"Elderberry, ginger root, juniper and ginseng, boiled in water for approximately four hours. If you take it once a day before breakfast, you'll be fit as a fiddle before the changing of the seasons." Hye Ra smiled at her newest patient, an elderly man of almost eighty who had come to her with a persistent cough. Sitting a short distance behind her, Sunghyun diligently recorded down the prescription that Hye Ra had just recited and picked the necessary herbs, wrapping them up in a small package and handing it over to the old man once he was done.
Sunghyun had been living in Myung Shin village for almost a month now and he had gradually gotten used to the rhythm of life. It wasn't what he was used to—he was much more accustomed to spending his time wielding swords on the training grounds or riding his horse with his bow and arrows in hand, but he sort of liked this gentle pace of life. Every morning, he would follow Hye Ra and Nayoung into the forest to gather herbs, and in the afternoon Hye Ra would take him along to the village centre where she would set up a makeshift stall that sold herbs. From time to time she would offer medical advice and consultations to whoever requested for it, and as the days went by, he watched as the number of patients that flocked to her grew. He was impressed with Hye Ra's skills as a healer, as well as her level of literacy, all of which was unusual for girls of this era.
"Not bad for a day's work!" Hye Ra stretched her arms and declared triumphantly, turning to Sunghyun with a bright smile. The baskets of herbs they had brought to the market for sale were all gone and with that last patient discharged, they could now head back home where Grandmother Im would undoubtedly have prepared a hot meal for them. She watched as Sunghyun nodded and smiled a little in response.
Sunghyun's injuries were healing significantly faster than she expected, probably because he had a strong constitution to begin with. Now he could follow her into the woods with little problems, and even though he was still walking with a limp, the strength in his arms proved considerably useful when it came to herb gathering. With Sunghyun's help, she and Nayoung could now carry twice the amount of herbs they usually did, which meant twice the income.
Sunghyun still hadn't found his voice, but Hye Ra didn't mind. Whenever they had the time, she would converse with him using ink and paper, and although they never had especially long conversations, they were enough. Sunghyun had been careful not to appear overly educated in front of anyone, but Hye Ra could still tell that there was a sophistication in the way he wrote that told her otherwise. She enjoyed the time she spent "talking" to him, because it reminded her of the conversations she would have with Go Yeon and other knights back in the Goguryeo palace.
"Shall we buy a chicken home for Grandma and Nayoung? Nayoung loves roast chicken." Hye Ra beamed as she stood up, dusting the dirt off her skirt. Sunghyun nodded, packing their wooden stools into the now empty herb baskets before hoisting them up on his shoulder.
The marketplace was especially busy at this time of evening, just before the sun set. Hawkers were busy trying to sell the last of their wares and everywhere everyone was trying to drive a hard bargain. Hye Ra felt safe in the crowd, because it made her feel like an ordinary citizen with no burden of the past she left behind. Sunghyun, on the other hand, still habitually glanced around warily at every single person that passed him by, worried that there would be danger lurking around the street corner.
"Stop right there!" a shrill voice suddenly shrieked out from ahead.
Through the busy crowd, Hye Ra could see a man with dark brown hair and tattered clothes running at high speed in her direction, knocking people out of the way as he went along. Behind him, there was a fat, ruddy shopkeeper who was chasing after him with a meat cleaver in her hands. What caught her attention was not his shoddy outfit, or the fact that he was being chased down the main street—it was his eyes.
His eyes were grey.
As he got closer and closer, something else struck her as particularly odd. As a seer, she could typically sense a person's aura, no matter how vague and hazy. Even for Sunghyun, who couldn't say a word, she had been able to pick up a slight aura of nobility and the stench of blood that hinted at a violent past. That, and the hint of jasmine that seemingly belonged to a woman. For the man with the grey eyes she was looking at right now, she could sense nothing.
It was as though there was no human soul inside of him.
A man with no past, present, or future. How odd...
She blinked, and suddenly the grey of his eyes disappeared, replaced by a more normal shade of black. She was standing right in his path, yet he showed no signs of slowing down. Instead, she could have sworn that he winked his right eye at her as he ran. Before he could come crashing straight into her, a pair of strong arms yanked her to one side, moving her safely out his path.
Hye Ra found herself standing in Sunghyun's arms, a worried look on his face.
"Are you ok?", his expression seemed to say. Hye Ra nodded slowly, blushing a little at how close they were standing.
