Until Forever

Part I - Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

 

 Several weeks had passed uneventfully, and the Palace was able to breathe a sigh of relief at the easing of tension with the Tang envoys. The Queen eventually sent the envoys home with a very stern warning that this was the last time the Kingdom of Silla would welcome them to its borders, not until the Emperor himself dealt with his wayward ambassadors. The Palace was quietly but busily making preparations for the Queen’s forthcoming wedding when an unmanned, ancient boat had mysteriously docked at Gurahwa County. Upon further investigation it was learned that the boat was practically empty of cargo except for a single, ancient sealed box.  The box in turn held only a single document allegedly written by King Ashoka, the Great. It prophesied that the rightful ruler of Silla was Shinguk Hojejon which, when interpreted, turned out to be a direct reference to Bidam.

            Sensing the possibility that this was a hoax and another attempt at discrediting the Sangdaedung, the Queen had ordered the boat to be thoroughly inspected. Lord Chun Chu, now with an axe to grind with Bidam personally went to Gurahwa County to oversee the investigation himself. He and his team of experienced investigators were able to uncover the origin of the boat and they tracked down the master boat maker who allegedly conspired to fabricate this magnificent replica of the ancient boat. Chun Chu reluctantly admitted that it was just as the Queen had suspected, the boat was a fake.

They already had the boat maker in custody and were taking him back to the Palace for further questioning when they were attacked by armed men, apparently intent on silencing the captured boatmaker. During the commotion an arrow hit Lord Chun Chu in his arm. The boatmaker was not so lucky however, he received an arrow to the heart and died instantly.

            Upon learning of the attack, the Queen personally went to see Chun Chu in his chambers. She found him resting in his bed, looking wan, mostly from shock than from loss of blood. The doctor had assured the Queen that the wound was far from fatal and would mend well in time.

“Chun Chu, how are you feeling?” the Queen asked, her concern for her nephew evident on her face as she took a seat beside the bed. Chun Chu made to rise but the Queen motioned for him to remain in his bed.

“More shocked than hurt, I guess,” was Chun Chu’s reply, smiling self-consciously at his aunt.

“Did you see the men who tried to kill you?”

Chun Chu was stunned by the Queen’s question.

“I don’t think they were after me, Your Majesty. It was an accident. There were arrows flying everywhere. I was just unlucky enough to get hit. They were clearly after the boatmaker. He took an arrow to the heart. They obviously did not want him to live and tell tales.”

He saw the Queen looking thoughtfully at him, and he instantly knew that she was not convinced that he was accidentally shot. Fear crept into his heart at the realization that if she was right, then he was not unlucky to be accidentally hit, quite the opposite really. He was lucky not to have been fatally hit.

“Your Majesty, is there something wrong?” he asked when he found the Queen still lost in thought.

“It was not an accident, Chun Chu. That arrow was meant for you,” she said, her voice cold and full of pent-up rage.

“But why did they kill the boatmaker?”

“The boatmaker was the diversion. They were really after you.”

“But we do not have any proof of that.”

“We do not need any proof. The attack was deliberate and made on a member of the royal family. A crime punishable by death,” the Queen answered, her face stony and resolute.