Chapter Text
"The choice is yours, Seokjin-ah."
Seokjin fought the urge to laugh. He was barely holding onto the last dredges of his sanity and his father saying words like choice threatened to tumble him right into delirium.
"That's not what we just heard," He replied, not turning towards the King. He continued to stare out of the window, overlooking the vast grounds behind the palace Seokjin had always called home.
"Never mind what we just heard," His father spat, his fatherly tone transitioning smoothly into that of a monarch. "He is no one to tell you what you can or can not do. He is a guest here, you are the prince. And it is your life."
Ilsan's sovereign had certainly not spoken like he was a mere guest. He had spoken like his word was final, which it most likely was.
"There are of course no words that can justify the injustice that has been done here," Ilsan's monarch had started, that very afternoon, in Seokjin's father's private chambers. "We are utterly and irrefutably ashamed in front of you and the Gwacheon throne."
Seokjin was barely listening, a headache pounding behind his eyes, threatening to split his head right down the center. He would have excused himself if the matter being discussed had not been his literal life.
"You must believe we had no knowledge of Seojoon's plans," The Queen pleaded, standing beside her alpha. She looked worse for wear, like she'd suffered through a terrible night. They all had. It was most apparent on her though. Her husband seemed exactly as put together as he always was.
"We do believe that," Seokjin's mother answered. "Of course you weren't aware of the prince's plans. Why else would you have travelled all this way with your staff?"
"We can all stop calling Seojoon the prince from here on," Kim Minjoon announced, the conviction in his voice bone chilling. "No man that turns his back on his family, his nation and his betrothed deserves that title." Betrothed. Kim Seojoon's betrothed. No one in the room looked at Seokjin, courtesy of him sitting away from their little huddle, behind his father's desk. But he felt their gaze on him all the same. Shame crept up his neck and threatened to nauseate him.
It was him. The Crown Prince of Ilsan had turned his back on him.
"What's done is done. We can grovel at Your Majesties' feet all we want, but that wouldn't change the fact that the ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow."
Seokjin looked up from the desk. From the letter he had been staring at, unseeing. Ceremony? Was the ceremony still relevant?
"There will be no ceremony," Seokjin's father voiced his concerns, sounding every bit as confused as Seokjin. "How can a mating ceremony proceed without the alpha?"
"We have more than one alpha offspring," Kim Minjoon replied calmly. Seokjin felt the room start to spin around him as the words made their mark on his mind. "Our youngest, Kim Namjoon, is on his way to Gwacheon. He has spent the better part of the past five years stationed towards the North of Ilsan, but he is making the trip down south for tomorrow's ceremony. He is an alpha."
"I know we spoke highly of Seojoon too, and he proved himself to be none of that," The Queen began, a defeated set to her shoulders, as if the shame of raising a defaulter was weighing heavy on her. Seokjin's heart felt for her. When it got a moment's respite from feeling for himself. "But all we can offer are words again. Namjoon is a good child. He's closer in age to Seokjin than Seojoon and would treat him with utmost care and love."
No one in the room was impressed. Kim Seojoon was supposed to have been a good man as well. And he had fled Gwacheon the day before his mating ceremony.
"Our son doesn't know this son of yours. We don't know this son of yours," His father began, anger clear in his voice. "We had met Seojoon, Seokjin had had time to judge him, get comfortable with him-"
"And yet you misjudged him," Kim Minjoon interrupted. "We all misjudged him. And we raised him. It goes on to prove that we can never really know what a man is made of. There will always have to be a leap of faith."
Silence fell over the room. Seokjin could feel the nerves and rage clouding his parents' scents. There was anguish as well, swirling about in the room courtesy of the Queen of Ilsan. The only person in full control of his scent apart from Seokjin, was Kim Minjoon.
