Page 44 of King Foretold (Realm of Four Kingdoms #2)

The night in the Kingdom of Mountains is different from in the Kingdom of Sky. It’s black, heavy ... suffocating. The darkness in the Kingdom of Sky merely shrouds what is there. But the darkness here seems ravenous to swallow all that is there. I shudder as goose bumps spread down my arms.

My eyes instinctively seek out Sunny. She’s sleeping near the mouth of the cave, huddled beneath my outer robe. In the faint moonlight, she looks so small and delicate. She would kick my ass if I ever called her delicate . I tuck my chin to hide my adoring smile.

“You must be cold,” Jihun says, misunderstanding my shiver. “But we cannot risk building a fire. Forgive me, my prince.”

“Forgive you? Why?” I smirk at him. “Is the chilly night your doing? Can you control the weather?”

A corner of his mouth slants up for a split second before it flattens.

That counts as a smile where Jihun is concerned.

I huff a silent laugh and glance up at the sky.

We still have hours until dawn. I’m taking first watch, but my obstinate royal guard refuses to sleep.

We sit in companionable silence for a while, keeping an eye on the dark woods beyond.

I break the silence. “How did you and Ben become bonded brothers?”

Jihun is quiet for so long I don’t think he’s going to answer.

“My mother, Ben’s mother, and the Queen of Mountains grew up together.

They were inseparable as girls, and their friendship only strengthened as they reached adulthood.

” He draws his knees up and rests his forearms on them.

“When the queen married the King of Mountains, Ben’s mother accompanied her as her lady-in-waiting. ”

“I knew that Mom—Ben’s mom—was the queen’s friend, but I only got glimpses of the queen’s childhood memories, so I didn’t know ...” I say haltingly. I feel Jihun’s solemn gaze on me, but he continues after a moment.

“My mother was devastated to lose her friends, but it broke her heart that Ben and I had to be separated. We were born within days of each other and refused to be apart from the start.” Another barely there smile touches Jihun’s lips.

“My mother said I cried inconsolably all day until she took me to visit Ben. As soon as she laid me down next to him, I stopped crying. Ben was the same. The two mothers only found peace—and sleep—when we were together.”

“So there was already a strong bond between you two.” I can’t help feeling a little envious of Jihun. But I had Ben by my side for twenty-four years. I shouldn’t be greedy.

“A blood oath cannot create a bond that does not exist. It merely strengthens what is already there.” Jihun absently traces his left palm—the soft, rounded part below his thumb—with his right index finger.

“On our first birthday—our dol—an auspicious birthday second only to our twenty-fourth birthday, our mothers performed the blood oath on us.

“Performing such a powerful spell on mere infants was not without danger, but they couldn’t wait much longer.

The queen had to leave for the Kingdom of Mountains for her wedding, and the King of Mountains was not a patient male.

In the end, our mothers had to trust that the bond Ben and I already shared was strong enough to protect us from harm. ”

“And did it?” I realize I’ve fisted my hands, so I deliberately unclench them. “Did the bond protect you and Ben?”

“Yes.” He glances at me, then looks away. “The blood oath bound us without harming us. And since then, Ben was always with me even though we were apart.”

“As you were with him.” I draw small circles in the dirt, the feel of the earth soothing my grief. “Thank you for being with him. I’m glad he didn’t have to die alone.”

“I ... feel like a part of me died with him. Ben had always been a part of me.” Jihun’s head droops as he blows a weary sigh. “Now I’m missing half of myself.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I hope you find someone who makes you feel whole again.”

His gaze flits to Sunny for the briefest moment, and my stomach drops. I suspected he had feelings for her, but I didn’t know it ran that deep. Jealousy wars with hope inside me.

“You love her.” I don’t phrase it as a question.

“She won’t have me.” Jihun’s laugh is laced with an all-too-familiar heartbreak.

“That’s one way of admitting it.” I glance at my royal guard with a wry smile.

“You love her too,” he says, staring into the woods.

“To her great annoyance.” I chuckle under my breath, even though my heart twists painfully in my chest. “She won’t have me either.”

“That’s one way of admitting it.” Jihun arches an eyebrow at me.

I shrug. “I haven’t made a secret of it.”

Sunny stopped lashing out at me after the picnic—I’m glad because I know it hurt her as much as it hurt me—but it still feels like there’s an ocean between us.

She cares about me as more than a friend.

I can feel it. But she’s built an invisible wall between us that I can’t seem to breach.

If I push harder, she might withdraw completely, and I won’t be able to bear that. Maybe it’s for the best ...

“I want you to protect her.” I break the silence with desperation in my voice.

“My duty is to protect you.” Jihun’s jaw clenches.

“There is ... another prophecy. The prophecy of the end of days,” I confess in a wavering voice. “The Queen of Mountains didn’t share it with anyone, but I discovered it through her memory.”

“Wh ... what is this prophecy?” my royal guard asks haltingly. “Did the queen truly foresee ... the end of days?”

“I’m not sure. I think ... the prophecy is about Sunny and me.” I clasp my head between my hands. “My mother believed that it is my destiny—the destiny of the King Foretold—to kill the one who possesses the Yeoiju.”

“I don’t ...” Jihun rears back, his face slack with shock. “My prince, I don’t understand. Why would the queen ... Sunny is on her list. It makes no sense.”

“I keep having these dreams,” I whisper, fisting my hands in my hair. “There is a female, encased in white fire. She is burning down the world around her. I ...”

“Those are dreams, Your Highness. Only dreams.”

“Please don’t let me hurt Sunny.” I jerk my head up and clutch at Jihun’s arm. “I need you to stop me. Kill me, if you have to. Please.”

“I can never stand against you ... even if you must kill her.” Grim determination hardens his features. “But I won’t let her go alone. I will die with her.”

“I envy you, Captain. I can’t be with her even in death.

” I take a shuddering breath and strive for calm, but it feels more like resignation.

“I can’t take my own life. All the sacrifices my mother, my adoptive parents, and Ben made to protect me .

.. I can’t let their deaths be in vain. Not by my own hand.”

“They believed you were greater than their sacrifice,” my royal guard says. “All of us, who know of the prophecy of the King Foretold, believe that in the depth of our souls.”

“I won’t let them down.” I meet Jihun’s eyes. “I won’t let you down.”

And I won’t give up on my love. I will find a way to change the prophecy. I won’t have to be with Sunny in death because she will live.

I will be with her in life. I will love her till the end of days.