” The king never let Yona travel outside the city. Or even to the city, for that matter—that was something Yona had to do in secret, and finding opportunities to do so wasn’t as easy as it used to be. “After all, I’m a grown woman now!”
Soo-won held up a hand. “Don’t.”
“… huh?”
“It’s just, I haven’t told the king I’m traveling to the Earth tribe. I’d rather he didn’t know.”
And you won’t tell me what you’re going to do there … more and more, it was feeling like the king wasn’t the only one who treated Yona like a child. “It’s not … that you don’t want me with you?”
“Of course not!” Soo-won smiled and patted her head. “If I could take you away from the city …”
But if Yona could leave the city, things would be different already. When they were both younger, they’d sneak out of the palace together to visit the town, and even though Soo-won was able to spend a lot more time in the city than Yona was, he’d always tell her what he’d been doing. Well, most of it. All the important stuff. You, me, and Hak—we were a team. But sneaking out of the palace was one thing; leaving the city was something else entirely. Since he’d gotten older, Soo-won had been able to travel all over the kingdom, while Yona remained behind. Now, she didn’t know even half of the things he did. Maybe Yona was kidding herself if she said they used to be close—maybe she’d always been a little child looking up to him, but—I should be getting closer to him, not falling further and further behind!
“Don’t worry too much,” Hak had said, when Yona complained to him. “Once you two are married, the king won’t be able to keep you from going with Soo-won.”
Trust Hak to bring that up. “It’s not about that!” she’d yelled back, and he’d dropped the subject. Of course Yona would marry Soo-won someday. Kind, gentle Soo-won, who’d taught her so many things—she couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else. If I marry Soo-won, then someday, he’ll be king. We always talked about protecting the kingdom side by side, so of course … but lately, he’d barely talked to her about anything at all. If he didn’t need her help now, then when he was king he’d need it even less. So is marriage …?
“When you come back, you’ll tell me about your trip?”
“Of course!”
“Not just the stuff about how pretty the city was. I know all that. I’ve been to Chi’shin, remember?”
“When you were six years old,” Soo-won laughed.
“I remember it just fine!” It was the only time she’d been outside the capital. Of course she remembered. “You’ll tell me about the important stuff? About what you were doing there?”
“Princess, I sincerely hope that what I’m doing won’t turn out to be important in the slightest.” And that was supposed to make her less interested? “Before I leave, I have something for you. A birthday present.”
“… oh?”
“I wanted to give it to you in person. Hold out your hand?”
Yona obliged. “It’s … a hair ornament?” She frowned. It was beautiful, but … it wasn’t the sort of gift she wanted to receive from Soo-won. I used to be someone he shared his dreams with. Now I’m someone he gives pretty things to.
“What’s wrong, Princess? Don’t you like it?”
“I do, it’s—” But she couldn’t say that. “It’s pointless to try to make my hair look nice,” she said, instead. “It’s so unruly, and it’s a weird color on top of that. A gift like this doesn’t suit me.”
“Eh?” Did—did Soo-won look genuinely surprised, just then? “But I love your hair, Yona. It’s a beautiful crimson, like the morning sky at dawn.”
Soo-won … really does like my hair? Why did that, of all things, make her feel …? It’s silly, but maybe … maybe it was all right, if Soo-won talked to her about frivolous things sometimes.
Nothing else of note happened the night of Yona’s sixteenth birthday. Soo-won departed the next morning without speaking to her again, and three weeks later, word reached the palace that Li Hazara, of the Kai Empire’s Sen Province, had led his troops across the border and was marching on Saika.