"Your people do not know what Seojoon looks like," Minjoon spoke again. "As far as they are concerned, Seokjin was going to marry the Crown Prince of Ilsan yesterday and he will be doing exactly that tomorrow. No disgrace has to come to your son. The agreement between our kingdoms doesn't have to be affected."
"If we refuse?" Seokjin's mother asked. "If Seokjin decides that he can live with the disgrace if it means choosing his own mate?"
"Then the agreement would have to be amended. We will still extend Gwacheon all the support we can, but there is no way we can help you rule. We will have no connection with the royal family."
And therein lay the issue. Seokjin was the only child the King and Queen of Gwacheon had managed to bear. And he was an omega. Which wouldn't have been too much of a problem. With them having complete sovereignty over the kingdom, his parents could easily amend the laws of the land and decree that Seokjin could rule.
But they had a hostile neighbor to the west, the kingdom of Daegu. Which was four times the size of Gwacheon and had been hungry for their direct trade routes into Ilsan for decades. They would never have let Seokjin ascend the throne. There would be an invasion on their borders the moment Seokjin's parents stepped down. That much was not in doubt.
If Seokjin married into the Ilsan royal family, they could absorb the small kingdom as a sub-territory and Seokjin could oversee its rule. Make sure his people were well taken care of. Between Daegu and Ilsan, the royals towards the East had a far more peaceful nature when it came to ruling their people.
Seokjin looked out of his window, and it dawned on him, clear as day. The choice that his father spoke of, was between war and peace. Between trying to fend off the invaders from Daegu for years and going willingly with the Ilsan royals and ensuring no blood was spilled.
"You are right abeoji, it is my life," Seokjin said, turning away from the window and facing his parents. "I have made my choice. The ceremony should proceed tomorrow as scheduled."
*******************
"There is next to no information about him," Min Yoongi announced to the room at large, pacing about and refusing to reign in his erratic pheromones. "He has been up north trying to keep the peace with Gwangju for the past many years. He was barely twenty three years old when he left. There is no way of knowing what kind of man he grew up to become out there," He finished somberly, looking right at Seokjin through the mirror.
Seokjin understood his closest friend's apprehension, but it was simply too late for these discussions. Seokjin was sitting in front of his vanity, allowing his handmaiden to doll up his face. He was already in his ceremonial robes. The ceremony could not be stopped.
"It is too late to panic now, Counsellor," Seokjin sighed, stating the obvious. The handmaiden picked up a case of rouge off the table and frowned at it. Then looked at Seokjin questioningly. He shrugged. There was never any need for Seokjin to wear any rouge, his skin glowed pink all on its own. But for today, he supposed exceptions could be made. She began to dab his cheeks with the red powder.
"This is unfair. They are taking advantage of us needing them more than they need us," Yoongi grumbled, wringing his hands together. The strategist in him no doubt trying to find a way to undo this agreement. Seokjin couldn't help but smile, even as his heart ached.
"They don't need us at all, Yoongi-ah. This was always about them doing us a kindness." Ilsan was the second biggest kingdom on their peninsula, and had a thriving agricultural economy. There had been no rebellions within their borders in almost a century. If one discounted the trouble along their northern border with Gwangju, the conditions in Ilsan were perfect. They had needed nothing from Gwacheon, except for a beautiful mate for their Crown Prince. "Besides," Seokjin continued as the handmaiden deemed her task complete and retreated with a bow. "It's not as if that poor man has had much of a choice in the matter either. He was simply informed of his fate as soon as he rode into the country. At least I had a choice."
Seokjin got up off his stool and walked over to the side table. His crown was sitting on it, upon a velvet cushion. His coming of age crown, the one he only ever wore on official occasions. This, he supposed, was the most official an occasion could possibly get.
"I don't think he has been much disadvantaged in this agreement," Yoongi seethed, approaching when Seokjin beckoned him. They went back to the vanity and Seokjin retook his seat. "He gets to mate with a prince."
