The Mercenary: A Sequel to Hwarang: The Saga of the Sooks Book #2

Chapter 37: Compunction

"Tomorrow I will accompany you to your garden," Jong Su declared after Sook Myeong had spent an hour reading to him. While he sat up in his bed and stared at her with a keen interest.

Not so much in her story. But in the expressiveness of her countenance as she brought the book's characters to life. She was reading one of his sister's stories. And it truly was more enticing than the dry scrolls lining the shelves of the palace library. But Jong Su could have been forgiven for concentrating more on the captivating beauty sitting next to him than on the compelling tale which Eun Sook had penned.

Sook Myeong glanced up at him. Then she began to protest. "You must not! You must remain here and continue to heal. I have no wish for you to reinjure yourself!"

"Are you planning to keep your promise to shoot me? Perhaps near the testing ground? Shall I stand in front of the target and see how much your aim has improved since our day in the forest?" he teased.

But her eyes clouded over, and he instantly discerned that his joke had not had its intended effect.

"I have not practiced one bit since that day," she mumbled. "I cannot look upon my bow with anything but repulsion now."

His eyebrows assaulted the royal ceiling. "But...why? That bow saved my life. And most likely your brother's too. As did your incredible skill with it."

She lifted sorrowful eyes to meet his. "I know," she whispered. "But I killed a man. I snuffed out a life. I know he deserved it – begged for it even by committing treason. Still, his face haunts my dreams at night."

Truthfully, she'd slept little since the whole affair had unfolded so violently. She tossed one way in her bed as she worried over Jong Su's recovery. Then she turned the other way, troubled by the face of a boy. The young man whom she'd shot through the heart had been less than a year older than herself.

Although she recalled his heartlessness, she still found carrying the responsibility for his death to be a heavy burden indeed.

The prince examined her carefully. "This is quite interesting. The mercenary whom I met in the garden a few days ago seems to have fled. The girl who believed herself to be utterly without compunction, willing to end the life of a simple prince who flirted with her, seems to be quite troubled by ridding the world of an evil man."

"But he wasn't a man. He was a boy still."

He shook his head. "Nay. Anyone who could take arrow in hand to kill a king is no longer a boy. He knew what he was doing. He was wreaking vengeance for the punishment his father is about to endure for his betrayal of the crown."

She sighed, personally believing that it wasn't that cut and dried. "By that same reasoning, I knew exactly what I was doing when I shot at Ah Ro."

"You did," he nodded. "But you were obeying your mother. And protecting your brother from fallout that might have endangered his life."

"But she was an innocent girl! In the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I am glad you realize that. You are proving that you have grown a conscience, my dear."

She shook her head. "I didn't have to grow one. I was simply willing to betray the one I already possessed."

"Ah, but I think now you wouldn't be so ready, would you?" he breathed on her as he turned his head to gaze down at her.

She shook her head. "I would not."

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. She was seated on the edge of his bed. Next to him.

"I wish I could return it to you," he muttered quietly. Sorrowfully.

She opened her eyes and slid a glance his way. "Return what to me?"

"Your innocence."

Her eyes locked with his. She sat lost in that sympathetic gaze for several long moments. Finally, she spoke.

"I wish you could too." She sighed as her gaze fell to her hands. She'd let go of the scroll, and one set of her fingers was picking at the other. "But you did restore my faith."

"In what?"

"In my ability to be cherished," she whispered.

"Oh, darling! Never doubt that!" he exclaimed softly. "You are simply adorable. And I look greatly forward to celebrating you in your favorite place tomorrow," he added with zest.

"But, Jong Su," she shoved her bottom lip out as she frowned, "I don't wish to see you injure yourself."

"Hush now. I have the permission of my surgeon. Four days lying flat on my back. Two sitting up. The seventh I may walk. Finally. A century has passed since that arrow pierced me. I need to move! I am a man given to movement. Lying flat and even sitting still for nearly a whole week has been the purest torture. I need the embrace of your garden to solace me."