Chapter Text
The silence that follows his husband’s words makes Jimin’s heart drop to his stomach. Mouth agape, Lord Omega inhales a sharp gasp as he feels dread and utter disbelief engulf him, constricting his throat until his lungs burn for air, wringing his neck—suffocating him. What did Yoongi mean by that? What did he do to Taehyung?
Lord Alpha watches him with somber eyes, sifting each of his expressions quietly, his sturdy figure framed by the burning hearth, and to some degree, his silence hurts Jimin the most.
When the shock settles down, it morphs into something that causes Jimin’s hands to curl into tight fists. He feels a wave of anger and betrayal course through his veins as he strides across the drawing room toward his husband, eliminating the distance between them and reaching out to grab the alpha’s tunic harshly.
“How could you have done this?” he hisses through gritted teeth, the back of his eyes burning with furious tears. “I… Gods, Yoongi, I’ll—”
“You will—what?” Lord Alpha asks calmly, the dark tides in his eyes washing through Jimin’s soul. “What will you do, Jimin?”
Lord Omega’s fists tremble, and he lets out a stuttered breath. He’s angry and hurt. He’s at a loss for what to do.
“Will you kill me?”
At that, Jimin’s face raises abruptly. “I—how could you ask me that?” When his husband doesn’t respond, he continues, “I could never do such a thing. You know that, Yoongi.”
At last, a certain emotion fleets across the alpha’s eyes, one that catches Jimin by surprise. There is sadness and agony on his beloved’s face, fading as fast as it appears when he utters, “Do I?”
The crack in Lord Omega’s heart gapes wider when the alpha turns his eyes away.
“I sent Taehyung into exile.”
Jimin’s fists loosen their hold on the alpha’s tunic, his arms dropping beside him as he listens to his husband say, "Under the laws of this land, he is forbidden to set foot on Northern soil ever again. He may not marry a Northborn, nor seek help or sanctuary within our borders. If he is seen on Winterbane grounds," he raised his stern, dark gaze, "he shall be executed immediately."
Exile. His husband banished Taehyung instead of executing him. “Yoongi,” Jimin whispers, taking a deep breath as relief washes over him. Taehyung is alive. His friend is alive. “Thank you.”
Staring into his eyes, Lord Alpha utters, “If you truly are grateful, spend the night in our marriage chamber.”
Jimin parts his lips at the unexpected request as the fiery storm in his chest vanishes entirely, receding like tides on the warm Southern shores.
“Our bed offers more comfort than the one you sleep on in Hoseok’s chamber,” Yoongi says, eyes downcast. “I loathe the thought of you and our pup spending the night in such a cramped space. You must have a good rest, Jimin.”
The care and affection in the alpha’s words melt Jimin’s heart. He wants to step closer and embrace his mate, hold his face in his hands, and capture his lips with a passionate kiss. But as the fire crackles behind Lord Alpha and paints his skin and hair with warm colors, Jimin notices the torment and exhaustion in his gaze, the pale skin under his eyes bruised and slightly swollen as if sleep had eluded him.
“Yoongi,” Lord Omega begins, but the way the alpha averts his eyes and steps to the side leaves Jimin’s heart hanging painfully.
“Let us retire for the night,” Yoongi utters, walking toward the door and unknowingly depriving the omega of his warmth. “You must rest.”
The gap between them hasn’t closed yet; Jimin can sense it. There is tension between them that he cannot name; perhaps, one born out of pain, yearning, and guilt. When the alpha stops by the door to patiently wait for him, Jimin feels his heart squeeze painfully as he silently follows his husband back to their marriage chamber.
‘He always cares for me,’ Jimin thinks, staring at the alpha’s broad back. Pressing his lips tightly, he pulls the cloak closer to his body and mourns the lack of his husband’s warmth, shivering in the wintry cold. ‘What have I ever done for him in return?’
❄
It is nearing dawn. The horizon has begun to turn, the sunlight barely peeking over the mountains and chasing away the stars, yet Jungkook remains imprisoned in this godforsaken chamber.
He paces back and forth in front of the hearth, calculating the amount of time he needs to flee the castle and fight his way toward the execution grounds. He feigned illness the evening before, but instead of sending a healer from House Min, his father, Highlord Jeon, brought their House’s trusted apothecary with him and discovered his scheme.