He took the crown from Seokjin, and with great care, placed it upon his artfully coiffed hair. "I get to mate with a prince too," Seokjin replied, trying to reassure himself more than Yoongi. The weight of the crown on his head seemed to wash the clarity of the situation over him. He was due to be mated in a matter of a few hours.
"Don't be so sure of that, Your Highness," Yoongi replied, retreating a few steps. Seokjin looked at himself in the mirror. He looked beautiful. His robes were resplendent, his face perfect, his jewels glowing delicately against his blemish-free skin. He looked exactly as good as he had ever hoped to look on the day of his mating. He turned his gaze to Yoongi, urging him to finish. The counsellor to the court and Seokjin's oldest friend, looked back at him, expression grim.
"There is no guarantee that you are about to mate with a prince. It is possible that you are about to mate with a ruthless military leader."
*******************
It was a glorious early summer day. That was not by chance, it was by design. Seokjin had been adamant on wanting to start his new life in his favorite season. The marquee erected on the palace grounds was the exact shade of lilac he had requested. It complimented his pale pink robes nicely. It was customary for omegas to wear red on their mating day, to signify fertility and prosperity of the union. But Seokjin was also adamant on starting his new life wearing his favorite color.
Seojoon had let Seokjin pick as he pleased, when it came to the mating ceremony. Seokjin had picked the flowers, the marquee, the guestlist, the food. He had also picked Seojoon's robes for him. Pale blue, because if Seokjin wasn't going to wear red, there was no reason for his alpha to get stuck wearing green.
His alpha. The one clad in the blue robes Seokjin had picked out for him. Who's name was not Seojoon.
Seokjin stood on the edge of the carpeted pathway, flanked on either side by his parents. His poor parents who had spent the better part of the night trying to talk him out of marrying a stranger. Unfortunately for them, they had placed way too much emphasis on this being Seokjin's decision and Seokjin's decision alone. The fact that they did not like the decision he had made, well, that was a product of their own devices.
They seemed resigned to their fate now. The King's scent was under control, almost no emotion being betrayed by it. Seokjin's mother had taken his arm and she was giving it periodic squeezes.
The carpeted pathway was so designed that both grooms were to approach from the two ends of the marquee and meet at the middle. When the Gwacheon royal orchestra began playing the arrangement Seokjin had requested for this very moment, Seokjin began to walk towards the meeting point. From the other end, he could see the other three figures begin to do the same.
Seokjin had floated through this morning as if in a daze. He had been woken up, he had been made to eat, he had been given words of advice from his mother's court of omegas and then he had been readied for the ceremony. There would certainly be more things on the other end of this ceremony and feast that others could do for him, with him merely being present and pliant.
But this part, he had to do alone.
The beating of his heart seemed to come back to him when the parties met in the middle of the pathway. All six people bowed, as was customary, and then both sets of parents retreated.
The first thing Seokjin noted was that he had to look up at the alpha's face. Seojoon had been of the same height as him, but this alpha was a shade taller. His skin was brown, a tan covering him whole, no doubt the product of his years spent in the military. Another product of the same seemed to be his physique. The robes Seokjin had made for Seojoon's lean frame were barely containing this alpha's arms, barely closing on his solid torso.
He wasn't built like a prince. He was built like a soldier.
It is possible that you are about to mate with a ruthless military leader.
With Yoongi's words ringing in his ears, Seokjin realized that the alpha had frozen at the sight of him. He was blinking at Seokjin, his body so still it was as if he wasn't breathing. When he did move, all that moved were his eyes. They travelled all over Seokjin's face, from his eyes to his cheeks, up to his crown and then down to his mouth before hastily pulling back up to look into Seokjin's eyes.
Someone cleared their throat behind the alpha. They had been standing in the center of the marquee staring at each other for too long. It would be understandable to this crowd if it knew it was their first time seeing each other but as it so happened, this crowd thought they had met multiple times already.
They were acting most suspicious.
