Journey Into the Knight

Chapter Twenty-Two

It was a night of no sleep for any of them. Byul left the house before the sun and decided it was a good time to take Arcadia for a walk. The village was silent but she figured as much, most of the people in this village had very little to worry about, unless they were one of the unlucky families who had a child stolen from them, Byul doubted they were sleeping.

It was different for her, she wasn't going on this journey to get something back, in fact on this journey she was probably the one who was going to lose something. Her heart hurt for the home she was possibly going to lose, her identity as Byul, and more importantly, there was a very good chance she was going to lose YongSun when they got there. It all depended on how fast they could get the information, if Henry would call for the wedding immediately, or maybe they would be found out sooner than they wanted.

All of this smashed around in her head, it was overpowering. She leaned against a fence, watching Arcadia sniff around the ground, she could feel tears threatening in her eyes. She had just found the one place where she could be herself, she could be Byul, she got Arcadia, she got closer to YongSun and her relationship with TaeOh had somehow gotten stronger, and here she was, about to give it all up.

"You're out early." Byul almost cursed out loud, SoMin was walking up to her. "I thought you'd be getting all the rest you could." She leaned against the fence with Byul.

Byul tried for a smile, but somehow the soft look on SoMin's face made her want to actually cry. "I don't think it will be possible for many of us to sleep."

"I guess you are right." She paused. "Do you want to talk about what is bothering you?"

Byul felt her mouth wobble. "It is just a lot going on at the moment." She wiped a stray tear. "I feel like I finally found a place I belong, after all this time, and now I am about to give it all up."

"It is a really brave thing you guys are doing, these are not your people but you are all giving up a lot to bring them home to us."

Byul gave a half shrug. "If we have the power to do something, we have the right to do it."

SoMin's eyes snapped to Byul, a shocked face fading into another smile. "That is something your mother used to say." That made Byul's heart jump in her chest. "I see a lot of her in you."

Byul's hand touched her necklace, she felt like she had her with her a lot more since coming here, and since recovering her necklace. "I miss her a lot, I often wonder if she would be proud of who I am."

A sad smile played on SoMin's lips. "I think she would be, she was also someone who used to go out of her way to do what was right, no matter what." SoMin's eyes followed Byul's hand. "Is that her necklace?" She asked leaning in closer, an odd look about her face. "I haven't seen you with it before, I thought she..."

"Died with it." Byul finished for her. "In a way it did. She gave it to me moments before she died." She looked down at it. "I hid it in the forest around our old village, I recovered it when we went back."

SoMin reached her hand slightly but stopped herself, she still had an odd look on her face. "I never thought I'd see it again." She pulled her hand back, as if it would hurt her to touch it. "It is a moonstone." She said in a bit of a whisper. "I was the one who got it for her, there was not a day that she didn't wear it."

It was odd hearing someone talk so fondly about her mother, Byul almost forgot that other people had known her, that SoMin and her mother were best friends, that is why she and TaeOh were so close. Byul reached back and undid the necklace, she held it in her palm like it was the most precious thing in the world. "Would you take care of it for me?" SoMin looked so shocked, her eyes were lined with tears. "I don't feel comfortable taking it with me, I think it will be safer in your hands, I wouldn't want to lose it." She slid it into SoMin's hand.