21. Iseul
Formidable stone walls surrounded theproperty. Dread pulsed at the base of my throat. What if I fail?
“Are you afraid?”
I swallowed. “Not at all, ajusshi.”
“The prince and I will be nearby.” Wonsik slipped a sheathed paedo into my hand. “It may be a decorative knife, but it is sharp enough to wound. Tie it onto your dress, as many young women do.”
I glanced into the shadows of the alley cloaking the prince, who had kept his hat lowered all morning—but the brim had failed to hide the vicious bruises on his lips and along his jaw.
Looking back at Wonsik, I asked, “Why do I need this?”
“As a precaution, but I doubt you will need it. Otherwise, I would not send you in at all.”
Tying the hanging tassel of the knife around my skirt, I watched as Wonsik left, and a fresh wave of nervousness rolled through me. My attention returned to the walled-in mansion. I took in a deep, steadying breath, then made my way over to the gate. Upon knocking, a manservant peered out.
“Is Official Choi in?” I asked quietly. “Inform him that his niece is here to speak with him.”
The gatekeeper left to convey the message, then returned to escort me inside.
“This way.” He guided me up a set of stairs that led to the Guest Hall, a long building with a flared roof held up by sturdy columns, and a dozen or so screened doors that marched along the terrace. Inside, I found myself in a vast and airy chamber decorated with lacquered furniture and delicate vases.
My uncle sat behind a low-legged table, watching me. He was as I remembered him to be the many times his family had visited our home—an unremarkable man with a round, pale face and a weak, lusterless gaze. His wispy beard twitched as I bowed deeply.
“Uncle,” I whispered, kneeling before him. It was then that I noticed the janggi board spread out on his table. “It seems I have interrupted you in your game.”
“I was playing with my son. Did you come discreetly?”
“I did.”
“Hmm.” He tapped his finger twice. “Your aunt is in the countryside, but if she were here, she would send you away at once. Considering you—” he glanced around, ensuring that we were alone “—are a convict, and you endanger our entire family.”
I opened my mouth to apologize, but he spoke on. “I suspect you are here to find your sister? You understand she is now the king’s property?”
“But—but I wish to bring her home.”
He arched a brow. “Surprising. I did not think you the sort”—he waved a hand—“to brave such a mission.”
I gripped my hands together. “You did not?”
“I’ve known you since your birth, and never once did I see affection between you and your sister. My strongest impression of you was when you were thirteen; Suyeon would not lend you her dress, and you cast a book at her, and the corner struck her so hard she bled. I was so stunned to see a girl strike her own sister over a trifle.”
“Then I must try all the more,” I whispered, my face warm, “to return her home, Uncle.”
He twirled a game piece between his fingers, then bowed his head. “That is honorable of you. Admirable, even.” He looked up. “You both have endured so much; I pray the heavens will be kind to you and grant you your wish…” He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then mumbled, “May your path to your sister be a smooth one.” He moved to rise.
“Uncle,” I hurried to say. He could not dismiss me yet. “I have a request—”
He settled back down on the floor mat, peering at me with dull eyes. “Do you know why your father was executed?”
The question had plagued me for two long years, but I hadn’t expected him to bring it up so suddenly. “I think I do, but no one has confirmed my suspicion,” I whispered. “Do you, Uncle?”
“Are you aware of the Literati Purge of 1504?”
“I am aware.”
He explained it to me anyway. “The king executed the government officials who had supported the execution of his mother. He even punished officials known simply to be present at the royal court at that time, for the crime of not preventing the actions of those who abused his mother.” His gaze held me in an almost desperate, unwavering stare. “Your father,” he said slowly, “was one of them; he had been visiting his cousin, a royal consort, and no one remembered he had been there. Not until someone divulged his secret to the king.”
I lowered my gaze, picking at the skin around my nails. “I suspected this,” I said, my voice shaking. “Father’s execution occurred within the same month when other officials were being purged.” Glancing up, my gaze rested on the janggi board.
“You look pale,” Uncle murmured. “Shall I have a servant bring you a drink?”
“My parents are now gone, their lives taken by the king,” I said, still staring at the game. Wonsik had told me the names of each piece. That one was a jol, and the duty of this foot soldier was to move forward or sideways to catch the opponent’s piece. The jol was not permitted to move backward. I, too, forbade myself from retreating. “As you must imagine, Uncle,” I proceeded, quietly, cautiously, “I cannot have the king take my sister, too.”
“It will be impossible, getting her out of the palace.”
“I have a plan.”
“Do you?”
“I intend to bargain with the king,” I said, and the plan seemed so ludicrous to me now in retrospect. “I will find the killer Nameless Flower and claim my sister as my reward.”
He set down the game piece. “You? Find the killer? The king employs some of the brightest investigators in the kingdom and yet Nameless Flower continues to elude him.”
“I need to try, and that is why I am here. Perhaps you could assist me with the investigation—”
“It is dangerous and futile. I think you should return home.”
“And where is my home, Uncle?”