The alpha heeded the coughing and straightened towards the new path that stretched between the crowds of guests and went up to the dais. Then he offered Seokjin his hand. Seokjin gulped, then took in a deep breath. Reigned his scent under control for good measure. Then he took the alpha's, his alpha's, hand in his. It was big, engulfing Seokjin's completely, as they began to walk towards the dais. It was big, and it was calloused, even though Seokjin could feel the remnants of some kind of moisturizer on his skin. As if he had been aware of the state of his skin and endeavored to make it better.
They were at the dais an eternity too soon, facing the High Priest of Gwacheon. It was time to take the vows. It was time to fulfil their duties.
It was time to ensure peace.
*******************
At least the chiffon was soft.
Seokjin sat on the left side of his bed, clad in nothing but chiffon. Pale pink, like his ceremonial robes had been. Except the ceremonial robes had been opaque silk. The chiffon left little to the imagination. Seokjin had pulled his knees up to his chest, strategically wrapped himself in the flowy fabric so as not to be on display.
Even if that was the very purpose of chiffon night robes.
As he had known, they had escorted him from the feast and set about readying him again. They had bathed him in a bath overrun with scents and oils. His skin had never been smoother, softer. The alpha's calloused hands would enjoy running over it. He would enjoy the sweet scent from Seokjin's bath. He would also, Seokjin was sure, enjoy the sight of Seokjin disrobed.
Seokjin just wasn't sure he would be able to enjoy any of it.
Would it have been different with Seojoon?
It would have been. Seokjin had been betrothed to him long enough to allow himself a few fantasies. To allow himself to get charmed by the alpha courting him. He had picked these night robes himself, he had wanted to enchant his new mate. He had wanted to be wrapped up in his alpha, receive his mating bite amidst throes of pleasure.
It would have been different with Seojoon.
Everything would have been different.
There was a knock on the door. Followed by a voice asking, "Your Highness?"
Seokjin sat up straighter, urgently looking himself over to ensure he was decent. He recognized the voice from the few sentences he had heard over the feast. It was his alpha.
"Come in," He called once he was sure he was properly clad. Why he was going to these lengths when he was going to be disrobed anyway, was unclear to him. But he still held his clothes tightly around himself as the door to his chamber slid open and the man stepped inside.
Seokjin wasn't the only one who had bathed and changed. The alpha, who closed and after a moment's hesitation bolted the door behind him, gave off a fresh, clean scent. They had not over run his bath with scents then. It seemed a little unfair to Seokjin. What if he didn't appreciate the alpha's bare scent?
He didn't have long to bristle however, because the alpha began to make his way over to him. He had shed his ceremonial robes and the nightclothes he had adorned were simple black cotton but at least they were his size. With his body not waiting to burst out of his robes, he seemed...normal, as he sat down facing Seokjin on the bed.
"Is this alright, that I sit here?" He asked, even though there was nowhere else he could have sat to speak to Seokjin. Seokjin nodded. The man was still broad. His physicality was still imposing, Seokjin was certain that if he were to lean in, he would cover Seokjin whole. But he had left quite a bit of distance between them, as much as the bed allowed. And his aura, as opposed to out in the marquee and the banquet hall, wasn't intimidating within these chambers.
"I am Kim Namjoon. It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness," He continued speaking. His voice was deep and he was speaking softly. Another contrast to the way he had spoken in the banquet. He had said a lot, but whenever he had, his voice had carried across the vast table they had been sitting at, commanding attention.
A voice that was used to give orders.
The voice that was speaking to Seokjin now however, wasn't similar.
Seokjin nodded his acknowledgement of the alpha, Kim Namjoon's, words. It was the wrong order of things. To make introductions after taking vows for life. But needs must, he supposed.
"They told me I should apologize, before sending me in," Namjoon said, leaning back a little easier against the bed's poster. "It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, seeing as how I had nothing to do with my brother's actions."