“You disappoint me,” reprimanded his father, his eyes burning with anger as his grip on his cane trembled. “How dare you raise your sword against Lord Yoongi and prance your tail around a commoner, boy? That omega shall never be someone befitting your station, even if the heavens fall within your grasp. You’ll have to walk over my cold, bloody corpse before I lose my lone alpha son and heir to a fucking lowborn.”
Highlord Jeon is a proud man. Jungkook never expected his father to accept Taehyung; the older alpha would rather cut his own hand than welcome a commoner into his family. Most nobles loathe the thought of lowborn blood mixing with theirs, viewing it as an appalling disgrace and, to some, a ghastly omen befalling their House.
Despite the swords raised against him and his father’s warning, Jungkook will never abandon his fated mate. Taehyung is his omega. He is the only one that Jungkook will ever devote himself to. Even if he has to drag himself to the execution grounds with his teeth, he fucking will. Even if his father cuts his legs or binds his arms, Jungkook will never let him stop him.
He refuses to let his fated mate die before his eyes.
A knock on his chamber door rouses the general from his thoughts, momentarily pushing his plans of escape to the back of his mind as he listens to the door creak open. “You have a visitor, my lord,” the guard, a soldier of his father’s, announces.
Halting in front of the hearth, Jungkook watches with wide eyes as his guest enters the chamber, the alpha clad in a thick winter cloak with the fabric smeared with dried snow as if the man had just returned from a walk.
“Leave us,” Jungkook tells the guard, who bows and immediately closes the door behind him.
“A couple of guards stand outside your door,” Namjoon says, glancing briefly at the closed door. “Your father must have been quite furious.”
“Why are you here, Lord Namjoon?” Jungkook frowns, coming forthwith to the matter at hand. “I believe you did not see me to discuss about my father.”
At the general’s display of hostility, Namjoon casts his eyes down to the carpeted floor and walks closer to the hearth, standing a respectable distance from the other alpha. “Do you despise my brother now?”
Jungkook clenches his jaw, averting his gaze from the older lord. “Do you still seek an answer for that, knowing he condemned my fated mate to the gallows?”
“Taehyung committed treason, Jungkook,” Namjoon tells him, frowning. “He conspired with our enemy and attempted to murder my brother-in-law and his unborn pup.”
Jungkook turns away before the older alpha finishes his sentence. “Taehyung will never do such a thing out of his own will.”
“Still, he confessed.”
“He confessed because he wanted to save his fathers!” The general exclaims, his eyes wild with frustration and brewing anger. “Everything he did was opposed to his true intentions—”
“It might be so,” Namjoon interrupts, approaching the distressed younger alpha, “but he was still not innocent of the crimes committed against House Min. And every soul in this land knows the punishment for such heinous crimes.”
Jungkook shakes his head. “I will not stand for it. If I must kill all the guards in this goddamn castle, I shall.” Breathily, he utters, “I refuse to let my fated mate die.”
“Even if my brother crosses your path?”
At that, the general’s eyes set ablaze with a tenacity that can crumble a thousand kingdoms. “I shall not cower before Lord Yoongi. If I must cross blades with him,” his hands curl into fists, “so be it.”
A moment of silence passes between them, wherein the sound of falling snow amplifies a thousandfold. “You used to be a snotty little pup following my brother around, always looking up to him, waving a dull training sword.” He chuckles, reminiscing their childhood memory. Then, he lifts his gaze to the younger alpha. “What an alpha you have become.”
Jungkook swallows thickly as the pain of his youthful memory with Yoongi claws at his throat, like a reminder of how he sees the other man—a mentor, a friend, and an older brother. He has always held Lord Alpha in high regard, yet the love he harbors for Taehyung transcends Houses, bloodlines, and titles.
“Lord Namjoon. Brother .” Jungkook falls to his knees, hanging his head low before the older lord. “Please, I beg of you. Help me save Taehyung.”
Pressing his lips together, Namjoon kneels in front of him and rests a hand on his shoulder. “I believe that is not needed anymore.”
Jungkook lifts his head at that, a question hanging from his lips: ‘What do you mean?’
“Jimin asked Hoseok to set Taehyung free, but my brother caught him in the dead of night fleeing through the west gates,” Namjoon tells him as dread begins to rip out the younger’s chest. “He sent Taehyung into exile.”
“What?” the general breathes out, his eyes wide with shock. “Then, the execution…?”
