XLVIII

Court of Acid

It's the beginning of August, it's been a month and a half. Watching Jaejin be silent for a week, and writing what he wanted to say down on a piece of paper. A few words here and there, testing out his voice on the second week was trial and error. When his voice got hoarse, we would go back to the paper, and smile when I could hear him talk again. Him being silent for a week was killing me as much as it was killing him. The doctor was right, my black eye's swelling went down, and the bruises went away. Jaejin's eyes are back to normal, his voice is finally back to normal, and both of our thighs have finally healed enough to walk without crutches. His back is healed with scars, and still has bruising all over his back. My thigh took a while to heal and I still have a limp. They aren't sure if my thigh's limp will ever get better due to the trauma it's been through in less than a year.

"Jaejin, let's go. We have that Court meeting in ten minutes." I tell the next King of Black Soul. I'm already dressed but I wore red on purpose. I put on black pants, black shoes, a white tunic, a red vest, and a black blazer. Jaejin wears black pants, black shoes, a black tunic, a dark green vest, and a black blazer. Total opposite of me. Jaejin grabs his black steel crown that has his rectangle emerald in the center. He'll get his dad's Crown in 10 days when the coronation begins. I grab my gold crown that has rubies and obsidians wrapped around the piece.

"Are you read- I got you something to help your limp, baby." It's a much better looking cane than the one I have been using. The one I've been using is just made of cypress wood, the same trees that surround us here in Black Soul. It had a small handle for my hand to wrap around but the new one put my old cane to shame. It's a black walking stick with a dragon head on top of it as the handle, and it's made of gold, the dragon head has two rubies as the eyes, a homage to my- or maybe it's our Red Dragon now. He hands it to me and I grab it from him, feeling the weight of the cane in my hand.

"Let's go, my Acid Prince." I smile at him and he smiles back at me, in my right hand I grab the cane. My left thigh doesn't seem to notice the difference in canes but I'm not going to tell him that. We walk down the hallway and down the stairs, which isn't great for me but we take our time. Jaejin's hand never leaves mine as we walk to the meeting room, he doesn't force me to walk faster, or slower for me. We walk at my pace which isn't quick due to me getting used to walking with a cane like I'm 75 in my human counterparts of my blood. The black doors made of obsidian were opened for us by guards and one guard announced us.

"Crown Prince Jaejin Cha and Prince Pluto Kardos III." The layout of the room has changed, there's a long table with four chairs on the left and right side each, the table is made of cedar wood, it's stronger, and it's been stained to look almost black. There's one seat at both ends of the table, and Jaejin will sit on the chair that is at the other end and not the one closest to the door, a seat fit for a King. I fully expect to sit at the other end like the Queen would in a Kingdom but Jaejin doesn't let go of my hand and drags me with him. Jaejin pulls out his seat and gestures for me to sit, and I open my mouth to tell him off but he gives me a rough look. I don't argue and sit in the chair. The chair seems to be made of the same wood as well, with a deep green plush on the actual seat, back, and arms of the chair. Next the rest of the Court members start trailing in, some of them I can see the look in their eyes. Mutt. Ember King's son. Kallis bastard. Jaejin sits on the arm of the chair, watching every single one of his court members take their seats. Jaejin takes off his blazer and a guard takes it. He's wearing a short-sleeved tunic, which shows off the marks on his arms. You can see our mating mark that stretches from behind his slightly-arched ear and goes under his shirt to the top of his shoulder. His left arm, fully blacked out with the King mark from the death of his father that stops at his wrist till he gets the blessing and gets crowned, then it will go to his knuckles. On the right arm, he has the two dragon marks, one red and one black body twirling around each other from his palm to his elbow. He's showing off his power, he's grandstanding.

"I didn't realize that the.. Son of Kardos was joining us, Prince Jaejin. The room is meant for Acid wielders and.. Blood of Black Soul. Not from what's left of Silver Air." It's Maester Jung who speaks up and hasn't stopped glaring at me since he stepped foot in this room. Jaejin just cracks a smile and I can feel the blood draining from my face, I want to shy away. Then he's baring his fangs at them and slamming his hands on the table which makes every one of them flinch.

"I am blessed by Vuna. I am. You sit here at this table because my father made it so. Who is the Dragon that sits at the table?" He snaps at all of them, and they wince.

"Apologies, Your Highness." The maester bites out and Jaejin rolls his head to get rid of the tension that is already growing.