Seokjin's gaze had inadvertently gotten captured by Namjoon's hands. One was picking at a scab on the other palm. "I have had enough of apologies," He said quietly.
"Especially since they are all meaningless unless they come from the man himself."
Seokjin looked up and looked right into Namjoon's eyes. The glow of the lamps was making them look a lighter brown, the shape of them sharp and narrow, beautifully curving at the edges. Curiosity and intelligence danced in them.
"I can not promise you that I would be the mate of your dreams, Your Highness," Namjoon said, looking at Seokjin steadily. "I haven't been anything even remotely resembling a mate to anyone in a long time. But I have been told I make a decent travel companion." Namjoon's features bloomed into a small smile and Seokjin had to admit that it was a beautiful one. That this was a beautiful man. "You are about to travel outside your borders and into ours in a few days. Allow me to be your travel companion. That at least I can promise to excel at."
This was more honesty than Seokjin had been afforded in many days. No grand promises, no teary self deprecations. Just the bare facts. Seokjin found himself appreciating it more than he had thought possible. He nodded at the alpha. If the lack of verbal responses was bothering him, he didn't let it show. Just gave Seokjin another small smile, and made to get off his bed.
"Where are you going?" Seokjin asked, sitting up a little straighter. He had subconsciously wrapped himself all around his legs, curled in small. He straightened his shoulders. There was no need for him to cower in his own castle, in his own chambers, in his own bed.
Namjoon stopped where he was, hovering a few inches above the surface of Seokjin's bed linens. He sat back down. "To allow you to get some rest. It has been a rather long day, hasn't it?" He asked. Seokjin blinked at him.
"It has been a long day but it is not yet over," Seokjin began. He knew this alpha had spent many years away from his palace, but had he spent years away from all of society? "There still remains the mating and the consummation. The vows mean nothing without that."
Namjoon's confused expression melted back into the cautiously interested one he had been wearing ever since he stepped foot in Seokjin's chambers. "We can do that in the morning, when I come to escort you to breakfast," He said, voice gentle. "I wasn't intending to let you walk into breakfast alone."
That made more sense than Namjoon not knowing what the customs were with regards to mating. On the one hand Seokjin could appreciate what he was trying to do. Give him space, give himself space too. He must be tired. Gwangju was a world away from Gwacheon and Namjoon had not only made the journey and not gotten to rest after, he had been saddled with a mate he didn't know.
Seokjin could empathize with his situation. But he also did not want to prolong this anymore than necessary. He had made his choice and he did not appreciate people giving him ways out of it, giving him the option to delay things, when he didn't need to.
"I don't want to wait till the morning. We should do it now," He said, putting on his princely voice, even if Namjoon hadn't used his with Seokjin yet. Namjoon studied him for a moment, assessing.
Then he nodded. Seokjin knew he had to unfurl his limbs, he knew he had to give Namjoon access. His heart was beating in his throat. Namjoon would get to see everything. This fabric would not hide anything from his alpha, because there was no need to hide. Namjoon was going to have access to him for the rest of their lives, and it began tonight. Seokjin took in a deep breath, acutely aware and rather thankful that Namjoon wasn't rushing him.
He pulled his legs down away from his chest and angled his neck to the side in one quick maneuver. Then he waited. Namjoon slid forward on the bed, all the way until his thigh touched Seokjin's knee. His face approached Seokjin's neck and Seokjin clenched his eyes closed, waiting for the impact, for the pain.
None came. Instead he felt his senses get flooded with the scent of earth. Freshly turned earth. Like someone had transported Seokjin to the outdoors. Opening his eyes and turning his head, Seokjin saw Namjoon's broad, cotton clad back. His hands were braced on either side of Seokjin's waist. He was scenting him.
It was a lovely scent. Distinctly alpha, but not obtrusively so. It was fitting for an alpha who claimed to be a traveler to have an earthy scent. It suited him. Seokjin forgave those who had not overrun Namjoon's bath with scented oils.