"I'm fine. Thank you." By the time she distanced herself from Sunghyun and straightened herself up, the man had long disappeared into the crowd. The lady who had been chasing him had now stopped, huffing and puffing at the amount of exertion he had put her through.
"Don't you ever let me find you, you ruddy thief!" she yelled angrily, still waving her gleaming cleaver in the air.
"Excuse me, what did that man do?" Hye Ra walked up to the lady and tapped on her shoulder, asking curiously.
The lady turned around in surprise and replied, "Him? Just another one of them beggars. Obviously has strong arms and legs, judging from the way he runs. I don't understand why he doesn't just get a job and earn a decent living instead of stealing my roasted meats! This is the fourth time this month! I've told my workers to keep an eye out for him but I have no idea how he sneaks past us every single time." She shook her head and sighed, before heading back up the street towards her shop.
A beggar? But those grey eyes... Maybe I was just seeing things? Hye Ra shook the thoughts of the strange man out of her head, continuing down the path with Sunghyun.
#
Lee Sol was bored out of her mind.
The Goguryeo palace was unlike the Baekje palace where she could do as she pleased and no one would dare say a word. Over here, there were so many palace rules and etiquettes weighing her down like a ton of bricks. After that one time where she escaped from her palace maids and managed to get a few arrows shot, the chief court lady in charge of her chambers had increased the number of guards watching over her, just to make sure she didn't get into any more trouble.
If only L or Dojin were here. They always let me do whatever I wanted to, she grumbled to herself as she sat alone in her quarters.
After being here for a month, she still hadn't seen her supposed husband—the great crown prince Go Yeon. Not that she wanted to, because she was almost certain he was a jerk, considering how he abandoned her on their wedding night.
"Summon Lady Jang please," she called out to the palace maids who were waiting outside. Within a minute, her chief court lady had entered the room, bowing respectfully to the crown princess.
"You called for me, Your Highness?"
"I've run out of gold thread, please get me some more," Sol pointed at her embroidery basket and said.
"Yes, Your Highness. I will send Jooyeon to get some from the royal stores immediately." Lady Jang was about to head out of the room when she was stopped in her tracks once more.
"No. This gold thread is special. It's made of silk that comes from a rare species of spider that can only be found in Baekje. I brought this thread in from Baekje when I arrived so it's not the same as the gold thread you'll find in the Goguryeo stores. I know that there's a place in town that sells goods from Baekje, you'll have to go there and get it." Sol said quickly.
"Alright then, I will send Jooyeon—"
"Please go and get it yourself. I do not trust any of the palace maids to know exactly what I am looking for. Only a person with eyes as sharp as yours would be able to distinguish between inferior goods and the genuine threads I am looking for." Sol smiled sweetly at her lady-in-waiting, hoping that she had coated her words with sufficient sugar to convince the lady to do what she wanted. She picked out a strand of gold thread from her basket and held it out towards the lady. "Here, I have one strand of gold thread left. Please take this to the shop and tell the shopkeeper that this is what I want."
Lady Jang hesitated for a second, and then nodded in agreement, reaching to take the gold thread from Sol's hand. "As you wish, Your Highness. I will go quickly and return as soon as possible. In the meantime, please do not do anything that will cause... concern." She quickly bowed and exited the chambers as swiftly as she arrived.
Lady Jang had barely turned the corner leading away from the crown princess's chambers when she encountered Go Yeon, who was on his way back from the king's study.
"Lady Jang?"
"Your Highness." Lady Jang bowed respectfully.
"Where are you going off in such a hurry? Is something wrong with the princess?" Go Yeon frowned. Lady Jang had been specially assigned to the crown princess by his mother, who hoped that she would quickly pick up the etiquette of the Goguryeo palace instead of sticking to her Baekje ways. As far as he was aware, Lady Jang was told specifically never to leave the princess's side to guard against her making any unnecessary mistakes, so it was odd that she was rushing away at this time of day.
"Her Highness has sent me on an errand to buy some special Baekje gold thread from the town. It cannot be found in the Goguryeo stores, so there's no other way. I will go quickly and return before the sun sets," Lady Jang explained patiently.
Go Yeon raised an eyebrow. "Gold thread? Let me take a look."
