NOTE: if you thought this storyline was over, so did I. But I was given some feedback? that a tae spin-off would be could and, while I can't give you that, I can give you a maybe two / three part mini-series covering the important plot points of our mysterious bird -- like how he lost his wings, how he got stuck in the position he was in & all that -- while also revealing a little bit more of the uncle's dastardly deeds

In addition to this, there'll also be an epilogue to conclude this story properly, so please stick around for this three / four-part revival—I've got exciting news (wait oh no that was supposed to be a surprise!)

* * *

Taehyung had never liked sitting through the royal meetings. It was hard sitting in the smaller but still hard and uncomfortable throne that sat beside his father's, doing his best to stay still as he listened to the others' problems for hours and hours. His father would never ask for his input, never even acknowledge him during this time, but he said as a prince training to be a future king he had to attend these—it was good practice. So he suffered through it, as quietly as he could lest he receive a quick glare from his father and a harsh scolding later.

These meetings had used to be fun, when he was younger and his brother Taejoon was allowed to sit with him. He had been allowed to play around back then, barely even paying attention to the actual meeting. But, as they both got older, he got more responsibilities and his brother had to begin lessons.

Time passed slowly and Taehyung barely paid attention, drifting in and out of daydreams as he did his best to look like he was listening. Sometimes he would catch pieces of what they said, listening as peasants described their hardships. He didn't think some of it was fair, especially when it could so easily solved, but he had learnt a while ago that that was something best kept to himself. With a war going on, an attempt to become the strongest of the kingdoms, his father had more important things to focus on—resources had to be put towards that, meaning sometimes the smaller people had to suffer some losses for the greater win.

When the meeting finished, the other people returned to their warm, comfortable homes while Taehyung was forced to remain where he sat. His legs had fallen asleep, but stretching them was impossible without being scolded for fidgeting. His father claimed that he understood his pain, but the younger male had never seen him show any sign of discomfort. Maybe that was something that was taught with age.

Once everyone had left, a familiar crow entered the room. The uncle of the raven king, he frequently made visits to the hawk kingdom to give the king updates. It had been some time since they had seen him last, only receiving letters that Taehyung wasn't allowed to read. He was, however, allowed to listen. Listening, he had learnt, was just as important as ruling. It was important to listen, his father had told him; plenty of secrets lied behind words, if you were careful enough to pick them up.

"The boy still lives?" The king asked, a detached type of curiosity in his voice.

"The poison had no affect on him. He's drunk it, as though it's untainted juice, and shows no symptoms. We are testing some alternative methods currently, and if those don't work we will send in an assassin." Taehyung's father nodded slowly, listening carefully. The young prince never understood these discussions—the boy king had never done anything wrong, except for being put on the throne too early. Everyone knew the Raven Kingdom was struggling under his rule, despite all his uncle's attempts to help it. But that didn't mean he deserved to die when he was only sixteen. It just wasn't fair.

"What was that, Taehyung?" The younger hawk's eyes widened as he realised he'd accidentally spoken aloud, albeit under his breath. He shuffled uncomfortable under his father's gaze, who already knew what he said but was going to draw it from him all the same. It wasn't the first time Taehyung had vocally disapproved of this topic—in fact, it had almost become expected at this point. It was clear to the adults that Taehyung didn't like the idea of killing the young king, a boy he had only met in passing once when they were much younger. "A king should never mutter in company. It's impolite."

"I said, it's not fair." Taehyung repeated, trying his best to sound confident despite the fact he was definitely not feeling it. "King Jungkook is younger than me."

"Younger, yes, but no less a threat. He shouldn't be on the throne, not at his age—the kingdom is falling, and it will bring down ours with it."

"That doesn't mean we should kill him for something he hasn't even done yet. We should help him—maybe he just needs better help." The slight jab caused the speckled bearded man to scowl, a harsh glare shot at the young prince. Taehyung didn't respond, instead choosing to run his fingers across the arm of his chair.

"Taehyung, this is just how things work. The ravens currently hold the most amount of power, despite their small family. If they are taken out, we will hold the power. All three kingdoms will flourish with the hawks at the top." With his son still frowning with discontent, the king reached over and pat his hand lightly. "You'll understand when you're older and have your own battles to fight."