Namjoon continued to scent him, and when he did touch Seokjin all he did was take Seokjin's hand and guide it to his shoulder. Then put a hand to the small of back and urged him closer.
Seokjin went, putting the tip of his nose against Namjoon's shoulder, feeling the muscle there. He clenched his hand in the back of his nightshirt. His eyes slipped closed all on their own, heart beating easier, everything feeling calmer than it had all day.
So much so that he didn't register Namjoon biting him until he had already done it. Only when he pulled his teeth out did Seokjin's eyes snap open. The room spun around him when he leaned back, too quickly for how deep into the scenting he was. When his vision cleared, he found Namjoon's face a finger's breadth away from his, looking at him with a crease in his brow.
"It didn't hurt," He blurted out. His gaze fell to Namjoon's mouth, wet and pink, hung slightly open. He could feel Namjoon's warmth all around him, still holding onto his shirt.
"Not even slightly?" Namjoon asked. Seokjin hastily looked up at his eyes, shaking his head. It was now that he registered that Namjoon had pressed a handkerchief to his neck, which he pulled back to check the mark. "It looks like it took though. We can check in the morning."
Seokjin nodded, leaning away. That was that then. He'd done it. He'd given himself to an alpha. He was mated for life. When he tried to fully disentangle himself, Namjoon stopped him with the hand on his back.
His smile was now mischievous, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Care to return the favor, Your Highness?" He asked. Seokjin felt blood rush up to his face.
"Yes. Yes of course," He spluttered. He was losing control of himself, getting wrapped up in the alpha's scent and his warmth. Making a fool of himself. He scooted back forward and Namjoon made space for him, dutifully angling his head and presenting his neck. Seokjin wished he had the ability to take his time, like Namjoon had done. But he wanted this to be over with. So he scented his way to Namjoon's scent gland, and once he located it, he sunk his canines in, not giving any conscious thought the chance to intervene.
He withdrew when he tasted blood on his tongue. This time, Namjoon let him go, pulling his hand to hold the handkerchief against his neck and then he wasn't touching Seokjin anymore.
"I apologize, I don't have anything for you," Seokjin said, looking around to see if his handmaiden had left him a napkin or a handkerchief.
"That is alright, I will find something," Namjoon replied easily. "Now can I bid you goodnight?" He asked. Seokjin looked away from his nightstand and at the alpha.
There was a flush to his skin now, peeking through his hard earned tan. His breath was a little short, but he was still looking at Seokjin steadily. Seokjin doubted he had just mated himself to a ruthless military leader. He knew realistically that he didn't know much about this man. But ruthlessness did not become him.
"Shouldn't we-" Seokjin began but Namjoon shook his head before he could finish.
"No. We shouldn't rush intimacy, Your Highness."
"But we have to-"
"We don't have to do anything anymore," Namjoon said with a tone of finality. "We have fulfilled our duties for tonight. We get to rest now."
"Everyone will ask what went wrong," Seokjin said, hating how small his voice came out. This alpha's scent had rendered him into a simple minded omega, it was disgraceful. He was the prince of this kingdom! He was the only prince of this kingdom, not some demure, helpless omega.
"You can tell them I was too tired for it. That I couldn't do it," Namjoon said easily. Seokjin gaped at him. What kind of alpha was agreeable to his honor being willingly dragged through the mud?
Seokjin's disbelief must have painted his features because Namjoon sighed and said, "I know I am not the man you expected to have in your bed tonight. I will not put you through the ordeal of having to force yourself to want me."
With that Kim Namjoon got off the bed. With a slight bow in Seokjin's direction, he turned around and walked straight to the door, unbolting it and exiting.
Seokjin realized that he had given up on covering himself the moment he allowed Namjoon to approach his neck. But the alpha had not lowered his gaze beyond, even once.