She was rendered helpless on her knees in front of me, and the longer I looked at her the more the resemblance became uncanny.
"You… what is your name...?" I asked with curiosity peaked beyond my liking, but I had to know. I emerged out of the darkness with my blade ready to tear at her flesh for her insolence.
"What is it to you? If you're going to kill me then do it quickly!" She was remarkably rebellious till the end. Walking a little closer I placed my dagger at her throat realizing that something wasn't right.
"You're not a girl, are you?"
"No… I'm not." He answered bluntly.
His face was filled with disgust for me as he spat the blood out of his mouth onto the ground. Why didn't I realize this before? It suddenly hit me that it could be him but how can I get a confession without revealing myself. What if I'm wrong, but golden hair was not common, was it?
"What. Is. Your name?" I pushed the tip of my dagger a little deeper. He flinched as it kissed his neck tasting his sweet nectar of life that eventually dripped off the tip of the blade. His body was must like a canvas, and the color of blood looked disturbingly beautiful against his pale skin and blonde hair.
He was wise to remain silent for it left me to second guess my decision to kill him. I needed his name. I looked over at Baekho who was lying still on the bed, realizing that he was who I came for and to leave without him would mean my men had died for nothing.
Lost in thought, that was when I felt it. The tip of a sword had lurked up behind me gently pinning itself against my back. How could I let myself fall prey to this? Whoever was on the other side of this sword was a trained killer and was not to be underestimated.
"Who are you and why have you come?" he asked; his voice without a hint of reluctance to kill me if he had too.
I dropped the dagger from my hand, and turned around slowly. His rugged appearance suited his medium length hair and his face was one of a true warrior with eyes that demanded compliance. I had to think quickly with no choice but to divert from my mission in order to stay alive.
"If you kill me, more of us will come…" I threatened hoping that it would turn the situation in my favor just a little. I began sliding slowly to my left towards the window with his eyes following my every move. His blade remained motionless as he moved with me; a true master swordsman. Who was this man…?
When I was able to, I leaped out of the window and disappeared into the night. I ran as if I would fly for there was no time to waste…
I was curious of whom the man was, but it was not important right now. Ren was suffering from countless wounds that proved difficult to pinpoint with his entire body nearly covered with blood.
"Father…" Ren mumbled as he fell forward unconsciously into my arms.
"Ren!" Seohyun shouted rushing to get the medical supplies. I lifted his still body in my arms and placed him on the bed next to the unfamiliar young man. I quickly checked the pulse of the boy that was sitting beside the bed on the floor and I knew I had work fast if I were to save them both…
Please don't take Ren away from us… I pleaded with all my might to the heavens. The condition of the boy on the floor was even worse than Ren's. Seohyun pressed hard against the large puncture wound in his side attempting to stop the bleeding. Fortunately for him, Ren's shoulder wound was not life threatening; otherwise I would have only been able to save one of them.
"Honey, it's not stopping!" Seohyun shouted at me filled with sadness that such a young boy could die tonight and his parents would never know… She and I were unable to have children of our own, and in the end we devoted our lives to saving them.
I checked the deep wound realizing that it had cut into the outer layer of his large intestines; I would have to stitch him back up.
"Grab the needle and thread." I asked of her with my hand on Ren's shoulder wound. His body had several tiny blades sticking out of various limbs that I would have to pull out one by one, but to keep him alive they acted as a temporary barricade to anymore blood loss.
Seohyun masterfully threaded up the needle handing it to me and took my place beside Ren so that I could work. I opened a gourd of potent rice wine completely filling my mouth with its fragrant nectar. I held my lips tightly together so that when I spat the wine sprayed evenly onto the young boy's wound sterilizing it. Little by little I stitched the wound shut inside of him while Seohyun stitched Ren's outer wounds as she took each dagger out of him one at a time. When I was done, I broke the excess thread with my teeth letting out a sigh that didn't help the burden lingering in my chest; the waiting game was not a game I favored.
Seohyun washed Ren's body and changed his clothes like she did for him when he was just a little boy. I gently carried Ren in my arms to his room and placed him on his bed wishing it had been me instead. He wasn't of blood, but the love I had for this boy was equivalent to Guanyin's love for the people of this world.
Please, Goddess of mercy and compassion… with my head beside Ren's body I begged to her not to take my beautiful boy away from me. I felt Seohyun's soft hands upon my shoulders bringing a sense of comfort, and I placed my hands on top of hers to give her the same.
"Min Ho… will he be alright?" Seohyun's voice was shaken and exhausted.
"His life is in the hands of the heavens now..." I responded quiet exhausted as well. We had journeyed to a nearby village early that morning to treat the sick kids at the orphanage. If I had known the day would bring about such events I would have never left my Ren's side.
Seohyun fell to her knees at the sight of her son lying in front of her lifeless and frail as a fallen rose petal. She caressed his cheek with her hand as tears streamed down her face in guilt at failing to fulfill a mother's duty to protect her child. Her heart must have ached more painfully than it ever had before as she gripped the clothes on her chest tightly.
I held her shoulders tightly with my hands once more leaning in to plant a kiss atop her head. Even the pain of a thousand stab wounds would not surpass that of Seohyun's grief if she were to lose Ren; a pain I would not even wish upon my greatest enemies. I walked out of the room burying the pain in my heart as I went to check on other young boy.
The bleeding wasn't stopping, but it was slowing which was a good sign. I sighed trying to ease my suffering heart for just a second, but I wasn't allowed. Worry consumed me and I knew I would not be able to breathe easy till I knew Ren would be okay.
I walked around my small pharmacy noticing the walls and floor were painted red by the blood of scattered bodies on the ground. The cabinets were opened, tables and chairs knocked over, smashed pots and plates, and even the door hinge was barely clinging on.
