4. Daehyun
Blood filled his mouth. Hishead still rang, struck twice with the hilt of a sword.
“Little brother,” came King Yeonsan’s silken voice, “you could not shoot a single creature for me?”
Daehyun stayed kneeling, grabbing his robe tight to hide his slight tremor. “I am no expert archer like you, jeonha.”
Yeonsan let out a sharp laugh, then the air grew cold as a snarl slid into his voice. “Court ladies whisper, and they have seen you practice. You hit your target every time without fail.” His Majesty’s blade touched his throat. “Who are you trying to fool, little brother?”
Daehyun tensed, his mind split in two directions. The king appeared irked enough to kill him, and there was the girl. She could be bleeding to death, an innocent life taken by him.
He needed to find her.
He could not become his brother—
“Let me think of how I shall kill you…” The blade pressed closer, and he felt blood dribble down his throat. “Shall I have you quartered, and send your severed limbs to all four corners of this kingdom?” The king turned to the rest of his hunting party. “Do you think this punishment is appropriate?”
Heads bobbled like puppets. “Yes, jeonha,” the officials acquiesced.
“So you would kill me…,” Daehyun said quietly, “your favored brother and most loyal servant?”
“Most loyal, you?” the king scoffed. “A snake is more loyal than you are.”
“Jeonha, am I not the little brother who grieved with you when it was prohibited to mourn Deposed Queen Yun’s death anniversary? Did I not prepare a memorial banquet for your mother and weep bitterly before it?” The king turned pale, his one eye turning red, tears burning at the rim. The name of his mother had always served as Daehyun’s shield. “Such vile snakes surround you, jeonha, and you would kill me? The Milwicheong Prison is bursting with criminals who harbored treason in their hearts. Surely, jeonha… surely I am more loyal than all of them.”
The malice in Yeonsan’s voice eased. “I cannot tell with you: How much of you is true, and how much is a lie?”
“Let me prove my loyalty to you then, jeonha.” Daehyun slid a note of desperation into his voice, and when the blade’s pressure eased, he latched onto the opportunity. “Is loyalty not proved by what we are willing to do? I’ll kill anything for you. Send me out again and I swear I’ll return with a carcass. The sun has not yet fully set.”
“I suppose you are right.” Then a thought tugged at the corner of the king’s lips. “You would kill anything…” His Majesty sheathed his sword, looked around, and paused at a fixed point ahead. “Or anyone?”
Daehyun looked up and saw the crowd. He had never killed a person before, yet he could already feel the warmth of blood on his hands, dripping into his conscience—
Stop.
He had to numb it all. The fear, the dread.
There are more pressing concerns than the fate of a single human life, he tried to convince himself.
“Or anyone, jeonha,” Daehyun whispered.
The king grabbed an arrow, then tossed it before Daehyun. “Loyalty is proved by what you are willing to lose. Kill him for me.” His Majesty pointed.
Daehyun looked—and his gaze landed on his own horse, a gift from Father.
His stomach turned, a cold sensation tightening his chest as soldiers grabbed hold of the reins, stilling the great beast. The horse was his only warm memory of his father, more precious to him than all the king’s riches.
As the last rays of sunlight withdrew, he notched the arrow and drew back the bowstring, aiming directly at the creature’s chest, at the strong heart beating under the velvety black coat.
Jeong-Hui, that was his horse’s name.
Jeong.Right, proper, correct.
Hui.Bright, splendid, glorious.
He gritted his teeth, silencing his apology.
He released the arrow just as the horse shifted, the iron head sinking into the right eye. A terrible scream erupted as Jeong-Hui toppled to the ground, thrashing and dragging himself around with his forelimbs, knocking aside the soldiers.
Daehyun rushed forward. Taking out his sword, he plunged it into Jeong-Hui. Blood gushed down his wrist. Then with all his might, Daehyun carved the blade through the creature to strike the heart, to quicken his death. Finally, the horse lay on the blood-drenched earth, legs still twitching as though desperate to cling to life.
He stepped back, his hands shaking terribly. The slippery blade dropped from his grip. There was only silence now. The eyes of everyone were on him.
“You did well, little brother,” Yeonsan murmured from the shadows. “You may live another day, for you make me feel less alone in this kingdom.”
The forest reeked of blood, and soon the hunting party retreated from the site. But Daehyun lingered, staring down at his now-still horse, then at his hands. He had never seen so much blood.
His legs staggered of their own accord, taking him toward the forest. He needed a shovel. He could not leave his horse unburied—
A memory froze him. His attention snapped northward. The girl.
“Damn it.”
He bolted down the trail, stumbling through the forest until he arrived at the spot he had last seen her. But when he pushed aside the leaves, he found no one. She was gone, and in her place was an arrow, still embedded in the trunk.
He pulled the bloody metal point free, and dread flooded him in a surge of ice water, at first chest deep, and then he was drowning in it. You will become like the king, his dying brother had warned, if you play His Majesty’s games. He will make youcruel and heartless. He needs the monstrosity in others to hide the one in himself. Do not descend into his darkness.
Daehyun finally tore his gaze up, searching for the girl’s trail.
“Daegam,” came Hyukjin’s worried voice. Daehyun had barely noticed his friend’s approach. “What are you doing here—?”
“Go to innkeeper Yul.” Daehyun gripped the arrow tight, his gaze pausing on a white sack abandoned by the stream. “Bring shovels and a few strong men; there is a horse to bury. And send word to Wonsik—there is a girl I must find.”