"Now…I am yours"

On a day that felt a lifetime ago, Wang So remembered speaking those words to the only woman who had ever captured him heart and soul. And he'd meant them. Despite the distances that had tried to separate them and the horrors that were part of life in the palace, he still remembered and kept those words inside. Once upon a time, when he'd discovered a world made open to him by that simple little thing Hae Soo did for him, removing the mask that seemed to doom him, he was determined make her his. When he took the throne for himself, he would lay that world at her feet and make her his queen. All would see her worth and what she meant to him.

But nothing in this life was easy, and So found out that in order to keep his throne he would be expected to make sacrifices. Power only existed as long as those around you agreed that it existed, and the officials around him would only play that game as long as he played theirs. And this is how he found himself agreeing to marry a woman he'd rather spit at than make his queen, and the woman to whom he wanted to give the world had to sit in the shadows.

They couldn't have everything their way though…

The night before the travesty that people were celebrating as a wedding, So met Hae Soo in her room for dinner. He'd asked her to wear the blue and red gown he'd given her, the dress that he'd intended to show her off to the world in as he crowned her queen. She looked radiant as she sat across the table from him, the picture of a perfect royal bride if it weren't for the sorrow in her eyes. He knew her sorrow intimately, for he felt it himself, but determined not to have everything taken away from him, So took his glass of wine and stood.

"Come with me." He said.

Not bothering to see if she followed him, he made his way over to Soo's bed and knelt down in front of it. A few seconds later she knelt beside him, and he looked over at her to see that she looked a little confused, and he gave her a little smile, glad that she was willing to follow along with him.

So took her hand and placed it on the wine glass along with his, and looked up.

"Whatever gods are out there, look down and hear me." Then he looked at Soo. "No matter what happens tomorrow, no matter what head the crown is placed on, this is my wedding. I will only have one true wife in my life; I am hers as she is mine, and no one can take that from us."

The words weren't traditional, but So couldn't care less about tradition. Tradition was keeping him from what he wanted most, so the hell with it. He lifted the cup and sipped at the wine. "I am yours, both in this life and the next." He whispered, then moved the cup towards Soo.

Her eyes shone as she gazed back at him, before sipping from the cup as well. "I am yours, both in this life and the next." She whispered.

Still kneeling, they bowed to each other over the cup. He didn't want her to stay on her knees for too long though and so he set the cup down then stood and taking Soo's hand, lifted her to her feet. So raised her hand to his lips and kissed it gently, almost reverently.

"Remember." He whispered. "When I leave this room and do the things I have to, to keep this world safe for you and our children, remember I am still yours."

Drawing her close, So kissed her. Soo's arms slid around his neck and she kissed him back, pressing her slender little body to his.

"I'll remember." She said softly when they finally came up for air. "And don't you forget."

His eyes never left hers as he lowered her to the bed. "If I remember nothing else in this life, it will be that."

Carefully, he removed the royal wedding robe from her body, kissing over each inch of skin as it was revealed to him. They'd given themselves to each other before, but this was new. This was their wedding night; Soo was now his wife. Every kiss they gave was a promise, and when he finally slid deep inside of her body, he felt like their joining was finishing the binding that their whispered vows had started.

That night they loved longer and harder than they ever had, with an intensity that was almost scary. Just before dawn they fell asleep, curled around each other. So lay with his head pillowed against his wife, listening to her precious heartbeat, and as he drifted off he swore that nothing would destroy this one true union.