A Crane Among Wolves

20. Daehyun

Daehyun found himself in thepalace two days later, watching as servants arranged the king’s surasang, twelve dishes spread across three tables. All meals had been sampled for poison in the royal kitchen, but the king, in his paranoia, ordered his food be tasted once again. And thus the time-consuming procedure commenced.

A court lady nibbled and sipped her way down the main table, from the assortment of side dishes—grilled mountain ginseng, pan-fried meat delicacies, raw fish, pickled vegetables, cubed radish kimchi, whole cabbage kimchi seasoned with jeotgal, white kimchi, braised meat, boiled pork slices, fermented and salted seafood, salted fish—

Then she coughed.

Everyone tensed, including Daehyun. The king turned pale.

“B-begging your pardon.” The court lady heaved for air. “A fish bone caught in my throat.”

Once she re-collected herself, the young court lady moved to the small round table, sampled the red bean rice, scooped up a spoonful of the milky white bone broth, and chewed a bite of honey cookies and sweet rice puffs. She licked her lips, glanced at Daehyun, then shuffled over to the rectangular table of raw ingredients to be boiled in the sinseonllo hot pot. By the end of the sampling, she was still alive, staring nervously at Daehyun from under her lashes.

She likely wondered why he was here.

Daehyun wondered himself as he knelt across from the king.

“J-jeonha,” a eunuch stuttered, after a long and tense moment. “Does the meal displease you? You have touched nothing—”

King Yeonsan grabbed his chopsticks and stabbed at his favorite plate of braised deer meat. Juice dribbled out. “I cannot sleep. I cannot think. I have wept until I passed out. Everywhere I go in this palace I am reminded of her.” His voice broke, and his face grew red. “I cannot bear it! When do we leave these godsforsakened walls?”

“We leave for Kaesong City n-next month, jeonha,” the eunuch replied shakily. “On the e-eighteenth.”

Another stab into the meat chunk. “Deer tail is best dried in the shades of Buan County, but deer tails from Jeju Island are tasty, too.” His Majesty spoke, his teeth grinding together. “As for deer tongues, the people of Hoeyang County excel at cooking them…” His white-knuckled grip trembled. “Even the sight of my most favored delicacy gives me no pleasure, because she is dead!”

He gave a violent shove, and the tables came toppling down, bowls and plates crashing to the ground. Court ladies scrambled back. Daehyun remained frozen before the king.

“And do you know why she is dead?” King Yeonsan’s gaze shot to Daehyun. “Do you, little brother?”

“I do not, jeonha,” he managed to whisper.

“Little brother.” Yeonsan dragged himself onto his hands and knees, crawling over and grabbing Daehyun by the collar. “When I look at you these days, do you know what I feel?” A smile trembled across his lips. “Lust for your blood.”

“Jeonha, I am unsure of what you mean…” Daehyun’s mind raced, examining and reexamining everything he had done and said in the past few days. Somewhere, he had erred. “What have I done to lose your favor—”

A sharp pain struck his face.

“You know what you have done!” the king’s voice rose as he raised his hand again. “Shall I kill you the way I killed your brothers? Shall I scatter your head and limbs across the kingdom as well?”

His brothers. Their heads. Daehyun grappled to stay above the memories, but another blow struck his face, and an explosion of panic submerged him.

Breathe, Daehyun told himself.

He dragged air into his lungs, but he was already drowning in dark waters. His brothers were tied up. They watched him from a ship, watched him as they disappeared into the fog. Carried off to a faraway island. Exiled.

Breathe deeper.

He sank deeper into the shadows, and the palace emerged. He was on his knees, too paralyzed to cry as he stared at his decapitated brothers. Their bodies buried on the island, their heads delivered to the king.

Breathe. You must breathe.

The chamber tilted, but he grabbed onto his knees and steadied himself.

“Little brother,” the king whispered, still hovering before him, “tell me the truth. Did you have anything to do with Lady Seungpyeong’s death?”

Daehyun blinked fast, trying to reorient himself. “I did not, jeonha.”

“An apothecary testified that Min Hyukjin—your closest friend—had asked for kyungpo-buja. The very poison that killed Lady Seungpyeong.” Yeonsan grabbed a fistful of Daehyun’s robe, giving him a firm shake. “Min Hyukjin would not commit such a deed of his own accord. So who ordered him to kill Lady Seungpyeong? If not you, then who did? I have interrogated everyone, including his sister, and I cannot make sense of Her Ladyship’s death! I refuse to believe that she killed herself, as some claim. Someone murdered her!”

