"If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads."
     -Anatole France

You sighed out quietly as you rubbed your tired eyes. Your body was aching from sleeping on the hard ground last night.

The cool, morning air greeted you as you sat up from your sleeping space, the blankets covering your body fell off your shoulders and bundled around your waist.

"Good morning, lady y/n."

Your eyes trailed over to Namjoon, who stood over the open fire place, a small smile resting on his lips.

You nodded, looking up to the sky.

The stars were still out, but the light of day was visible as the sun was beginning to rise over the horizon.

Your eyes moved to look around you, the rest of the men were still asleep, all except for Yoongi and Namjoon, who were huddled around the fire.

A yawn escaped your mouth as you moved to stand up, your body creaking in protest.

"Good morning." You greeted back sweetly as you walked to the fire pit and sat down beside the black haired prince.

Yoongi eyed you for a moment before returning his eyes back to the fire in front of him.

"Morning." He spoke under his breath.

You ran a hand through your hair.

"Sleep well?" You asked as another yawn escaped your lips.

Yoongi's eyes widened at your attempt of small talk.

Coming from a cursed kingdom, he wasn't used to anyone trying to speak so normally to him. Most people avoided him for fear of his kingdoms curse being transferred to him. He was always treated like a dog by the nobles of other kingdoms, but he was used to the abuse.

"I slept as good as could be expected. It was quite hard though, considering yours and Jungkooks constant laughter." He stated coldly.

You gulped slightly at his cold tone and chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Sorry about that." You mumbled out.

Namjoon smiled, moving to sit down beside of you.

"It appears that you and the young prince have grown quiet close to one another."He stated.

You nodded slightly stretching your hands over your head.

"I guess so." You said. "We just get along."

Namjoon nodded.

"It is nice to see Jungkook be happy again. He has been quite gloomy as of late."

You raised an eyebrow.

"Really? He doesn't seem gloomy." You stated, your blue eyes trailing to the chestnut haired prince sleeping a few feet away from you.

Namjoon chuckled.

"That's because he has found such a good companion in you, lady y/n. It seems that you bring out the best in the people around you."

A blush rose to your cheeks at his comment.

"I don't know how. All I've done since I got here is embarrass myself." You chuckled out."I have no idea what I'm doing."

Namjoon smiled sweetly at you.

"You are giving everyone hope for a better world." He stated. "Hope is very powerful."

You smiled at the sorcerer.

A scoff resounded from the dark haired prince beside of you, causing your eyes to snap to his form.

He eyed you hard.

"That may be the the most foolish thing I've ever heard in my life." He stated coldly.

Namjoon frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Yoongi raised an eyebrow.

"Hope is very powerful?" He scoffed again. "Maybe for the people who can actually afford to have such delusions. For this of us in reality, hope is merely a fools ambition."

You raised your eyebrow.

"You're saying you don't have any hope?" You asked quite amused.

Yoongi shook his head.

"Why on earth would I waste my time contemplating things that will never be? It's foolishness."

You sighed.

"It's not foolish to believe that bad things can get better."

Yoongi chuckled.

"Oh yes it is. Just as it is foolish for you to be filling Jungkook's head with ideas of happiness when you know he is going to marry Cassandra."

Your eyes widened.

"Jungkook can be happy. He doesn't have to marry Casandra if he doesn't want to, there's always another option-"

Yoongi stood up abruptly, interrupting you. He glared down at you harshly.

"There is no other option for him. It is his duty to better his kingdom and you have no right to tell him other wise. You are filling his head to the brim with visions of false happiness and whenever you are gone back to your land Jungkook will be faced with the harsh reality that you were, in fact, wrong and he will be forced to marry lady Cassandra."

Your eyes widened further at his harsh words. You heard a few of the sleeping men begin to stir awake, but your eyes remained fixed on the dark headed prince in front of you.

"How can you be so so sure that the world is going to take away his happiness?" You started quietly. "What gives you the right to assume that he will be miserable for the rest of his life?"

"It is his duty to be miserable. He has no choice." He stated, before turning to walk away.

You stood quickly.

"Everyone has a choice, Yoongi. Even you."