"No... I don't think I will."

* * *

Taehyung didn't enjoy his lessons. His younger brother Taejoon, the strange creature that he was, seemed quite content to sit in a small room for hours on end as their personal teacher droned on about history or etiquette, even elocution. But not Taehyung. He'd much rather be outside, exploring the city or, at the very least, training with the knights. Had he not been been born the next in line to be king, he might have liked to be a knight; a life of protecting the city, fighting those who threatened it, sounded far more exciting than sitting on a throne all day, pretending to listen to people's problems.

Some days, though not often because the punishment was usually so severe it scared the desire out of him for a few weeks, he'd skip his lessons. Instead, he'd sneak out of the castle and find something to do in the bustling city below. While he was clearly recognisable as the hawk prince, people had seen him enough times to not fear or care about that as much. The kids his age would let him play with them, running around the city when they didn't have work to do.

He had tried to convince some to let him help work, but they wouldn't let him do that. The young prince could play with their children, but never work. The potential punishment for that was far too great to risk it. 

His exploration of the city and its surroundings often take up the whole day, becoming a game of how long can he evade the guards searching for him. That was almost as fun as the exploration, hiding from the men looking desperately—he gave himself double points if he was able to hide in plain or very narrowly escape them.

The king, however, thought it was improper for the prince to be so misbehaved and, when he was brought back to the castle, punishment almost always lied waiting for him. He knew this, expected it, but always thought those hours of freedom were worth it.

He just hadn't expected it to be so severe this time.

The raven's uncle returned a week later with news of another failed assassination. The boy king was still alive, once again avoiding any attempts on his life. This news displeased all but Taehyung, but baffled all three. How could such a young boy beat strong poisons and highly trained assassins?

"I believe we have an rat." The man said after the hawk king had asked exactly that. "A few of my leads point to someone sending information to the ravens. But, if you wouldn't mind, Your Majesty, I would prefer to tell you alone." Everyone looked to Taehyung who was only half-listening to the conversation. Once confirming the king had survived, he lost interest in the topic of killing him. The grains in his chair were far more interesting.

"The prince stays."

"If you insist." The older hawk nodded. "Well, I believe it is the prince himself who is the rat." Now, Taehyung was paying attention.

"I hope you have strong evidence to back up such a claim." The king responded cooly, a dangerous tone entering his tone and gaze. It was clear that the other man had to be very careful, lest his next moves be his last. But he didn't appear perturbed by this, calmly nodding.

"The prince has always been against ours plans, so clearly he has motivation. But I also have an eye witness outside, who saw Prince Taehyung sneaking out of the castle not long after our last meeting."

"I'm always sneaking out, but I'm not telling anyone anything!" The young brunette protested angrily, glaring at the man before his father. Surely he wasn't believing this. It was hard to tell behind his careful gaze.

"If I may?" The king nodded, allowing the eye witness to be brought in. Except, rather than just a single person, a small group were brought forward. Taehyung recognised all of them—all people he had played with during his time out of the castle. They had betrayed him... for what? Why?

"I thought you said an eyewitness. Do you not know how to count?" The king joked coldly, smirking softly as he watched the raven's uncle. It was clear he still distrusted him after the accusations, so maybe there was hope for the younger.

"Only one saw the prince leaving. The others can simply attest to his character, when he was out of the castle." The uncle gestured to the first of the alleged eyewitnesses, and he took a step forward.

"Th-The prince would sometimes join us while we played, but he would ask us things like our opinion on the raven king an' Y-Your Majesty. He would always give his too—he always said h-he knew things that weren't good, that he didn't think the hawks should win."

The next witness stepped forward, "And he'd always say how he thought the ravens should instead. That he was gonna find a way to help them."

The third, "Then we stopped seein' him. We knew he was out 'cause the guards would be lookin' for him but we never saw him. He stopped hanging out with us, thought we'd done something wrong or maybe he'd gotten bored."

