The intricate patterns on the floor of the throne room are no longer visible underneath the torrents of crimson flooding to every crevice it can reach with its fingertips. Though the sun is shining brightly - too brightly - through the windows, nothing can erase the darkness engulfing the large space.

Reine stands in the middle of the room, her pretty white dress now painted red as she stares in horror at the carnage surrounding her. Her peers lay at her feet, pale hands reaching as if to touch their precious Queen one last time before death engulfs them.

Behind her lay her father and mother, both of them unable to comfort her as she screams for them, reaching for them as she turns and slips in the river beneath her. Her knees meet the floor and her dress becomes more splattered with the blood as it dances around her and clings wherever it can touch.

Her blood-stained fingers reach for them, aching to feel the warmth of her mother's hands in her own or her father's warm embrace as he holds his only child. Instead of the familiarity of their touch, she feels nothing but a dull coolness to their skin, their faces blank and far away as they stare straight through Reine.

All she can feel is an unbearable ache in her chest as she wishes with every ounce of her being that they could look at her like they used to - even if it's for a moment. Her wish goes unheard, however, as her parents' bodies fall apart in her hands, their beings disintegrating among the other casualties until Reine is left utterly alone with nothing but the blood of her loved ones to keep her company.

As much as she screams and pleads, no one comes through the throne room doors to comfort her. No one comes to tell her everything will be okay, that she is not alone.

She sits in front of the thrones, her fingertips dripping with the blood of her parents as she screams relentlessly, feeling that if she screams loudly enough, her parents will hear her, and they will come back.

She wants them to come back.

So, Reine screams as tears slide down her blood-stained cheeks, begging for her mother and father to hear her - to help her stand back and leave this room while they hold her and whisper in her ear about how much they love her.

"Reine," a faraway, warped voice calls and Reine's eyes widen as she tries to stand, only to slip and fall in the blood once again. She lays on her stomach, trying desperately to keep her face from touching what is left of her people as she screams for who called her name.

"Reine!"

Reine jolts awake, dropping the half-eaten apple from her grasp as it rolls across the forest floor, gathering dirt and dried leaves as it eventually stops when it hits against a small rock.

She looks around wildly, noting that she is not in the throne room and she is not covered in blood.

"Hey," Jimin's voice sounds from somewhere close to Reine, and she turns to see him sitting next to her, staring at her with concern etched on his features. "You were having a nightmare, I think. You were screaming."

Reine swallows, fear rising in her chest as she looks around. "Do you think the rebels heard me? What if they try to attack us?"

He laughs, gently patting her on the cheeks as he relaxes next to her against the tree. "There are no rebels here - well, there are, but they're all reduced to carcasses in the dragon's cave."

Reine blinks a few times, still half convinced that she is trapped inside the throne room. She shakes her head, trying to clear her mind of the images she dreamed about as she leans her head against the tree. "Oh."

"If it weren't for that, I would suggest we move to the cave to get some privacy from any animals that may be lurking, but it didn't smell too great in there."
Reine nods as she tries to get her breathing back under control, though the humid air surrounding her isn't helping her to be able to breathe or even think clearly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jimin asks, nudging his shoulder against hers as he looks over at her with a calm look on his features.

She shakes her head, standing and wincing at the soreness in her entire body. "No."

Ignoring his sigh of annoyance, she moves to the river and splashes some water on her face, sighing in relief as her eyelids flutter closed, reveling in the coolness of the water against her sweaty skin.

"How long was I asleep?" Reine asks as she comes back and slowly sits back against the tree.

"I was gone for maybe an hour or so," Jimin says, shrugging as he looks at the night sky. "You missed the last few minutes of the sunset. It was beautiful."

Reine involuntarily shivers, remembering the too-bright sun rays in the throne room. "I am not as fond of the sunlight as I used to be."

Jimin lets out a little laugh. "Are you mad at the sun or something?"

Reine looks over at him, a serious look on her face. "Something like that."

"I don't think the sun killed your parents, unless it has evolved into some kind of assassin since I've been locked away."

Reine sighs. "I am not going to explain something to you that is out of your grasp. Also, it is none of your business why I feel the way I do."

"I told you I'm smarter than you've let yourself believe," Jimin says, smiling cheekily at Reine as she takes a sip of water from her canteen.

"Or maybe you are the one who is full of themselves instead of your theory that I am," Reine points out and Jimin laughs, clapping as he bows slightly.

"Your wit never ceases to amaze me, Your Highness," he says.

