The Edge Of Forever

40| royal hues

At the end of her words most of the time, was either me, Concubine Ki, or her head maid Shi-Ah. 

Grimacing, I nodded furiously at the Queen's words. "Ah, your Majesty, you have no idea how much our Princess has been missing you." 

He did not say anything to that but shared a smile with himself that lit up the skies of Goryeo.

"I am very glad you are back, my King." I couldn't help but say just looking at him standing before me, smiling and under the lights of a Goryeo that blessed its own sun with light. 

His eyes met mine, and in them, I saw the accomplishment of the impossible. The honey-sweet eyes of a man who reached out to hold not just his dream, but of his nation. It was his vision of not just yesterday and today, but of tomorrow, that was as vast as the sky. 

Just as infinite.

"Your Majesty!"

At the soft call, we turned around to find the Concubine walking to us quickly, beaming with glistening teeth. 

His Majesty did not wait for her to reach us and instead strode to meet her midway. His hands grabbed onto hers and the Great Queen and I were far behind to hear their greetings after so long. 

"Come on, Great Queen." I turned my attention to the grimacing Queen, whom even after years of seeing her son with Ki, still did not manage to accept it properly. "Let us go get ready for the celebrations." 

My attempt at giving the two privacy worked well with a little hesitation from the other side. 

"Very well," She sighed in defeat, turning away with a final disdained glance. "I must see to the royal kitchens first on the food preparation, you never know with these maids." And before she was done huffing her final words, she had whisked herself off like a burdensome stone soon to be placed upon the backs of all the maids working in the boiling kitchen.

I almost felt inclined to follow but I declined last minute, deciding to head back to my own quarters as there was much to prepare for.

I walked back to my chambers, quietly making my exit from the main courtyard. My gaze was captured by the coloured ribbons that adorned the Palace to scream of our victory. Magnificent was the sight before me, of the royal blue, crimson red and bright yellow.

Their shadows alone cast on the open ground snatched my gaze like quicksand. The simple art of the shadows alone was mesmerising. 

All seemed to look glorious that day.

Suddenly, to my right a shadow came into view. As it got closer, I stopped short, my breath catching in my throat. 

"Your Highness." 

Before I could register his words and react to them, my body became an ornament to my heart that began pulsing promised stars throughout my body. They formed a legacy of their own, coursing through my body with the final bit of hope I had been yearning for. 

I turned around then, and it truly felt like taking a breath of fresh air. 

"Prince Jung." 

In the ten months he had been gone, so little and so much had changed. His looks were barely roughed from when he left ten months ago but his aura and ambiance had a new intent I had not been accustomed to before. 

He wore his beauty like a scar; standing tall and determined both literally and figuratively. Despite having groomed and cleaned himself upon arrival, there was the physical evidences of war upon him, of the red tinges slashed across his hands and two on his face- I did not see it as the ruins of war and rather a dream of the nation.