And then finally, the eye-witness. Taehyung's breath got caught in his throat, glancing nervously at his father as he watches his fate be sealed. His father's expression was blank and, though he didn't realise it then, he was trying to keep himself composed—with each part of the story, he was growing more and more convinced. And the final one pushed him over, "One of the days, me Ma sent me out to get some bread. So I was wandering, takin' the long way 'cause I knew when I went back I'd have to do more work. I saw Prince Taehyung sneakin' about, like he does, and I called out to him. He just told me to be quiet and kept goin'. Was gonna ignore him but the way he was creepin', I had to follow. So I did.

"Caught him sneakin' over the gate, out of the castle. I thought, if we get caught, we're both gonna be in big trouble. So then I thought, then don't get caught, and climbed up too. I stopped at the top, 'cause I realised someone else was down there and I didn't wanna intrude. The other fella, he asked if anyone had followed and Prince Taehyung said no. Immediately, my big nose just had to know what was happenin' so I stuck around, hiding up the top.

"I snuck a glance over when I thought things were gettin' quiet. The other man had dark wings, real big ones too, like a crow or somethin'. Prince Taehyung, he was giving the crow a big letter and told him to make sure it got to the king. The other guy said King Jungkook'd get the letter and I knew somethin' was going down."

"But you didn't tell anyone?" The hawk king asked as he continued to frown.

The peasant shook his head, "No, Your Majesty, I did." He pointed at the older man, the hawks' informant, who nodded gravely. "He said we'd have to tell you immediately."

"You don't really believe this, do you?" Taehyung scoffed as he looked to his father, desperately hoping he didn't. His father didn't respond, continuing to watch the line of peasants below. Never had he listened so intently to a group of peasants. "You don't believe I sent information to the ravens, do you? Father?"

"There is a lot of evidence against you."

"You're going to believe them over me."

"A king is never above his people, Taehyung. Your word holds just as much weight as theirs—but there is only one of you and four of them." Taehyung gaped incredulously at his father, fearing for his life at the same time. The king sighed softly and nodded his head, "Have the guards take him away until I am sure it was him and know what to do with him."

Taehyung was taken away, to one of the nicer prisons he could have stayed at. But he certainly didn't go calmly—he was dragged, kicking and screaming at the injustice, and he thinks he might have landed a kick at Jungkook's uncle while he did.

Days passed and Taehyung heard nothing from the outside. He was fed through a small grate in the door but no guards would talk to him. No one visited him either. He was left to himself, wondering if every meal might be his last. He wasn't sure what the punishment for being accused of double crossing was, but he didn't think it was good.

He found out on the fifth day, as he was dragged from his cell. He didn't fight this time, far too tired and resigned. He knew he'd been found guilty already—he just knew it.

"You have been found guilty of betraying your people." The council member, a representative dragged in for this official business, informed the young prince. A small court watched on, including his father at the front. He couldn't meet the young hawk's eye, staring instead at his hands. It was the first—and only—time Taehyung had seen him look so weak. "Because of this, you will be stripped of your title as prince and heir to the throne, as well as of your right to call yourself a hawk." There was a pause. "I'm sorry, Kim Taehyung, but you will lose your wings."

Another pause, heavy with disbelief. Taehyung had expected death, but now he would prefer it. He looked to his father, desperately begging for a different punishment—anything but this, anything but losing his wings. He couldn't lose his wings. He couldn't.

But both his father and the council representative shook their heads. The decision was final and no bias could be shown purely because he was the king's son. A king shouldn't show bias—it stirs disloyalty in his people.

The only good news that came from this—and Taehyung clung to this as he was taken from the court room once again—was that his younger brother would be the next king. Taejoon would make a better king than he ever would, even now at his young age. Taejoon would be a good king.

Taehyung's memory grows blurry around the time that he lost his wings. The pain was so great, everything passed by in a blur. The searing pain consumed him as both wings were cut from his body and he was cut from his hawk heritage. He couldn't even scream, could barely even function.

At one point, he lost consciousness. When he woke, he was lying in a bed, bandages wrapped heavily around his torso and an emptiness filling him. 

NOTE: wow! I missed this story, this is fun

I think the uncle probably convinced the king a bit too easy but he's been his most trusted advisor for a while now, so the king is inclined to trust him. Plus he's continued to be convinced while Taehyung is in prison. I dunno