Your words halted the prince in his steps. His heart dropped at the meaning. Sadness and dread began to spread through this body. He didn't have a choice. He was doomed to be alone just like his father, just like his people. It was his curse . He hated it, but he had lost any hope of changing his fate a long time ago. Yoongi knew that when he was speaking about Jungkook, he was also speaking about himself, and how he too had no choice in the life that destiny had given him, he was forever cursed to be alone and unloved. Yoongi knew that you had caught on to his double meaning.

He grew angry as your accusations of false hope. You were of little importance and you had no right to assume that he could be happy.

Yoongi turned abruptly and approached you, standing directly in front of you.

You almost gasped at his eyes.

Eyes that were once a color of tangerine were now a vibrant shade of red.

"Who are you to speak to me of choices and destiny when you yourself were dragged to this land without your choice?! Destiny doesn't give choices, it gives you pain and sorrow, and the sooner you realize that the better!"

You were beginning to grow angry at the princes yelling.

A warm hand was suddenly placed on you shoulder.

"What is this quarrel about?" Taehyung asked tiredly.

"You're wrong." You stated angrily, ignoring the elvish king behind you.

Yoongi raised an eyebrow.

"Am I? Because it seems that you have experienced, first hand what it's like not to have a choice in the life thrusted upon you." He stated.

"I do have a choice," you started off, your anger beginning to get the best of you. "Everyone does!We can choose to make ourselves happy! Just because your kingdoms cursed and you have no friends doesn't mean that you have the right to drag everyone else down!"

The words that left your mouth were cruel and cold, and you regretted them instantly.

Yoongi's heart was hurt by your unusually hard tone. You, who had just spoke of hope and dreams had crushed any that he may have had with just one sentence.

Yoongi was angry.

Very angry.

Before the prince knew what he was doing, he had grabbed you harshly by your shoulders digging his fingers into your flesh.

You winced at the pressure.

"You are a fool." He stated coldly. "You are so desperate to go home that you believe anything that these men tell you. You think that there is a way back to your land?! That you can get home to your family?! You are wrong! There is no magic powerful enough for that spell! It is impossible! Even if there were magic like that, you think that you will actually survive the trip to the dark forest?! Every creature of the night is out there searching for you and when they find you, they will kill you instantly! You're just walking straight to your death and you're taking all of us with you! So get it into that stupid head of yours, you are going to be in this world forever and you will NEVER see your family again!"

He growled out.

"You will die alone in this land, and every single one of us will die with you! You will forever be alone and scared, and the only way you ever have any chance of seeing your family again, the way any of us can be happy again,  will be after you've died a painful, merciless, bloody death!"

"Yoongi!" Taehyung shouted. "You've taken things too far!"

Yoongi watched.

He watched as the tears formed in your eyes.

He watched as your lip quivered.

He watched as you ran away.

Guilt hit the prince.

Hard.

He didn't mean to hurt you, or maybe he did. His anger had always been a huge issue in his life. He could never control it. He was always scolded by his mother, telling him that if he continued to act out that way, he would one day hurt someone and he would regret it.

Yoongi never did.

Until now.

------------------------

You stood in shock at the princes words, tears forming in your eyes.

You could feel your body going into break down mode and you panicked.

You wouldn't let him see you weak, not after what he said.  You simply shoved his hands away, turned and began to run.

You pushed past the newly awoken men and ran, earning a few curious glances from each of them.

Your legs continued to take you deeper into the woods. You basked in the sting of your lungs and the aches of your thighs.

You continued running until your emotions caught up with you, and you fell to your knees in the middle of the woods.

Tears were streaming down your face now, leaving trails of salty liquid to stain your cheeks.

You stared at your hands that rested in the ground and watched as your tears fell to hit the dry dirt beneath you.

You hated it here.

You continued to cry. It seemed like all you ever did was cry, you hated it. You believe yourself to be one of the stronger women of your generation, but ever since you got here, you've begun to doubt yourself.

Was Yoongi right? Would you really never see your parents again? Were you going to die here and take all the princes with you?

Your heart plummeted.

They were all your friends. Even if you hadn't known them for very long, they've all saved your life and volunteered to help you, a stranger, go home. You had laughed with them and heard their tales of adventure.

You didn't want them to die.

You needed to leave.

