The Red Caravan [5]
Aug. 5th, 2011 01:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poppy_skyRating: NC-17
Warnings: boyxboy, no historical/geographic setting, AU, adult themes.
Summary: It's Spring time in the capital and everybody rejoices when the Red Caravan and its performers arrive, signaling the start of festival season, however, Prince Yunho is also in town, returning after three years battling in the Holy Land. What happens when the Red Caravan's most famous peformer, Kim Jaejoong, and Prince Yunho meet?
A/N: I was extremely bored so I decided to post a chapter :)
Warm sunlight filtered through Yunho’s eyelashes, chasing sleep away and making him groan tiredly. An arm pulled him closer to a soft and comfortable warmth at which he tensed up, his mind registering he was not alone. Looking up he was met with Jaejoong’s sleeping face. Soft breaths escaped the blonde’s parted lips while his long eyelashes kissed the top of his cheeks, the charcoal color of the fine hairs contrasting strongly against his porcelain skin.
Yunho felt heat rise to his cheeks when he noticed the position they were in. His head and upper body were lying completely on top of Jaejoong’s chest, the latter’s arm wrapped tightly around him, his other hand resting on Yunho’s hip. The cold morning air was blocked by a dark bear skin someone threw over both of them, wrapping them in a cocoon of warmth as they slept.
Looking around the prince noticed they were still outside the caravan, however the square was deserted. The activities on the festival did not start until noon so that the peasants could enjoy the different shows after a morning working. Yunho sighed in relief. If someone were to spot the Crown Prince in such a position with another man it would only cause stain on his reputation.
He looked up at Jaejoong for signs the other man was waking soon, however his face looked as calm as before. Yunho took this opportunity to leisurely examine the other man’s features, noting the birthmark under the blonde’s jaw. So he’s not perfect after all, thought Yunho just as his eyes drifted to Jaejoong’s lips. The parted flesh looked soft to the touch and seemed to be stained red as if he had been suckling on strawberries shortly before. Yunho found himself wondering what it would be like to kiss those lips.
“Getting cozy, aren’t we?”
Yunho’s head turned around so fast he thought he was going to suffer from whiplash. Holding the caravan’s flaps open was no other than Yoochun, a teasing smile grazing his lips.
“You!” Yunho whispered harshly.
“Now, now, my dear Prince, let’s leave the past in the past and become friends,” Yoochun spoke softly, mindful of the sleeping beauty under Yunho. “Especially if you’ve taken such a liking to our Joongie.”
Yunho frowned while he tried to disentangle himself from the dead grip Jaejoong had him in. “I don’t like men.”
“If you say so,” Yoochun replied, watching as Yunho finally got out from under Jaejoong’s arm and wrapped the bear skin closer to the blond man’s body when he moved away. “It’s all the same for him, just so you know.”
“What do you mean?” Yunho asked.
“Women, men… It doesn’t matter as long as he loves the person. He’s a romantic, you see,” Yoochun winked at him.
Yunho turned to look at Jaejoong’s sleeping form again, his mind tangled in a mass of confusion.
“Anyways, that’s not what I came out here for. Changmin says to get inside to talk about your dog.”
Taking one last look at the sleeping blonde, Yunho got up and entered the caravan while Yoochun stayed outside, their shoulders brushing with left-over hostility when Yunho passed by him and entered the darkened space.
Yunho felt heat rise to his cheeks when he noticed the position they were in. His head and upper body were lying completely on top of Jaejoong’s chest, the latter’s arm wrapped tightly around him, his other hand resting on Yunho’s hip. The cold morning air was blocked by a dark bear skin someone threw over both of them, wrapping them in a cocoon of warmth as they slept.
Looking around the prince noticed they were still outside the caravan, however the square was deserted. The activities on the festival did not start until noon so that the peasants could enjoy the different shows after a morning working. Yunho sighed in relief. If someone were to spot the Crown Prince in such a position with another man it would only cause stain on his reputation.
He looked up at Jaejoong for signs the other man was waking soon, however his face looked as calm as before. Yunho took this opportunity to leisurely examine the other man’s features, noting the birthmark under the blonde’s jaw. So he’s not perfect after all, thought Yunho just as his eyes drifted to Jaejoong’s lips. The parted flesh looked soft to the touch and seemed to be stained red as if he had been suckling on strawberries shortly before. Yunho found himself wondering what it would be like to kiss those lips.