That's when I saw it; my sword. I walked over to the doorway of the backroom and picked it and its sheath up in my hands. I lunged forward with it parallel to the ground as I stared at the flawless blade now tainted once again with human blood.
Old friend… blood taste so sweet to you, doesn't it? You must feel alive again after drinking such an elixir. Together this sword and I have seen many battles and taken too many lives as if I was the grim reaper. A swords sole purpose was to reap the soul from your enemies' bodies freeing them from the agony of this world; at least that's what I was taught. However, that all changed when I met Choi Sooyoung almost twenty years ago…
It was such a hot summer's day as everyone in the palace struggled to stay cool with the sun climbing high in the sky demanding that the temperature continue to rise. Regardless, everyone in the palace move about their day as usual, eunuchs and tea maidens running errands to keep order within the palace and to continue to please their king. I was about 24 years old at the time, but well-known for my ruthlessness, obedience, and intelligence.
The courtyard was attractively dressed with flowers of all kinds gracing the air with its gentle soothing aroma and bestowing magnificent beauty upon the eyes of any passerby. I made my way through the palace courtyard towards my office as the beating sun rested its sweltering rays upon my skin causing me to perspire, and that's when I saw her.
A young girl about twenty years old had hidden herself within a gazebo silently sobbing with her face hidden in her arms.
"You… why are you hiding here? Where is your palace guardian?" My voice back then had no warmth, but it was fitting of a cold killer without a conscience.
She was dressed in a hanbok that often worn by new maidens who were training to become official palace tea girls, but it was stained with dirt. She would certainly be greeted by a thin bamboo whip against her calves if she was to be found.
"Answer me!" I commanded with an arrogance backed by my authority within the palace walls. I grabbed the little girl by the shoulders and unexpectedly met an innocent kindness that I had never felt before. Despite my cold voice, she embraced me with her frail arms, and her embrace was warm yet somber.
Her tears caressed my neck startling me. Out of shock I shoved her onto the ground where I was able to get a good look at her. My eyes become captivated by her beauty not knowing that the little girl in front of me would change my life forever. Her face was so beautiful despite the small smudges of dirt that her tears mixed with as she continued to cry. Her hair was as dark as ebony wood and flowed in perfect waves all the way down to her waist, her bangs softly framed her milky face.
At that instance, a school of tea girls walked elegantly passed us with their heads lifted proudly into the air. A tea girl was taught to devote her entire life, mind, body, and soul to serving her emperor and that one should always be proud of that.
"Oh! Teacher! There's Sooyoung!" One of the littler girls shouted while pointing in our direction. I looked as the head maiden walked over to me.
"General Lee, may I ask what is going on here?" She bowed to me with the upmost respect asking me in the most ladylike manner, her voice soft and avoiding eye contact. It was forbidden that any tea girls even look at another man besides her king, and such treason was punishable by death.
"Making way to my chambers I saw this child here sobbing…" I unintentionally sounded angered. Used to battle cries and shouting commands, my voice adopted a course and harsh tone. She immediately bowed to me in apology several times in the most former fashion.
"General Lee, please forgive me. I should have trained her better." She apologized over and over again for her failure whilst I just stood there like a statue without a word. "Don't just stand there! Apologize!" She ordered Sooyoung while cringing at the filth on her hanbok and her face. Sooyoung bowed to me silently with tears still streaming down her face. Excusing herself, she grabbed her student by the arm practically dragging her back to their study room and foolishly I followed without being seen.
The sound of the bamboo whip snapping against the teacher's desk startled Sooyoung sending chills down her spine. I watched from behind a thick tall column as her teacher questioned her discrepancies.
"Explain the filth on your hanbok! Where have you been and why are you so filthy!?" She asked fiercely snapping the whip against the desk once more.
"I… I… the girls…" She looked over at the other girls who starred back with threatening eyes forbidding her to say a word. In actuality Sooyoung had been picked on and harassed for being of common blood, but her beauty and intelligence were undeniable. Her family had fallen on hard times after her father had gambled away all they had and it forced her mother to push her only daughter into a lifelong sentence of servitude within the palace walls.
The teacher grew impatient waiting for Sooyoung's reply and snapped the whip harder than she had before.
"Turn around, Sooyoung, and lift up your hanbok! I will whip mercilessly you so that you will not forget your place." She promised proceeding to make an example of an innocent girl.
She slowly lifted the skirt of the hanbok up to her knees revealing her cloth shoes that fully covered her legs and pulled those down as well exposing her radiant bare skin. If every drop of that child's tears and blood from her lashes had been into a well then she could have easily filled it.
I've seen so much blood in my short yet undeserving life and most all of it by my own hands. Even as a young child my father and I hunted allowing me to feel the power of a blade as it eased its way between the skin of an animal's throat.
However, watching as the whip collide with this child's bare skin sent a sickness through me that I had never felt before making me realize that a blade was not only capable of banishing the evils of this world, but it was also capable of destroying what was beautiful.
I sat in my room that night, as I did now, holding the sheath of my blade admiring it then skillfully drawing the blade out of rest. The red that embodied it was beautiful as the candle light flickered against it, but looking at it this time the color had blossomed new meaning. Hate, anger, and death seemed birthed of the color, but so was life and love…
This girl, Sooyoung… I'd become a moth that was drawn to the flame of her innocence.
Hey you guys! It's been so quiet on here! I hope you guys are enjoying the story thus far! Please let me know what you sincerely think! Thank you for deciding to join me on this journey. I hope that you will continue to! Thank you to those who've left comments! You're amazing! XoXoXo