“You have a grandmother, do you not?”
“She only loves my sister. No one wants me. I belong nowhere.” I swallowed hard, the words burning in my throat. “None of this would have happened, Uncle, if the king had not killed my mother and father. I would not be so miserable, if not for His Majesty.”
“Hush, hush.” He looked around. “What if the servants hear you?”
“Everyone thinks this! You think this, too, do you not, Uncle? The king demoted you.”
His left eye twitched; his jaw locked. For a moment, he looked consumed—not in anger, but in remorse. “I spent my entire life to reach the second rank, yet how quickly I fell…” He looked up. “Hwang Boyeon, there is something I must tell you. I—” He shook his head, a look of fear now draining the color from his face. “You will not succeed in reuniting with your sister. Leave her, and start a new life. She would wish that.”
The conversation was not going as I had planned. He was not expressing anger toward the king, as I had hoped.
I clenched my fingers tight, trying to hold down my impatience. But I could feel every shred of control unraveling, and as my stare bore into the janggi piece, my head filled with warnings.
No, Iseul-ah.Suyeon would say to me, if she were here. Do not be reckless. Do not be foolish. You must bide your time.
But time was not my friend. Every moment that passed, my sister was in the palace being eaten alive by a monster.
“Do you daydream like me, Uncle?” My voice cracked and trembled. “Do you?”
He frowned at me. “Are you crying?”
My hands shook as I reached out for the wooden janggi pieces. A set of red- and blue-engraved ones. Two opposing kings held court on either side, facing each other on the board.
“I daydream about what our life would have been like,” I choked out, picking up the red king and placing him off the board, in the graveyard of the overtaken pieces, “if the king had not killed Mother and Father. Would my sister and I be back home, then? Would she have never known such misery? What would life be like”—I placed the blue king in the red territory—“if the king were no more?”
Uncle stared, then slowly his brows lowered. “Changing kings…” He studied me. “You switched the rulers…” Uncle pushed the janggi board aside, and his expression darkened. “You should be careful, Hwang Boyeon, about entertaining such thoughts.”
“But I am safe to share it with you, am I not?”
He held my stare and whispered, “You are.”
“Uncle… do you not think the heavens are displeased with the king?”
“I do,” he whispered, then dropped his gaze. Twitches now flickered all over his face. This man was nervous. “You ought to go now. Leave at once.”
I stepped out of the mansion and stared blankly at Bugak Mountain looming over the capital. I closed my eyes a moment, letting out an unsteady sigh.
Uncle had said yes. He had said my treasonous thoughts were secure with him.
Did that also mean yes, he believed the king should be overthrown?
Shoulders tense, I staggered down the road. My mind lost in a daze, my knees wobbled and I held the wall.
I paused to collect myself, then continued down the street, wondering where Wonsik and the prince had gone. As I searched, my ears prickled as male voices whispered close behind, “I think it is her. The one you were looking for.”
Before I could turn around, a hand grabbed my wrist. The brim of his hat was so lowered I could not recognize him at first.
“They are following you,” came the prince’s voice.
“Who is?”
“Do not turn,” he ordered. “Act unaware.”
We took a shortcut through an alley, then an explosion of noises greeted us as we entered the marketplace. We continued to weave through the crowd, our stride stiff and tense. And by the urgency of the prince’s grip, I knew we were still being followed.
“Wonsik is going to distract them. On the count of three,” he whispered, “we run from the officers. One…”
“Officers?” I whispered, confused.
“Two.”
The prince’s grip tightened around me as a commotion sounded from behind us, of pedestrians being shoved aside.
“Three.”
A loud crash splintered the air, and as we ran, I glanced behind. Dark feathers puffed into the air. Hens scattered out of their wooden cages, beating their wings against the crowd and a trio of flailing men in crimson uniforms. My blood froze over. Chehongsa officers. And one bore a gruesome scab across his face—the one I had struck with a sharp piece of wood.
With a fierce tug of my wrist, I was plunged into darkness, surrounded by mud walls. Clothes hanging on lines whipped my face. Another tug, and we were out in the open, and soon rushing through a shop, hanging silk swirling around us in a burst of colors. In no time at all, we were in another alley, but this time he was garbed in a different colored overcoat, and a jangot cloaked me. I touched the bright green silk. “When…” I heaved for air. “When did you take—”
His face taut, he pressed me up against the wall. “Why are they so intent on chasing you?”
“He’s…” I pressed a hand to my thundering heart. “He’s the one… I… injured.”
“Gods. You attacked a chehongsa officer?” He glanced behind, then around. We were alone before a dead end. “I am curious to know who you were in your previous life, young mistress. Perhaps a member of a violent street gang?”
He was jesting, and the urgent grip on my wrist had loosened. Shaking myself free, I slumped against the wall, still trying to catch my breath. “We are safe now?”
“It would seem so.” He joined me against the wall.
The sun had begun its descent, infusing the sky in rich shades of pink and purple. The moon hung above us, so faint as to appear translucent, and as I stared at its stillness, my own heart slackened and my breathing steadied.