You had been so selfish, that it never occurred to you that if any of these men die it would be your fault. You wanted them to be happy and healthy, the best way to ensure that, was to leave.

More tears streamed down your face as you pushed yourself up and onto your feet, your blue eyes still staring at the ground beneath you.

You could hear Taehyung's voice calling for you faintly from the campsite. You wanted to run to him and embrace him. You wanted him to tell you everything was alright, as he did that night at the castle, but that would be selfish.

You let out a shaky sigh.

If you didn't go now, they would find you.

You began to walk.

One foot in front of the other.

With each step more tears would find their way out of your eyes.

You wiped away the salty liquid and continued walking.

"Y/n. Stop."

Your body froze at the familiar voice that rang out from behind you, your eyes widened but you didn't turn around. You didn't want to see him.

"Please, don't try to stop me." You breathed out shakily.

You listened to the crunching of the leaves as he took a few steps closer to your body.

"What happened?" He asked.

You shrugged, not being able to find the right words as more tears spilled from your eyes.

"I need you to come back with me, y/n. Everyone is worried for your safety." He stated softly.

You turned around and faced the rosy haired prince.

"No." You stated. "If I go back, you'll all die."

Jin's golden eyes widened at your words. 

"Wha-"

"This mission," You started shakily "this mission is going to get all of you killed. I'm going to get all of you killed." You stated.

Jin's eyes were still wide as he processed your words.

"Y/n, no. We-"

"Please," you sobbed. "Please, just let me leave. Let me protect all of you. I'll run away and die by myself, so there's no more misery for anyone."

Jin's heart wrenched upon hearing your cries. He had seen many maidens cry, mostly because he had just loved them and left them, but he had never seen a woman cry, because of true heartbreak, the way you were crying now.

Jin took a few more steps closer. In his heart he knew that you really didn't want him to allow you to leave, and that you were just extremely emotional at the moment, because of Yoongi's harsh word to you.

And you knew that too.

You didn't want to leave, but you felt like you had to at the moment.

Jin wrapped his arms around your small form, allowing you to fully break down in tears.

You grabbed onto his cotton shirt and released all your frustration, your tears soaking through his clothing.

Jin patted your hair softly, running his fingers through the (h/l), (h/c) locks in a manner to soothe you.

In that moment of your vulnerability, Jin found himself desiring you. He longed for your affection and time, whether or not he had feelings for you, was still uncertain to him. He had been with many women and had felt desire towards them as well.

But you were so different.

You were a subject of fascination, a wondrous fixation, and a beautiful temptation.

Jin had to scold himself.

Here you were crying in his arms and yet all he could think about was his desire and lust towards you. He was selfish. He'd always been selfish.

But, he wanted to be better..... for you.

"Don't worry, darling. I'm here." He stated, trying to comfort you. "I've got you."

You continued to cry.

In that moment you felt extremely safe.

------------------------

Jimin's eyes were wide as he took in the sight of you in Jin's arms.

His heart aches inside his chest and he didn't know why.

Everything in him was screaming at him to rush to you and rip Jin away. To take you into his own arms and comfort you, but he didn't.

He knew that you were in a fragile state of mind, and that his quarrel with Jin was not important enough to cause you anymore discomfort than you already felt.

Jimin didn't know whether or not it was his hatred for Jin or his fondness of you, but he found himself clinching his fists to keep from running towards his brother and giving him a beating there and then.

Jin's golden eyes suddenly shot up to meet Jimin's.

Jimin glared at his older brother, a strong feeling of possessiveness rushing over him.

A small smile made its way to Jin's face and his arms wrapped even tighter around you in a mocking manner, testing his brothers limits.

Jimin snapped his eyes shut and turned his away from the sight, turning and walking back towards the campsite.

He sighed.

You were safe. That's all that mattered.

Jimin's eyes hardened.

Now, he had a certain black haired prince to deal with.

A/N,
Okay, so people have been sending in questions about the eye colors. Just to make it clear; yes. Every Kingdom has its own individual eye color, so everyone in a certain kingdom has the same eye color. Don't ask me why, I have no idea. I just liked the thought. Here's a list of all the colors in case you're confused:👌

Bear Kingdom: green
Owl Kingdom: purple
Lion Kingdom: gold
Dragon Kingdom: orange ( turns red when angry)

-Max