When the lady-in-waiting handed over the sample of thread that Sol had given her, Go Yeon immediately saw through the girl's tricks. What is that girl trying to pull this time? He had seen the same type of gold thread enough times in his mother's chambers to know what it was. In the entire Goguryeo palace, his mother—Concubine Yoon—was considered one of the best at embroidery and he had grown up watching her sew her way through all sorts of fanciful threads. The strand he was holding in his hand right now was perfectly ordinary gold thread.
"I see. You should be on your way then." Go Yeon handed the thread back to the clueless palace lady, and she scurried along on her way.
Curious as to what Sol was trying to pull, Go Yeon took a detour towards the crown princess's chambers instead, just in time to see a figure sneaking out through one of the side windows. Sol had changed into her male outfit once again and done her hair up in a man's style. He watched in amusement as she looked around warily to make sure none of the guards or palace maids had noticed her sneaky exit.
No one did.
She had picked the perfect time to make her getaway because the guards were just changing shift and the palace maids were busy getting ready for dinner arrangements. With Lady Jang out of the way, this was the opportune moment with the least number of people guarding her quarters. As she made her way towards one of the alleys, Go Yeon snuck round behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to leap up a couple of inches in shock. Before she could tumble backwards and fall to the ground, Go Yeon grabbed her by the waist, saving her from unnecessary injury.
"Going somewhere?" He winked at her knowingly.
"Let go of me!" Sol hissed fiercely when she realised who it was. It was none other than the cocksure guard that she had seen at the archery range the other day—and his hand was still on her waist.
Go Yeon immediately let go as ordered and gravity made her continue tumbling backwards, landing harshly on the ground with a loud thud. "What did you do that for?" she yelped angrily, jumping back up to her feet and rubbing her sore behind.
"You were the one who told me to let go." Go Yeon grinned.
Sol sulked and made a face at him, before asking, "Are you going to report me?" She had meant to sneak around the palace to explore the place a little more, since she had barely seen half the palace since she arrived. Now that she had been caught red-handed by a palace guard, she expected she would likely be hauled back to her chambers and locked in for good.
"Why should I? Aren't you a relation of the king's?" Go Yeon asked, his eyes twinkling with amusement. He found it rather entertaining that this princess was running around the palace masquerading as a boy, and even more entertaining that she didn't know he actually knew her true identity.
"Oh." Sol suddenly recalled the little lie she had told him during the first time they met. "Yes of course! I mean, I was just... heading out of the palace to return home!" She regained a little of her original confidence, putting on her fake smile in order to convince him that she wasn't at all suspicious.
"Really? What a coincidence, my shift is just over and I'm heading out too. How about we go together?" Go Yeon replied innocently. "What's your name by the way?"
"Uhhh..." Sol stammered, trying to concoct a believable name in her mind, "Jang Hoya." She didn't know why she picked Hoya's name out of all the people she knew but it was the first name that popped into her mind. Hoya was always the silent figure lurking in the background, keeping a watchful eye over matters, so he wasn't really noticed much. Sol figured that if any of the White Knights was the least well known in the Goguryeo court, it would be Hoya, so using his name would probably be safest.
"I see," Go Yeon replied thoughtfully. "Well it's nice to know you, Jang Hoya. I'm Jongin." Jongin was the nickname that his mother had given him when he was a child, but since his crowning as crown prince of Goguryeo no one used that nickname much anymore, except his mother.
"Uhh, nice to meet you too, I guess," Sol murmured, striding on ahead hoping that Go Yeon wouldn't follow along. Unfortunately for her, he did, and she had no choice but to bank on her lucky stars that they didn't bump into anyone else along the way who might recognise her for who she really was.
Go Yeon followed behind Sol, observing her carefully with amusement.
Jang Hoya? Of all the names in the world to choose, why did you choose that particular one?
It was likely just a coincidence, but Go Yeon was rather intrigued by it all the same. Earlier in the afternoon in the king's study, the Black Knights had just been discussing the new prisoner they were keeping down in the palace dungeons. He had just regained consciousness earlier that morning and the king was in two minds over what was to be done with him. They had been chasing after two men but one had escaped and was nowhere to be found, a problem that posed a huge headache to the Goguryeo court. After a couple of hours of intense debate, the consensus was that the prisoner should be kept alive for now as he might be useful as bait to lure the other man out, or as a hostage in case the undercover mission in Baekje went awry.
Right now, there was one Jang Hoya rotting away in the dark, damp dungeons fifty feet below where they were currently standing. And up here there was a princess who was pretending to be him.
Go Yeon was amused. Very amused.
#