Chapter Text
My days are resumed to : Wake up, eat a small breakfast that I probably hunted for the day before ; if I'm lucky I would take a bath, then cover some ground, trying to hide for the Castle's guards, my last meal a little before sundown so I could hunt, and lastly, I would find a place to sleep, normally in the forest and spend the night.
The hardest part though, was to get where I wanted to go without crossing any guards. I would certainly already be there if every path I tried to take wasn't haunted by at least two guards' presence. Which made me think that they somehow knew where I had planned to go. So I had no choice but to linger in town, well undercover as I tried to listen to people. A few days ago, I heard something about a guy who could grant any wish. Not with any magic trick, though, but with realistic manners. Apparently, he had wonderful connections that allowed him to make a lot of things possible. He didn't seem real at all, but I would still try. And so, I searched for him for days, trying to find clues in people's words and looking around, thinnking I could recognize him in a crowd full of men and women alike, when I didn't even know what he looked like.
It was a few hours after the sun had set, when normally, I would have been laying down on the ground, trying to fall asleep, that his shadows brightened against the earth. I had recently found out that he would probably appear at night, even though he existed in the daylight in everybody's minds.
When I felt his power, his presence, I understood why he held such importante in this town. You didn't need a description to know when he stood beside you. But, in my case, he was walking a few feet ahead as I followed him as discreetly as I could. When he finally headed into a dark alley, I place my hand on my sword's hilt, preparing to unsheath it if I ever needed to. We were the only ones there, the sound of our boots the only noise present between us. He suddenly slowed down and approached a door engraved in the wall on our right. Let's just say, if you weren't searching for it or had no knowledge of it ever existing, you wouldn't find it.
Before he could go in, I pushed myself in his direction, unsheathing my sword as I pulled on his cloack, and slammed him against the wall, dangerously placing the blade against his neck. I couldn't hide my surprise when I realized how young he looked. He looked infinitely beautiful. He seemed to only be a few years older than me. But what unsettled me the most was his expression. He had a grin plastering his face. He wasn't alarmed by the blade I kept close to his skin. He kept his calm.
"Lady Lone", he said my name. "I was waiting for you to make a move."
I thew myself off of him, positionning my body in my fighting stance, my blade prepared to hit. He rubbed the spot where my blade was seconds ago.
"How do you know me?", I asked.
"Everyone knows you, Lady Lone. Everyone knows what happened at Hakkon House. But I personally made my own research. I've been waiting for you for a few days now. I honestly thought you would find me sooner."
I frowned ; what the hell was he talking about? He realized my concern before I could express it.
"I need to know everything about my clients, Lady Lone. I've been following you. I know you've been trying to walk past the guards blocking your way to the bottom of the cliff where your friends died."
"Did you see their bodies?", I asked, hope glinting in my eyes as I lowered my sword, letting down my guard.
"No. I don't know anything about the late Son and Princess. All I know is that they're dead. They were more discreet than you, so they weren't considered as clients."
Deceit replaced my hope. I'll have to find out on my own, which brought me back to reality.
"Can you help me?"
"The question is not whether or not I can help you, it's whether or not you can endure everything". He soon realized what he'd said. "But, looking back at your history, I doubt you would not be able to go through even more pain... or maybe not. Maybe you're not strong enough."
"I am."
"Are you sure?", he asked.
"Yes. What would you require of me?"
"Your death."
I freezed. I was not waiting for this.
"Shall we go inside to discuss more about this? There are ears everywhere since you fled the Castle, Lady Lone, even more than before."
I pushed away my worry and took back the strength I had lost as he revealed to me the price I would have to pay to get to my friends. I sheathed my sword and let him lead the way. He opened the door and went in as I followed, letting the door close with a loud thud. The hallway was dim, barely any light illuminating it.
"There are no risks of people following us?", I asked.
"Don't worry about that. We are all protected."
I didn't say anything else. We walked for a few minutes until we reached another door. He placed his hand on the handle, but didn't open it yet. He turned toward me.
"I trust you, Lady Lone. I know you wish your identity to be kept a secret in this town, and it's the same for us."
"Yet, everyone knows who you are..."
"Yes, but only a few know where we are. Only people who are worthy of our help."
I stayed silent.
"We are a big group of people. And we also have a lot of connections outside of this building. We're gonna use everything we have to help you."
I didn't answer, but his words were now part of me. He opened the door, revealing a lively and colorful room full of people dancing, singing and drinking. This looked more like a bar or a club than anything else.
"Follow me", he ordered and I stayed behind him as we walked.
He stopped at the bar, where a man stood while he was drying a glass with a cloth. When he was done, he threw the piece of cloth over his shoulders, slamming the glass on the counter, in the young guy's face.
"The usual, Na-Ho?", the barman asked, not noticing me standing behind.
"Not necessary. I'm here to see the boss."
That's only then that he looked at me. "She finally found you."
"Took her a while, but yes, she did."
"I'm gonna call for her. She should be in her office."
The barman disappeared, leaving Na-Ho and me alone. I took this chance to ask him a question : "The boss? I thought you were the boss. The way everyone was talking about you."
"No, I'm only her assistant. But I almost have as much power as she has. I do the research, I organize the plans, I always take care of the clients, staying with them every step of the way."
"You call us clients, but you haven't mentionned how I would have to pay you for your help."
"Logically, Lady Lone, you can't pay if you're dead. We can't leave any trace of our clients behind. Otherwise, our help would have been ruined. Your payment is the strength you give us."
"You seemed to have already planned how it would go", I realized.
"Indeed. It took a little more time for you to appear, so I used it to plan everything beforehand."