He stands, stretching his hands over his head and walking over to a small campfire that Reine hadn't noticed before. She stands and moves to it as she sees him doing something, and her curiosity wins over her stubbornness as she moves to stand next to him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm cooking," Jimin says, gesturing towards the meat skewered onto a stick suspended over the fire.

"I thought you didn't eat," she says and he rolls his eyes.

"I don't, but you do, the last time I checked," he points out. "You need some protein to keep your strength up, so I'm cooking some of the dragon's meat."

"You're... what?" Reine asks, eyes widening in horror and disgust.

"Don't give me that attitude," he scolds. "You can at least try it before you assume it's disgusting. I'm a capable chef, if I do say so myself."

"How do you know your food tastes enjoyable if you don't eat?" she asks.

"I don't need to eat, but I can if I want. I don't need food to keep myself sustained," he shrugs and she hums distractedly as she stares at the cooking meat.

"I promise it'll be delicious," he says, holding his hand over his heart and giving her a sincere look, though she can tell he's trying not to laugh. "If you don't like it, you can eat the food in your bag. It won't keep for long, anyway, so you should eat that too before it goes bad."

"Right," Reine says, moving back to sit as Jimin finishes cooking the meat. She glances at the ruined apple and shakes her head, scolding herself for wasting the food when those children in the village could've used it.

She looks in her bag and realizes that she left herself with less food than she realized, so she decides to eat half tonight and she'll save the rest for the walk to the next region tomorrow.

"I'll boil some of this river water before we leave in the morning so we can refill your canteen. Make sure you drink all of what you have before we leave," he says as he comes back over with the stick of meat, grinning as he hands it to Reine.

"I know that I need to stay hydrated, Jimin," Reine says, cautiously inhaling the scent of the meat, and being pleasantly surprised with how it smells.

"It's important," he continues, ignoring Reine's snarky comment. "The next region we have to go to is a giant desert in the south and we won't find much water there. You need to go in there as hydrated as you can be so you can conserve your water."

Reine eats one of her carrots as she waits for the dragon's meat to cool, letting the stick rest against the tree while making sure to keep the meat from touching the bark.

"We call the southern region Chaleuse," Reine says between bites.

"We called these regions by their terrains," he says, laughing. "We didn't care to create fancy names."

"I was not taught much about the outer regions, but I was always curious so the names became ingrained in my mind as it was all I knew," Reine says, finishing her carrot and turning nervously to the meat between her and him.

"I can take the first bite to prove I didn't poison it or anything," he offers and Reine lets out a small laugh.

"I didn't think you poisoned it, Jimin," she says. "I'm not used to such meals."

"You don't have a kitchen staff to cook masterpieces out here, Your Highness," Jimin says, taking a piece of the meat off of the stick and placing it near Reine's mouth. "You're stuck with me."

She frowns, taking the meat from his hand as she reluctantly places it in her mouth, chewing slowly as her eyebrows raise slightly at the taste.

"It is better than expected," Reine says. "Also, do not treat me as a child. I can feed myself."

"I sensed a 'thank you' in there somewhere, so you're welcome," he says, grinning as she takes another bite of the dragon meat.

"Eat and sleep," Jimin says, sighing in content as he stretches his legs out. The campfire crackles quietly to their right as the moonlight shines delicately on the two of them, the light of the fire and the moon reflecting in the water of the river.

"Again, I am not a child," Reine says, frowning at him as she takes another bite.

"Sorry, Your Highness," Jimin says, shuffling to lay on the ground as he rests his arms behind his head. "I can't see how you could take care of yourself when you've been pampered your entire life. I don't want you to accidentally die or something because of something you're ignorant of."

Reine sighs as she swallows the bite of food in her mouth. "I know how I come off. It is how all of the villagers see me as well. I seem heartless, cruel and spoiled. I know that is my persona, but that is not who I am. I spent my entire life making sure that I became the opposite. I strived for the crown, of course, but not for the reasons everyone believes. I want to free my people from the oppression they constantly feel, but the rebels did not even give me a chance to prove their theories wrong."

"Maybe they were trying to play it safe. Kill you before you even had the chance to hurt them further since all they knew is that you were the spawn of two people who did not care about their people," Jimin explains and her heart plummets at the mention of her parents and them succumbing to the temptation of greed.

Reine wipes her mouth with her hand as she tosses the now empty stick away from them into the river so the nearby animals won't smell it and come looking too close to their campsite. "I understand that there are two sides of this, and I cannot understand how horribly my people have had it, since I have never been there myself. All I can say is that my intentions for my kingdom were pure, and now..."