“Getting cozy, aren’t we?”
Yunho’s head turned around so fast he thought he was going to suffer from whiplash. Holding the caravan’s flaps open was no other than Yoochun, a teasing smile grazing his lips.
“You!” Yunho whispered harshly.
“Now, now, my dear Prince, let’s leave the past in the past and become friends,” Yoochun spoke softly, mindful of the sleeping beauty under Yunho. “Especially if you’ve taken such a liking to our Joongie.”
Yunho frowned while he tried to disentangle himself from the dead grip Jaejoong had him in. “I don’t like men.”
“If you say so,” Yoochun replied, watching as Yunho finally got out from under Jaejoong’s arm and wrapped the bear skin closer to the blond man’s body when he moved away. “It’s all the same for him, just so you know.”
“What do you mean?” Yunho asked.
“Women, men… It doesn’t matter as long as he loves the person. He’s a romantic, you see,” Yoochun winked at him.
Yunho turned to look at Jaejoong’s sleeping form again, his mind tangled in a mass of confusion.
“Anyways, that’s not what I came out here for. Changmin says to get inside to talk about your dog.”
Taking one last look at the sleeping blonde, Yunho got up and entered the caravan while Yoochun stayed outside, their shoulders brushing with left-over hostility when Yunho passed by him and entered the darkened space.
♥ ♥ ♥
When Yunho entered the caravan the first thing he noticed was his dog yapping happily at him and moving its tail. It would not stand up yet but at least it did not look as weak as the day before. Nearby, Changmin was putting a thick herbal paste into a wooden jar and behind him Yunho spotted a breathing mass on top of a pile of cushions.
“Who’s that?” he half-whispered not entirely sure why he was so careful about not waking the sleeping man.
“Junsu, but don’t mind him,” Changmin replied, closing the jar’s lid with a flick of his wrist. His eyes met Yunho’s before he spoke again. “I stitched your dog’s wound and it should heal in a couple of weeks but you must apply this ointment every time you bandage the wound to keep the infection at bay, which should be once or twice a day.”
Yunho opened his mouth to thank the sorcerer but Changmin held his hand up, silencing him.
“Before you thank me, know that your dog will never go hunting again, it will be a miracle if it ever achieves more than a light trot.”
Yunho nodded and threaded his fingers through the soft fur along his dog’s neck. It would be a shame not having such a brave dog in the hunting pack again, but it was fine as long as it survived. Taepoong had been a gift from his father when he was merely a boy still; boy and pup growing alongside each other.
“Thank you for saving him,” Yunho said, fishing a bunch of silver coins from a pouch hanging from his belt and offering them to Changmin.
Changmin raised his hands, palms facing forward and refused to take Yunho’s money.
“Jaejoong would kill me if he knew I accepted money from you.”
“Why?” Yunho asked.
“He refuses to charge his friends,” Changmin snorted, not completely in agreement with the beautiful man’s ideas. He noticed Yunho’s confused face at his words and rolling his eyes he leaned forward. “He wouldn’t have offered help if he did not think you were worth his while, Prince Yunho.”
Yunho looked away, suddenly uncomfortable, and put the coins back into the pouch anyway. He picked up his dog, careful not to press on the bandaged leg and turned towards the opening on the red canvas flaps.
“Well then, I’m leaving now. Please give Jaejoong my thanks,” he said, feeling more than seeing Changmin nod at his words.
Looking around once he was outside he noticed neither Jaejoong nor Yoochun were anywhere in sight. The bear-skin was carefully folded outside but nothing else showed that the blonde and his friend had been there.
Good, thought Yunho as he made his way to his horse and carefully deposited the dog on top of the saddle. He climbed behind it and nudged the horse to a fast walk. Jaejoong made him too confused and he needed to be clear-headed, at least for a while in case he met the other man again by chance.
♥ ♥ ♥
“Where were you?!?!” an alarmed Heechul exclaimed the moment Yunho appeared in the royal hall.
Yunho called for a servant and waited until he had taken the dog away to reply to his cousin.
“I went to get a second opinion on Taepoong,” Yunho said, bypassing the enraged Heechul and climbing the big staircase in the middle of the huge room.
Heechul climbed the stairs behind him, throwing questions here and there as well as accusing statements. Yunho continued through the long corridor and all the way to his room, asking a maid that had been dusting some paintings to have a bath prepared for him as soon as possible and went to lie on his bed, Heechul hot at his heels with more complains.
