It's weird, trying to happily chat and sit with one suitor while another stands only a few metres away. As the raven laughs at his companion's joke, he can see Yoongi shuffle from one foot to the other. The crow has barely moved since he took his position, save for the occasional shift in position. It has probably helped him blend in with the background, but Jungkook is unable to forget about him entirely.

Especially when his current date makes such terrible jokes.

To his credit, the dove sitting beside him is doing her best; she's certainly friendly, and trying hard to please the king. But that's part of the problem—she's trying too hard. With Yoongi, it's natural. Jungkook doesn't think Yoongi even cares what the younger male thinks. But this white haired lady, she's been careful.

"So, how many chicks do you want?" The dove asks and Jungkook can feel, no matter how hard he tries to stop it, his smile grow forced. Three months off his birthday, the king hasn't even started thinking about children. He still is a child; how could he possibly raise one?

"Uh... I don't know." Jungkook answers honestly, eyes flitting over to the knight. He catches him mid-yawn, not even trying to hide or stifle it. The sight of this causes a small snigger to escape the younger. Beside him, the dove's eyebrow furrows.

"Is the thought of your heirs that funny?" Quickly shaking his head, the black haired male struggles to reassure her that her choice of topic doesn't amuse him. Maybe too quickly, as her brow furrows further into a frown. "As the only royal crow, you need to think seriously about who will be next in line."

Jungkook sighs slowly, not wanting a lecture. He gives a quick glance to the sun that's still slowly rising, before returning to the woman. With her arms across over her chest, white feathers ruffled, he starts to see her age: realistically, she could be his young mother. He doesn't want to marry a mother... Imagine that, having to suffer through the parental lectures even after you'd grown up and married.

Thankfully, an escape arrives. A steward approaches Yoongi, a hurry in each step. Leaning close, she whispers something to the knight that causes his eyebrows to raise in surprise and he responds quickly. After a curt nod from the messenger, they go their separate ways: the steward returns to wherever she came from, and Yoongi walks over to Jungkook.

"Your majesty, a moment." He says politely, probably because of his company. Eagerly, Jungkook nods and gets to his feet. After saying goodbye to his companion, he follows Yoongi.

"What is it?" The raven asks as the older grabs a hold of his elbow, tugging him forward quickly.

"There's been a development in the war. The sparrows have fallen to the hawks." Yoongi responds gravely, taking quick strides through the courtyard. Jungkook is able to keep up with him with ease. "The hawks have taken the pass."

"They've gotten closer..." The older male nods in agreement. "What are we going to do?"

"Attend a meeting, discuss what has occurred, and hopefully develop a plan." Jungkook watches as a small smile forms on the crow's lips, but it lacks any happiness. "I've never seen your war commanders work, so I hope they're good."

"Don't know. I usually ignore what happens in these meetings." Yoongi frowns. "I mean, it's not like I get listened to, when I do contribute. Just because I'm a child they assume all my ideas are terrible. And then the ones that are good are stolen and I get no credit."

"You don't run this kingdom." The dark haired knight mutters under his breath, almost to himself rather than to Jungkook.

As they grow closer to the meeting room, Yoongi's pace drops until he's walking a fraction behind the king. His manners become more appropriate; he becomes more subdued. In front of the raven's eyes, a whole transformation takes place. It's still Yoongi, it's just a quieter Yoongi. Rather than leading, he seems to be following and observing.

When the king enters the room, the older birds surrounding a table all hush. Everyone glances up at him, before they return to their chattering. They are all arguing over the map stretched out across the table, moving pieces around and then returning them back to their original places. A lower advisor quickly catches the pair up: a lot of talking has occurred, little planning has been made. Despite the development in the war, it seems little has changed. Jungkook takes his seat at the head, gazing down at the map as it's constantly changed.

Quickly growing bored of the arguing, the king opts for watching his protector. Unnoticed, Yoongi moves stealthily around the table. He peers down at it, brow furrowed in concentration. Occasionally, when someone moves a piece, his frown grows deeper. There's something about this image, of Yoongi looking so confident and in his element, that Jungkook finds handsome. A soft sigh leaves the raven's lips; before he can even catch himself, he realises he's swooning over the crow.

"Don't do that." Yoongi suddenly interrupts everyone as he snatches a little red piece from one man's hand—Jungkook instantly identifies him as one of his own, an older eagle that'd been serving the family since before the current king's reign. Silence falls the group, most astonished at this sudden resistance from someone of a lower status. However, the look of absolute confidence that rests on Yoongi's expression stops anyone from objecting. "They'll be expecting you to come through there," Yoongi explains as he moves the piece from the pass that has just been taken. "It's been your primary location for attacks so far, yes? You move through the pass and get them there? They probably think that's your only direction for attack."