"Now you can't even think about the things you spent years preparing for because of your deep need for vengeance," he finishes and she sighs.

"I don't even feel like the same person without my parents," Reine whispers as she takes another drink out of her canteen, emptying it of its last drop as she places it in her bag and closes it. "I do not know how to be okay without them."

"It's okay not to be okay," he says, turning to look at her as she lays next to him, surprised to find her now dry cloak folded neatly next to her so she can use it as a pillow.

"It's so much more than not being okay," she says, staring at the stars above her as she rests her hands against her stomach. "I feel like I've been shattered - like a vital piece of myself was taken along with my parents."

"I can't pretend to understand how it feels to lose someone forever," he says, turning on his side and propping his head on his arm. "I have only ever deeply cared for my brothers, and though I do miss them, I knew we would meet again."

"Now you are meeting them again," she says, turning to him and sending him the ghost of a smile. "Are you excited to see them?"

"I spent an eternity with them before we were separated," Jimin explains, shrugging. "It felt like you explained it; I felt like I was missing a piece of myself when I was locked away without them. I feel like the closer I get to seeing them again, the more I feel like myself. They're my brothers, but it's more: they're part of who I am. I would do anything for them."

"I would do anything for my parents," Reine says, wiping away a stray tear as she turns on her side away from him. "It's why I'm laying on the ground in a forest with cuts and bruises littering my body instead of laying in luxury in my palace."

He laughs. "No one asked you to get beat up. I told you to run and duck in the brush to camouflage yourself."

Reine turns back around and glares at him. "The dragon was massive and was leveling the path with every step it took. There was no safe way for me to duck and not get trampled. I blame you for such a careless plan, as well as myself for going along with it."

"Wait until you meet my brothers," Jimin sighs, shaking his head as he grins. "I promise I'm the least annoying."

"I don't like the sound of that," Reine says, groaning as she lays on her back again. "Which one are we retrieving in Chaleuse? The bold one, the arrogant one or the jack-of-all-trades?"

"Ah, the bold one," he says, and she can see his usual grin in her peripheral vision. "He's like me, only more reckless and charming."

"I wouldn't say you're charming," Reine says, shaking her head.

"Agree to disagree," Jimin says, laying on his back as well as the two stare at the night sky.

"So you think there aren't any rebels in this area anymore?" she asks, deciding to change the subject to something more productive.

"Oh yeah, you're trying to figure out which rebel group killed your parents, huh?" he asks, and she frowns.

"There are much less insensitive ways to say that, Jimin, but yes," Reine says quietly.

"My apologies," Jimin says, sending her a small salute before continuing. "There were a lot of bodies in there, and I highly doubt there are any survivors out there. I'm guessing the dragon liked to spend its free time hunting."

Reine tries to block out the mental images of dead bodies as she closes her eyes and places her arm over her eyes to block out the moonlight. "I think I should sleep now."

"Right," he says. She hears him shuffling around as he gets up, and a few moments later, she hears the sizzling of a dying fire. When she glances over to where she hears him moving around, she sees he has put out the campfire.

"Don't want to accidentally burn this place," he says, moving to lay back next to her. "Go to sleep. I'll keep watch."

Reine bites her lip, turning to glance at Jimin. "Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"For waking me earlier."

He looks over at her, his eyebrow raised. "I'm not used to your thankful side, and it's honestly a bit alarming. You're welcome, though."

Reine sighs deeply, her hands moving to rub her face. "If I seem like I'm having another nightmare, please wake me. Don't leave me there alone."

"Leave you where?" he asks, turning to glance at her, who has turned on her side away from him again.

She ignores him, deciding it is better left unsaid what she dreamed about. Part of her doesn't want to let him into a part of her life, still not knowing if she can trust him to know the details of the moment in her life that changed everything.

Part of her doesn't want to speak it out loud. She fears the image, almost feeling like if she tells someone about it out loud, it becomes real all over again and it will continue to haunt her every moment, conscious and unconscious.

The thought of falling asleep has Reine terrified she will see the room filled with blood again, her parents' dull eyes and cool skin burned into her mind. The ashes of the image taint her memories of them; no longer can she picture the two of them smiling at her with warm eyes and warm touches. She cannot feel her mother's gentle touch as she jokingly scolds her daughter for not brushing out her own curls. She cannot hear her father's contagious laugh as he reads an excerpt from his favorite book she has heard a hundred times before, but she still laughs with him solely because his laugh brings her so much joy.

It's all cold and quiet now.