“No soul shall walk the gallows when dawn breaks.” A subtle smile tugs at the corners of Namjoon’s lips. “He’s alive, Kook.”
Inhaling a sharp gasp, Jungkook feels his hands tremble on his thighs as tremendous relief washes over him. “Where is he now?”
“I do not know.” Namjoon casts his gaze down in shame, crestfallen. “No one does.”
Jungkook feels his chest split open, acquiring a cut so deep it slashes through every part of him. Somewhere out there, his fated mate is on the run, lost with only the heavens as his guide, and Jungkook cannot do anything for him.
“You are fortunate you do not suffer a harrowing fate as mine,” the general utters, wiping the tears gliding down his cheeks. “You are betrothed to a noble lord, a match rejoiced and accepted by everyone.”
“Yet, a noble match does not often equate to love.”
Jungkook sees the silent torture and grief in Namjoon’s eyes, the way his lashes flutter when his grip on the general’s shoulder tightens as if desperately holding on to something—to someone.
“It is not our fault we have given our hearts to someone beneath our station,” Namjoon tells him, his heart bleeding out of his ribs. “Should titles be stripped, we are left with nothing but ourselves.”
“Brother,” Jungkook whispers, noticing the other alpha’s trembling hand on his shoulder.
“You have loved a traitor, and I, a lowborn Southerner. In the eyes of the North, no noble may ever wed a commoner,” Namjoon utters, offering a wry smile. “Now tell me, Jungkook, is there a future bleaker than being with those we love?”
❄
Jimin takes a slow, deep breath, muting himself from the arguments thrown back and forth amongst the council members, ignoring the commotion and furious sighs airing from the nobles standing around the Wooden Table. A falcon arrived at first light, bearing a letter now crumpled in Lord Omega’s hand. Why must things turn out this way?
“Outrageous!” Highlord Lim of Mudham slams his fist on the table. “How could a prisoner escape from the most guarded fortress in all the Northern lands?”
“A deed wrought from within,” suggests Lieutenant Wong, scowling. “Someone in the castle must have aided that bloody traitor, Kim Taehyung; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to walk through these gates alive.”
“What say you, Highlord Jeon?” asks Highlady Byun of Lostfort. “Your son was familiar with the former seneschal of House Min. Did you and the general have a hand in this?”
“With the gods as my witness,” the Highlord of Stonehearth vows, “I swear to you, my lady, and to all the nobles in this chamber that if my son or I had aided that traitor’s escape, I would tear down my House to the last stone and offer my beating heart to you.” A moment of silence. “No one desired to see that whore hanging in the gallows as much as I did.”
Jimin bites his tongue to keep himself from speaking up. How dare he hold Taehyung in such low regard?
“I shared a drink with Highlord Jeon last evening, and his son never left his chamber, as reported by the sentry guarding his door,” Highlord Lee of Elvemoore confirms. “House Jeon bears no guilt in this unfortunate affair.”
A chorus of conversations echoes around the council chamber before Highlord Nam taps the table to gather everyone’s attention. “Apart from General Jeon, the closest companion that that traitor had,” he turns his gaze to Lord Omega, “was Lord Jimin.”
Jimin tenses as all pairs of eyes settle on him. "And what, pray tell, is your intention, my lord?"
“Highlord Nam,” Namjoon frowns, “You could not be implying that my brother-in-law plotted against his own kin. Your House and mine will be united through matrimony, and if such grave, false accusations were to befall House Min, then Lord Daehyun shall—”
“That is precisely why I am asking, Lord Namjoon,” Highlord Nam challenges. “If Winterbane has failed to eliminate the traitor in your ranks, what confidence can I place in the safety of my omega son in your House?”
“Then, leave.”
Jimin holds his breath when his husband throws a deathly glare at the other alpha.
“Pardon?” Highlord Nam glowers.
“If you have lost faith in my House and our cause, you are free to march through the castle gates—”
“That is enough!”
Jimin flinches when Highlord Min slams a fist on the table, silencing any argument, accusation, or protest from the nobles gathered around the Wooden Table. “As the head of House Min, I shall take full responsibility for this incident and see my son is punished for his thoughtless remarks. Please accept my heartfelt apologies, and I will ensure that the truth comes to light.”
Then, he directs his fearsome gaze to Yoongi. “You are dismissed from this council and may not return until I give the order.”