“You could’ve at least told me where you were going, you know? And by God! It’s just a dog.”
Yunho rubbed his temples; Heechul’s constant screeching was giving him a headache.
“I just went to the Red Caravan, remember it? They have a sorcerer and he fixed Taepoong’s leg, that’s all,” Yunho explained to his stubborn cousin who raised an eyebrow at the mention of a sorcerer.
“And that took all night? I don’t believe you,” Heechul said, pacing from one side of the room to the other.
“I fell asleep, alright?” Yunho covered his eyes with his hands and pressed on his eyeballs with his fingers, trying to erase the image of the sleeping Jaejoong holding him close.
Heechul scrunched up his face in disgust but at least he stopped pacing. “With the gypsies? Only you, Yunho. Only you.”
Yunho shrugged, not wanting to argue further. At that moment there was a knock on the door and a maid walked inside and bowed.
“The bath is ready, Your Royal Highness,” she said in a soft voice.
Yunho nodded towards her. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
The girl bowed again and left, closing the door behind her.
“I guess a bath is the best thing after mingling with such people,” Heechul observed.
Yunho stared at the beautifully decorated roof depicting various scenes of the country’s war history surrounded by golden vines of the greatest craftsmanship.
“Now that you talk about mingling,” he started, “why don’t you throw that party at the summer palace you were nagging me about?”
Heechul’s face transformed from the ugly scowl he was sporting to an enchanting smile.
“I’ll have the guest list ready by this afternoon.”
♥ ♥ ♥
It only took two days for Heechul to arrange everything for the party as well as the carriages that would be taking the guests to the summer palace. It was half a day’s ride to the royal state down in the warm south of the country and only a few royals and aristocrats were attending, all of them around Yunho and Heechul’s age group. It was meant to be a small gathering with meals taken on the lavish gardens of the palace, slaves at their beck and call all day and alcohol flowing in great quantities.
During those two days Yunho avoided the Red Caravan and its stage, only going to the smaller performances nearby, although sometimes he found himself standing in the King’s studio, trying to spot a blond head through the crowd on the main square, tearing himself away with difficulty each time. It was as if the mysterious performer had put a spell on him and he hoped a couple of days of relaxation, fun and women would cure him.
Riding on the comfortable carriage Heechul had arranged for the both of them as well as two enchanting aristocrat ladies whose fortune came from a family of money loaners. While still not considered equal to royalty, Heechul invited them because of their fun talk and loose sense of decency but when one of them climbed on Yunho’s lap, the young prince could not avoid wishing his wild cousin had just left them out of the guest list.
A high-pitched giggle sounded next to Yunho’s ear as he tried to scoot away from the tipsy girl trying to get a feel of his body through his embroidered shirt without being too obvious. He smiled at the girl, halting the movement of her hands with his own but did not dislodge her from his lap, gritting his teeth against the urge.
“I think your cousin ought to pour you a drink, Your Royal Highness,” the girl said and giggled again, urging Heechul to fill Yunho’s still half-full cup. The wine sloshed inside the golden cup, the bumps on the road creating waves inside it. “You’re awfully tense today.”
“He’s always tense,” mumbled Heechul. “That has become his natural state since we went to war it seems.”
Yunho shot a sharp look at his cousin and watched as the girl on top of Heechul giggled and slapped his chest lightly, only to squeal when Heechul’s hands placed themselves on top of the round globes of her bum. She did not remove his hands, however, and proceeded to coo and giggle softly in Heechul’s ear, placing coy kisses along the young man’s jaw.
A particularly large bump on the unpaved road made the girl on Yunho’s lap tumble on top of him and she took the opportunity to rub her breasts against Yunho’s chest. She mumbled an apology that Yunho knew she did not mean and urged the Prince to drink for the second time.
Yunho was about to turn her down when a sudden image of blond hair and fair skin flashed through his mind. He shook his head trying to rid himself of the image. The real reason why he was going on that holiday made its way back into his mind and with a set determination he downed the wine he had in his cup and offered it to Heechul so he could pour more of the burgundy-colored liquor into it.
The party, so to speak, took place in the palace gardens. Royals and aristocrats alike escaped the unyielding sun under the shadow of large tents of billowing linen set outside. Pitchers of wine sat on pails of ice placed on carved tables inside the tent. Next to them were platters of delicate bites of sandwiches and skewers of tender meat and blocks of aged cheese for the guests strolling through the gardens or playing ball games.