The majority nod.

"You should let them continue to think that," Yoongi says as he pushes some of the pieces representing their own army to the mouth of the pass. "Send a small army—a diversion—through there. Then, send two," He pushes another two groups to either side of the pass, "Around here."

"But there's water!" Splutters one representative of the council. For a few seconds, there's just silence as Yoongi stares at him blankly.

"Then send water birds."

Another council member shakes his head as he steps towards the table, "They shoot us down when we fly towards them. It's impossible to take the hawks down as birds."

For a moment, it seems like they've got Yoongi. He stands there, chewing on his bottom lip as he drums his fingers against the table. His eyes remain glued to the table, darting around, calculating.

"Give me a day. Hold your position, but don't do anything." The dark haired male orders the others, staring sternly around the room. From his aura, you wouldn't think he was actually one of the subordinate members of this meeting—one that wasn't even invited, for that matter.

Before the others can even object, Jungkook stands up, "Do as he says. Yoongi seems to know what he's doing, and I trust him."

"But– But he has no qualifications! He's just a guard, and a date." One of the generals complains, getting a few nods of agreement in return.

"Yoongi is a knight—that means he's served in the war and has more first hand experience and qualifications than anyone else in this room." This seems to quietened the group of older men. Jungkook straightens his back, doing his best to emanate the same sort of confident aura Yoongi exuded moments before. He wants—needs—to be listened to for once. "Give him a day, hear what he has to say then and, if it turns out to be a bad idea, you can do whatever you were planning. But only if it's a bad idea."

The king then sends a slight smile to Yoongi and nods his head towards the door. The older catches the hint and leaves the group, quickly meeting Jungkook's side as they exit the room. Once the door is closed behind them, the raven begins laughing and grabs onto Yoongi's arms, leaning against his body.

"That was awesome!" He exclaims, punctuating it with a pause between each word. Yoongi can practically hear the italics in his voice. The younger male laughs again, thoroughly amused by the recent events. "You completely told them what to do. They've never listened to me like that before. How do you do that?"

"Don't know. I just thought, these guys are idiots, and used that to give me the confidence to say all that." Yoongi gives a small smile as he looks at the king still hanging off his arm. "Besides, I wouldn't have been able to do that without you speaking up at the end."

"Oh, that was nothing; they only listened to me because I'm the king." He sighs softly. "You've got the confidence and I've got the title."

Yoongi returns the following day with a decent sized crew of people behind him. The group appears to consist of jesters, magicians and other entertainers. Amongst this group are a two recognisable faces: Hoseok and Taehyung. The knight comes to a stop in front of the throne, with his followers spreading out behind them. All have the same determined expression on their faces.

"What's this supposed to be?" Jungkook's uncle chuckles as he gestures as the group. "Are we going to entertain the enemy to death?"

"No. But we are going to trick them," The dark haired male glances back at his entourage, giving them a nod. Suddenly, the group's size decreases as half the men suddenly disappear. As he turns back to the front, a smirk forms on the crow'd lips, "like we tricked you."

Jungkook perks up in his seat, interested by this sudden change. In fact, most of the audience's attention has been captured by the male.

"All these people behind me are trained in creating tricks of the light. They could make it seem like your army is twice the size if you have them flying interspersed amongst them." Yoongi explains to the council. None seem to object; in fact, all the muttering between the people seems to be positive. "Create a diversion with some of them, send the hawk's attention elsewhere, and attack them while they're not expecting it. You'll need to be quick—don't give them a chance."

There's a moment of silence, as the older men consider this amongst themselves. Then, with a small smile on his lips (that doesn't reach his eyes), Jungkook's uncle speaks his approval, "I knew there was a reason I chose you, Yoongi."

"You chose me because I protected your nephew," The crow says blankly before adding, almost as an afterthought, "sir."

Jungkook really wants to laugh.

"Yes, well," The uncle struggles to save himself against this guard, "You've clearly surpassed what your title suggests." Yoongi gives the smallest of smiles to acknowledge the compliment.

"Can I leave now?" Yoongi asks, apparently finished with his job. He gets a nod of dismissal from the uncle but Jungkook gets up, choosing to leave with him. As he catches up with the older male, he stops beside Hoseok and grabs his arm.

"You'll stay safe, right?" The kookaburra smiles and ruffles the younger's hair.

"Of course! This place would be so boring if I didn't come back." Hoseok pulls the king in for a hug. "Don't let this place get too in control and normal while I'm gone."

"I won't; don't worry about that."

NOTE: this whole chapter disappeared then reappeared so I'm gonna published it before it disappears again