"Let's begin," Jaejin begins before clearing his throat, "Prince Pluto Kardos is my Mate and officially will be so the night before my coronation. His father, King Lucijan Kardos is officially pardoned from his crimes since he tried to kill my Mate's family, and helped my father with his plot-"

"You cannot just pardon, Lucijan Kardos-"

"King Lucijan Kardos." I say and Jaejin just grins at me. I can't actually believe I ever wanted to be in here making decisions with these pompous asses.

"King Lucijan Kardos cannot just be pardoned, Your Highness. He has to go to trial, and he has to pay-" The snarl leaves me before I can even think properly, I snap my head to Illsung who keeps putting his pea sized brain thoughts into words.

"Pay? My father doesn't owe you ipurdiak-"

"Prince Pluto is right. King Lucijan Kardos is officially pardoned by me because I rule this Kingdom. I am the ruler of Black Soul now, and I say so. I don't care if he killed Chanyeol, the bastard deserved it if you ask me," Jaejin says and there's murmuring around the table, "Now that we're done talking about that. All of you can either let go of your bad blood that you think you have with the Kardos family or you can retire. Effective immediately, Court members Illsung Kim, Hada Lee, Mireu Cho, Seokju Yun, Pureum Kang, and Seonghun Jung are officially retired after this meeting. I am rebuilding, and your children will take over now. I can't trust a Court who persuaded my father no to a Treaty, and I will not let a Court who kept Queen Astraea Kardos rot underneath us. This meeting is adjourned. You're lucky my Mate is so gracious to let you keep your retirement wages." Jaejin barks at all of them and Illsung stays there.

"Even if I'm retired, I am in charge of your father's funeral but before I write my speech, I need to know what happened that night. For my sake."

"Pluto and I were waking up that morning. We were going to meet my father for breakfast when-" Jaejin stiffened and I grabbed his hand, clearing my throat. His jaw is tense and his fists are balled up into fists. He can't talk about it, but I can.

"He drugged us, the same drug you used to keep my mother drugged all those years. Enough to dull our powers and mixed it to knock us out. Hours later, we were chained in the same room as my mother once was. Chanyeol Park and Minjun Cha were in the room, discussing what they should do. You've seen the reports. Your King," I snarled, the beast in me awakening. I roll my shoulders as the tension and the heat at my hands start to bother me, "Almost killed your Heir to the throne. Almost started a war with the rest of Eclia. If I had died," Jaejin growls at my statement, "There would be nothing to stop my father or any other Kingdom in Eclia from flattening Black Soul from the map." I stand up from the chair and I can't even help it at this point as I rip my hand from Jaejin. I burst into acid flames, the green and yellow flames coating my entire body.

"I-Impossible. There's no such-" Illsung gapes at me and I don't have any sympathy, not anymore. They almost killed my Mate, and they almost killed me. They killed my grandparents, held my mother hostage, and tried to destroy my life.

"Then you don't know Jaejin Cha or Pluto Kardos. You are excused, Illsung." My Mate snarls at him and Illsung is leaving the room. I calm the fire and grab Jaejin, holding him tight to me.

"The funeral is in a week and you have a speech to write." I tell Jaejin and he nods. He helps me and gives me my cane, we walk back to our room. Jaejin asks the kitchen to bring us lunch and we close the bedroom door behind us. I'm pulling off the crown, my blazer, and my vest. Just my tunic, pants, and black socks. Jaejin sits on the couch in the room and puts his head in his hands.

"Why did he do it? I'm his son. I was his only son. I am his Heir to the throne!" A broken cry leaves Jaejin, he starts to shake, and I grab his shoulders. I hold onto him and I don't let go. I let him cry, scream, shake and do what he needs. That trauma isn't going to leave in a month and I don't expect it to. Jaejin was almost killed by his father, his King, and his own temper he was born with was used against him by the person who gave it to him. I hold onto him because it's all I can offer him, all I can give him without giving him my actual heart from my chest to let him know that it beats for him, that I will always be here by his side.

"I don't know, JJ. But know this, I love you, and I will always be here with you. Nothing will ever tear us apart. I will crawl from Odos' clutches to be with you." Even the God of Death wouldn't keep me away from the love of my life. Not a single tyrant King, not even the Kings of the Gods himself, or any other Kingdom would keep him away from me. Jaejin and I's souls were tethered together from the mating bond we sealed together those months ago. We proved to each other that it wasn't easy but we were going to make it work, so damn anything and anyone who tried to take Jaejin from me again.