Of course the king refused to believe the truth. He had abused Lady Seungpyeong to death.

“You know something. Tell me!” the king roared.

“C-court Lady Sonhui,” Daehyun finally managed to say, his voice choking, “came to me on the night of Lady Seungpyeong’s death.”

Yeonsan glowered. “Hyukjin’s sister? I have tortured her. She tells me nothing.”

“She…,” Daehyun spoke slowly, allowing himself time to steady his mind. He had failed to save Hyukjin; he could not fail his sister, too. “She told me…”

“Told you what?!”

“She witnessed her brother lurking around Her Ladyship’s residence, hours before Her Ladyship was poisoned… Sonhui saw her brother hide a white substance in Her Ladyship’s chambers. He would not tell her what it was.”

“Court Lady Sonhui told you all this?” Yeonsan growled.

“Sonhui believed her brother was involved in the murder. But I did not believe her; I warned her to keep silent.” Before another blow could strike his face, Daehyun whispered the king’s greatest fear, “But now I know she spoke the truth. Now I fear for your life even more, jeonha.”

Yeonsan stilled. “What do you mean?”

“Did it not seem odd to you? Min Hyukjin died by the hands of Nameless Flower the very next day. What if… what if Nameless Flower is close to you, and he blackmailed Min Hyukjin into poisoning Lady Seungpyeong? Nameless Flower then killed Min Hyukjin, the liability. That is what I think, jeonha. That is why I fear for your life. Nameless Flower may be right before you—in plain sight.”

King Yeonsan grew pale, and he appeared intoxicated with fear. Nameless Flower had indeed killed Hyukjin. And it was also true that the killing had occurred right after Lady Seungpyeong’s death. It was not an outlandish assumption that the two events were connected.

“Investigator Gu told me as much, that the killer is someone near me. But why would Nameless Flower kill—” Yeonsan froze, his eyes widened. “He knew of my love for Lady Seungpyeong.”

“It is Nameless Flower that you want,” Daehyun whispered. “Please, jeonha, spare the girl. Hyukjin’s sister had nothing to do with Her Ladyship’s death.”

King Yeonsan staggered to his feet, his arm raised in a weak gesture. “Eunuch Mun, have Investigator Gu summoned.” Then he turned to Daehyun. “And you—leave.”

Bowing, Daehyun retreated from the chamber and found himself sweating profusely. When he reached an isolated courtyard, he vomited, leaning against the wall, unable to walk. He wanted to bury himself forever in the shadows, to block away all the horror and fear.

Gritting his teeth, Daehyun closed his eyes. He took in five deep breaths, imagined himself as a speck of a man alone on a snowy mountain, breathing in the numbing frost. Detachment spread across his heart, sealing away the vulnerabilities within. Indifferent and calm now, he made his way to the palace well. Maid Jiyu had not yet arrived, but as the sun dipped, she came scrambling around the corner with buckets—as she always did around this time. Soon royals and consorts would expect fresh pitchers of water with which to wash their faces. Jiyu set the buckets down when their gazes locked across the courtyard.

“Daegam!” she whispered, scurrying over to join him in the shadows. “My mother is healing well because of your benevolence.”

“I am pleased to hear that,” Daehyun replied, his voice as blank as the sky above. “There is something you must do for me.”

“Of course, daegam—!” Her eyes went wide. “You are bleeding!”

“It is nothing.” Daehyun wiped the blood off his split lip. “Go to Court Lady Sonhui. She is being held for interrogation, and I know you excel at slipping in and out of places without anyone knowing the better. Can you do that?”

“I can, daegam. What message shall I pass along?”

“Tell her that her brother is dead. Tell her to place all blame for Lady Seungpyeong’s death on his shoulders. She will refuse, but you must convince her that there is no use protecting the dead. Once I manage to arrange a visit to the State Tribunal, I will speak to her myself and ensure that our stories corroborate.”

“Is that all, daegam?”

Daehyun paused. “There was one more thing…” It took a moment to reach through the fog in his mind, and at last he arrived at what he sought. “She mentioned her sister’s name.”

“Begging your pardon, daegam?”

He glanced down at the maid. “Are you able to enter Wongaksa Temple?”

“I go there often to clean up. The temple never stays orderly with a thousand courtesans living there.”

“Then I need you to find a particular courtesan for me. Her name is Suyeon, but she may also go by the name Jonggeum. Find her; there is a specific task you must carry out for me. And whatever you do, you must be discreet. No one else can learn of the task that I will entrust to you.”