“The curfew bell will ring soon,” Daehyun said. “We will head north to my residence.”
My eyes widened. “We shall?”
“Once the fortress gates lock for the night, there will be no way out. Wonsik will know to join us there.”
A strange sensation gripped me, but before I could examine it, footsteps came down the alley. The prince and I exchanged glances. “Wonsik?” I mouthed, but then I heard a male voice inquire of someone, “Did you see a woman in a white dress come this way?” At once, I grabbed the prince’s collar, pulling him so close every soft part of me pressed up against his solid chest. “We must pretend,” I whispered, “that we are sweethearts—”
He reached for the jangot, tying two ribbons and thus securing the veil that covered me like a hooded cloak. Gentle hands then held my wrist. “Perhaps you might release my collar. You will appear less like you are strangling me.”
“You jest? At this moment?” I whispered harshly, shooting a glance over his shoulder. No one yet. “They would take me to the king to be his plaything—does that amuse you?”
His expression darkened. “That will never happen.”
“You have no weapon to fight them with.”
“I have my title. And I will use it if I must.”
My grip loosened, and I remembered to breathe again even as footsteps approached and a man appeared. At a glance, he was not a chehongsa officer, but clothed as a servant. Whoever he was, I could feel his stare boring into us. A minute passed, or perhaps ten; he was not leaving. My pulse quickened again. If Daehyun revealed his title, word might reach the king. The officers would claim they had attempted to seize me for His Majesty but had been obstructed by the prince—
Daehyun slid his hand beneath my veil; my mind went quiet. His hands brushed up the length of my arms, up the column of my throat, past the loosely tied veil ribbon, until he was cupping my face. He leaned in. His lashes dropped, his stare on my mouth, sending a jolt of tingles that curled my toes. For what seemed like a lifetime, we remained still, us two, inhaling and exhaling inches from each other.
“Where did she go?” the servant whispered, then hurried off.
We were safe now, and yet…
“Iseul…” His whisper grazed the curve of my ear. “Who gave you this sobriquet?”
“My parents,” I murmured, my voice oddly raspy. “I… I reminded them of a dewdrop.”
The sky had darkened, and he remained, broad-shouldered and tall, my chest pressing up against his with every nervous breath.
“You remind me more of a thorn.”
I let out a scoff, then my pulse leaped as the great bell tolled.
“Curfew has begun,” I pointed out.
“It has.” The heat of his gaze remained on me, unwavering. His hands still cradled my cheeks.
“We should leave,” I remarked.
Slowly, very slowly, his hands dropped away, and yet I could still feel the warmth of his touch, like the slightest burn.
“Come,” he said, already walking ahead. His voice had regained its cool and imperious tone. “Keep close to me.”
My heart beat at an odd, skipping pace as I followed him out of the alley and down the main road that was now illuminated by hanging lanterns. We turned on a narrow path that led into the Northern District, a cluster of neighboring mansions. It was silent here, as were we. We had not uttered a single word since leaving the market.
“The night has grown cool,” I said conversationally. “It seems summer will come to an end soon.”
He glanced at me, his expression shuttered, and we stood there in awkwardness for a few moments before continuing along the upward-sloping path. By the time we arrived before a mansion gate, the tension had grown so palpable that I could hardly breathe.
“Your home?” was all I managed to voice.
He nodded wordlessly, staring ahead.
My body grew warm as unwanted imaginings flickered at the back of my mind, but I chided myself at once. Remember who he is, Hwang Iseul. He is the brother of the treacherous king. His family is the reason Mother and Father are dead.
This reminder was enough to cool my blood, like a splash of freezing sea water. Finally, I felt calm enough to ask, “You said Wonsik will be joining us?”
Before he could reply, there came the steady clip-clop of hooves. We both turned to see the silhouette of a rider, and as he approached, a nearby lantern lifted the shadow and revealed his face.
“I had my manservant follow you, Niece.” My uncle’s eyes narrowed as his stare rested on the prince. “A word with you, if I may, daegam.”
Daehyun remained still for a moment longer, then called out his arrival. A servant rushed the doors open. “Show Official Choi to the Guest Hall,” he ordered. “I will join him shortly.”
When my uncle was led away, I stared wide-eyed at the prince. “What do we do?”
Daehyun let out a sigh, which almost sounded like defeat. “I will invite him to join our circle, and if he refuses, then your uncle must die.”
My blood ran cold. “But it is my fault. I should have spoken more vaguely, but I was impatient—”
“It is not your fault. It is nearly impossible to speak vaguely of the matter.”
“Please, do not harm him. He is family.”
“If we let him live, you are in as much danger as I. And you are here to reunite with your sister—no matter the cost.”
“I will not kill anyone.”
“Iseul-ah, you have already committed to joining me; there is no turning back.” He held my gaze, and sympathy warmed his eyes, if only for a moment. “The path we are to take will be littered with death. Freedom will always come at a cost.”