By that time everybody was in some state of drunkenness, some barely tipsy and not showing it while others were bending over the exotic flower bushes to retch.
Yunho had loosened up after the drinks during the trip to the palace and the numerous toasts they had done upon their arrival. His shirt was un-tucked and a girl wearing a revealing wheat-colored dress was wrapped against his side, one hand shamelessly pressed against the bare skin of his hip. He was far from caring though. As the sun started to set he was about to lead the girl to someplace more private when Heechul called them all back to the tents for dinner and card games afterwards.
After the feast some of the guests were excused to their rooms by servants struggling under their unconscious dead-weight, the guests now forming an intimate group of fewer people.
Heechul pulled out the decks of cards from a wooden game box brought by another servant. He dealt the cards to each person on the table, his pleased smile promising more fun than a mere game of cards could offer.
Dares for the losers were thrown throughout the table, not a single person going unscathed. There was a soaked Duke shivering from the cool night air after being dared to take a swim in the lake belonging to the royal state while the daughter of the Baron could not keep her blush down after flashing her left breast to everybody present.
The night at the summer palace was noticeably hotter than in the capital; the small currents of air created by a group of slaves strategically placed around the table armed with big fans they waved at the guests did not help much to cool down the people playing cards inside the tent. More than one powdered white face was melting under the heat of the night and the warm blushing caused by alcohol consumption.
Yunho could feel beads of moisture accumulating on his forehead as he nursed his drink and stared blankly at his cards. There was no way he was going to win with that hand and he really wanted to retire for the night so he set his cards down and stood, signaling he was going to sleep.
“Don’t you dare leave now, dear cousin!” Heechul called out from the other side of the table, frantically waving his own cards around.
Yunho threw him an apologetic smile. “I’m being wise here, Heech. Besides, I’m tired!”
“Let me see your cards,” Heechul commanded with his arm outstretched towards Yunho. Yunho gave him the pile of cards he had set in front of him and watched as his cousin went through them, eyebrows raised up. “You truly are wise, these are awful”.
Yunho laughed softly and moved away from the table. The girl in the wheat-colored dress had sat next to him during dinner and the games following the meal and had now snaked her hands around his elbow after standing up as well.
“Rest well, cousin,” Heechul added with a glint in his eyes upon spotting the girl’s actions and Yunho’s compliance to them.
Yunho nodded towards the remaining guests that had stood up when he did and left the tent; the girl hanging from his arm half-jogging to catch up with his long-legged strides.
The palace was mostly silent seeing as about half of the guests had already gone to their rooms to rest. The silence was welcomed by Yunho’s wine-flooded brain as he climbed the grand staircase towards the west wing of the palace where his room was. Women were supposed to occupy the east wing but the woman walking next to him made no move to separate from him before and was still struggling to keep up with the prince’s hurried steps.
The grand wooden doors leading to Yunho’s room were guarded by a pair of royal guards specially appointed for the small holiday. They bowed towards the prince and moved aside to open the doors. After Yunho and his female companion stepped inside the bedroom the doors were closed behind them soundlessly.
Yunho wasted no time in kissing the willing girl and guided her towards the huge bed in the middle of the room. The girl squealed softly into the kiss as her knees met the mattress and fell down on the silken bed covers with the prince following suit on top of her.
He kissed the girl’s neck over her warm pulse. The girl breathed in small and quick pants, product of the constricting corset she was wearing under the elegant fabric of her dress.
The girl softly guided Yunho’s mouth back to her lips. Her long brunette hair was already falling out of her elaborate hairdo contrasting against the pale skin of her neck but if Yunho closed his eyes he could vividly picture shorter and lighter hair against equally pale skin flushed under his careful ministrations….
No! Yunho mentally shouted. His hands fumbled in his haste to pull the many skirts of the dress around the girl’s waist and pull his pants down enough to free his aching erection. Thin legs wrapped around his waist as he sank deep into the searing heat between them.
Images of the mysterious blond performer in indecent postures and scandalous states of undress would still play through his mind as much as he tried to avoid them. He gave up after a minute and mentally sent a prayer pleading for his soul as he thrust inside the whimpering girl under him while he imagined he was sinking himself into someone different altogether.
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Date: 2011-11-23 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-23 10:49 pm (UTC)