[Fanfic: The King Loves] Recovery

[ THREE ]

But because he was no longer Wang Rin, was he no longer the boy who had loved her since adolescence? Was he no longer able to stay with her as he was, as the man who had shielded her above the inn, as the man who had held her when she mourned, as simply Rin?

She had placed her confidence in that Rin--not a title, nor a birth right--and that man was very much still there before her. 

"So rest now," she said quietly, rising to a stand, "because if you wish to be rid of me, you will need to be able to run well." 

His hands were folded in his lap, she noticed, so tightly clenched that his knuckles shone white. 

He truly was maddening, she thought. She understood his conflict, but she understood as well that he had to navigate that path himself if he were to ever find peace with his choice. She only hoped that his own words had reached him.

With a sigh, San collected the rest of the herbs and replaced them in the medicinal satchel the physician had left behind. Lost in her thoughts, she startled at the sudden knock that sounded from the door. 

"Hello?" a voice called out. "Are you still hiding in there?"

She stiffened. 

A secondary voice noisily shushed the first one. "Are you really going to start off by saying that for the whole neighborhood?" 

"There's no one who even lives around here!" the first voice bit back. "That's why they're hiding here!"

"Yeah, well, someone could be passing by! They could be chopping wood, traveling off the path, or secretly killing people out here! You don't want to just give away that there's a fugitive in the--" 

San opened the door and pointedly held a finger up to her lips to accompany her glare. "Shh!" Ushering the two men in, she soundly shut the door behind her and turned to face the duo. Of course, Gae-Won and Yeom-Bok*, the two morally dubious men whose services Won had begun to employ, stood before her. "Sub-tle-ty," she spoke, carefully enunciating each syllable of the word.

Yeom-Bok smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Miss."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, worry creasing her brows. Only Won knew of their location, but would he not have sent Jang Eui? Were there too many eyes on them at the court? She grew anxious at the thought. 

"His Highness sent us to check on you. He had a letter for us to deliver, too." Gae-Won dug through his worn clothes, searching between pockets and crevices before triumphantly retrieving a simply packaged black envelope. "Here!" 

As she took the letter, Gae-Won gave it a slight tug. "He also had a message to send. Yeom-Bok, tell them." 

Dutifully, Yeom-Bok lightly clasped his hands behind his back and took three slow strides. All the while, he looked forlornly at the roof. "'Read it when Rin is well,'" he sighed regally.

Gae-Won gasped and pointed behind her.  "Oh! Master Rin is awake!"

"Master Rin!" Yeom-Bok turned to his friend. "Do you think that means they're supposed to read it now?"

"I don't know. Master Rin is awake, but he doesn't exactly look 'well.'" He coughed. "Uh, sorry, Master Rin, you just look..." he trailed off and motioned weakly. "...like that. Worse than the other time."

"I'm fine," came Rin's immediate response from the bed.  

She knew Rin was trying not to prove their point, but the deathly white pallor of his skin did little to convince even her that he was better. And she clearly didn't make for a great physician. She wasn't sure who he was trying to fool.