“Father!” Namjoon appeals to the older alpha as Jimin’s heartbeat ceases in his chest.
“I understand.” With clenched fists, Lord Alpha turns to bow before his father.
“Yoongi.” Jimin seizes his husband’s arm, stopping the man from leaving the chamber.
“Stay, Jimin,” Lord Alpha says, gently peeling his hand away. “You are needed here.”
The moment his husband departs, a crushing weight presses down on Lord Omega’s chest. He had never relied on others during difficult times, but his husband had always stood by his side, and Jimin came to find solace and courage in his presence. And now, he feels utterly alone in this council, like prey left under the prying eyes of hungry vultures ready to feast on his flesh upon the first sight of weakness.
“Words reached me that a falcon from the South arrived this morning,” Highlord Lim says, landing an expectant gaze on Jimin. “I believe it bears the reply of House Park to our request, does it not, Lord Jimin?”
Clenching his jaw, Jimin nods, “Indeed it does, my lord.” Approaching his father-in-law, Jimin reluctantly offers the wrinkled parchment to the alpha, watching as the elder opens the letter and reads its contents to the council.
“‘The War of the Northern Lords will echo through the annals of history, but House Park refuses to take part in this conflict. The Southern army will remain in the warm sun of the South where it belongs, defending our land and people. May the tides of fortune favor Winterbane and its allies in the war to come. Highlord Pilwoo of House Park, the Liege Lord of Garthram and the Steward of the South.’”
Rage explodes in the council chamber as the last word leaves the Highlord’s lips. Jimin’s fists tremble, ire filling his chest. “House Park is with you, brother. We always have been,” his elder brother, Seokjin, told him, and thus, his letter betrays his father and brother’s character.
What in the heavens is happening in the South?
“We are fools to trust those damn Southerners!” Lieutenant Wong exclaims, slamming his hands on the table.
“It seems House Park’s allegiance is as fickle as the tides washing up their bloody shores,” Lord Jaewon mocks.
“Your family abandoned you, Lord Jimin,” Highlord Lim remarks. “And so does any relation to our territory.”
“Those are not my father’s words,” Jimin tells them, pressing his lips together. “That letter was drafted by the House of Lords.”
“The House of Lords?” inquires Highlord Lee.
Nodding, Lord Omega explains, “In the South, the House of Lords is formed by fifteen Houses, each of which casts its vote whenever important matters are to be decided or when forging common laws.”
“What a mummer’s farce,” Lieutenant Wong scoffs. “What fool would let another House have dominion over your own territory?”
Jimin’s brow twitches. “It seems the concept of common law may be too far beyond you, lieutenant.”
The mocking grin on the soldier’s mouth slips down his face.
“The common law encompasses everyone in the Southern Territory; it is absolute . As I have said, the House of Lords opposed Winterbane’s call for aid in this war. Those were not the words of House Park.”
“Then, what is to be done in the face of this quandary?”
Jimin turns his gaze to Highlord Nam, his brows knitting together when he observes a glimmer of cunning mischief in the old alpha’s eyes. Inhaling deeply to keep his composure, Lord Jimin utters, “Let me send another letter, but this time, to my brother. He could rally enough votes in the House of Lords to stand in favor of our cause.”
“A falcon alone will not suffice.” Highlord Nam regards the noble council members standing behind the Wooden Table. “The letter must be borne by someone trusted by Highlord Park.” Turning his keen eyes to Lord Omega once more, he states, “Lord Jimin is with pup; hence, it would be dangerous for him to journey all the way to Garthram. His guard, on the other hand…”
Jimin halts abruptly. “You intend to send Hoseok?”
“I agree with Highlord Nam,” Highlord Lim concurs. “As Lord Jimin’s closest confidant, Master Hoseok will never betray his lord’s trust.”
Namjoon grows restless and turns to face Highlord Min, saying, “Father, if I may speak my mind—”
“Silence.” The Highlord raises a hand to cease any opinion or protest from his council members. “It is a must that Lord Jimin’s letter be brought with haste. As the head of House Min, I accept Highlord Nam’s terms.”
Namjoon’s jaw drops. “Father—”
“Master Hoseok will leave in three days’ time.” The older alpha’s piercing gaze shifts to him. “See to the preparations needed for his journey; I have faith in you, son.” Namjoon’s lashes flutter when his father utters in a stern voice, “Do not disappoint me.”