"How much time will it take, then?"
"Considering every detail, I would say that by tomorrow evening, you should be able to get to your friends' bodies."
I only nodded in thanks as the barman suddenly came back.
"The boss is ready to see you", he announced upon arriving.
"Thank you, man", Na-Ho said, walking away toward another door. The barman went back to his job.
Na-Ho slid the doors open and let me in before closing them behind us. He pressed his hand behind my back, leading me toward another set of doors at the end of a short hallway. Na-Ho opened the doors without knocking, which surprised me. The woman in the room was seated on a small cushion in front of a long low table. She had a pen in one hand, dipping the tip of it in a small bottle of ink, similar to the one I used when I wrote my letters to the Heavens. She had multiple sheets of paper spread on the table. She was young ; as young as Na-Ho. She looked strong still, kind and proud.
"So you are Lady Lone, the last member of the Hakkon House family", she said, examining me, the usual long cloak of Kouka, the hood still covering my head. Hiding behind my cloak was my sword, which I knew she sensed it. "I am Rin, the Leader of our group."
"The pleasure's mine", I said, respectfully bowing before her.
"Oh, please, girl. You have more importance than I ever will ; I should be the one bowing before you."
"Not anymore", I said, straightening my upper body. "You should know ; everyone does."
"Such a tragedy, yes. The only person who should be punished for this crime is the one who made Hakkon House fall."
I frowned, surprised. "How come you believe in this truth while everyone else think I did it?"
"Because we know everything about everyone, girl. Everyone may only represent our clients, but we still know everything about them."
"Your reasons and your proof might be enough to free me from my crimes", I said, throwing my thoughts into a whisper.
"Unfortunately, no. We can do everything but that. Our existence is secret, our help is not offered on a silver platter, so don't expect us to go scream the truth upon every rooftop so you can go back to Hiryuu Castle alongside your King."
"I have no desire to go back to Kuuto. Never."
"You know, he didn't want any harm", Na-Ho cut in.
He certainly meant Soo-Won. "He didn't want any harm? To me or to Hak and Yona?"
"To you. I know nothing of how he felt toward your two other friends."
"It didn't stop him from planning to ask me in marriage."
"He didn't want to ; the General and your King's Adviser pressured him. He knew you didn't feel the same as he did."
"The same as he did?", I asked, confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Na-Ho looked to Rin and back to me over and over again. Rin did the same, as if it were obvious.
"He was in love with you", Na-Ho revealed, making my jaw drop.
"No, no, you got it wrong ; we're childhood friends."
"Believe it or not, he does love you."
I kept shaking my head from side to side, waving away that horrible truth. "Can we just talk about the plan you created, Na-Ho?", I said, talking to my new friend, if I could even call him that.
Na-Ho gave me a small smile, answering my question.
"Take a seat, then. We shall discuss this plan", Rin offered, pointing to the cushions on the other side of the low table, opposite hers. So we sat in front of her.
"This plan has for purpose to erase your name, kill you without killing you", Na-Ho revealed, going straight to the point.
"How do you plan to do that, exactly?", I asked, confused, slightly doubting their abilities.
"We will publicly announce your death. In this very town. Since you are a Wanted Criminal, the news of your death will travel fast, reaching the Castle in a few hours, and the rest of the country in a little more time."
"Please, Na-Ho, do not linger ; speak already", Rin said, visibly impatient.
"Tomorrow, a few hours before sundown, we will begin. Someone will be disguised as you and some of our people will be running after you... well, technically, attracting the attention of the people around. The disguise will be wearing heavy protection hidden beneath her cloak. Eventually, we will start shooting arrows, because we won't be able to get her to stop."
"How is it gonna look, though, if villagers shoot illegally at her?", I asked.
"We have a good amount of uniforms belonging to each of the tribes. We won't use the Castle guards' though, since it would be obvious to them that none of them shot", Rin explained.
"And who's gonna wear the disguise?", I asked. "I say it because you need someone who looks a lot like me physically and also considering my physical abilities."
"You mean your speed", Rin said, perfectly aware of everything concerning the plan. "We have a jewel that can run almost as fast as you can. Though, her face doesn't exactly mirror your features as others might, we have a darling who has the best hand when talking about make-up."
I nodded, impressed by their readiness.
"As she receives multiple arrows in the back, she will fall to the ground as we approach her body. We will be the ones taking care of it, declaring your death. It won't be long before they each leave their posts, returning to the Castle", Na-Ho finished.
"I guess they are that desperate to get rid of me."
"According to them, you would have had what you deserved. The only difference is that your punishment will not be delivered by the crown", Rin said.
"And what about my identity?", I asked. "If I'm dead, I cannot be called Lone, can I?"
"We always leave this choice to our clients", Na-Ho revealed. "It's either you change one or two letters in your name and you still use it... or a part of it at least. The other alternative would be to keep Lone to yourself but change your name wherever you go, having only one or multiple. So, you would have one name in a place and another in a different place. Your backstory, though, you do whatever you want with it."
I nodded, this new reality slowly sinking in. Tomorrow, I would be dead. Tomorrow, I would be free. I wouldn't have to deal with any guards everywhere I would go as Lady Lone. I would be no Lady. I would be Sou-Ri or Van or Alna to anyone who asked, a member of the Water Tribe, born close to the water, in a friendly port city. My mother died giving birth to me and my father forgot me as he drank, hour after hour, day after day. I am an only child, with no family left. I'm just a normal traveler, looking for a peaceful life. But right now, I was still the young criminal, traitor to the crown.
And I needed to rest before the big day.