When Jung arrived in the throne room, Yo was ready for him; clearing the table before his throne and leaning an elbow on it, watching the younger, armored man reach the middle of the room and bow. On his left, Ji Mong shifted, and Yo caught the astronomer frowning, a sad expression in his eyes. Yo ignored him. "Rise," he said.
Jung came out of his deep bow and looked up at Yo for a moment. "The fourteenth prince greets His Majesty," he said, his tone clipped and serious, his gaze immediately returning to the floor. There was something about his movements and the deep cast of his eyes that reminded Yo of So now, and he realized that Khitan had changed Jung.
The boy had grown, and he was no longer the Jung Yo had known. Yo hadn't sent Jung to Khitan for any personal reason; either to isolate Soo, nor to get rid of any competition in his mother's eyes. No, he had sent Jung because it was what Goryeo needed. Baek Ah was not enough of a military man, Eun was even less so, he needed Won by his side to deal with the nobility – and So was in Seokyeong (besides, it would have been too great an honor for the wolf-dog). He had to send a prince of his own house, because otherwise he would be favoring one of the noble houses over the others; or punishing them. The line was thin and ill-defined. Jung was the only logical choice – and he proved himself well. Now, however, some small, suppressed part of him that remembered ridiculous, sun-soaked days full of tall grass, unstoppable laughter, and the clatter of wooden swords; Yo felt remorse. Of course, he showed nothing. "It's been a while, brother," Yo said lightly.
"Two years," Jung said, much less mildly, ice in his tone and steel in the set of his shoulders.
"You proved yourself," Yo said, with an affectedly lazy gesture of his hand. "I can reward you well. Ask for whatever you wish, besides the throne, and I'll grant it to you." He fixed Jung with a look, but Jung's eyes were still firmly fixed to the floor.
Jung bowed. "I have nothing I want as for now that Your Majesty could grant me," he said quietly, looking down at his feet.
"Short of bringing the sun from the sky, I do not see what I could not grant you," Yo said, raising an eyebrow. He looked down at Jung for a fraction of a second, then shifted to recline against the back of the throne. "…But no matter, when you do think of something, I will grant your request. I swear it."
For a while, Jung said nothing, and he stood in silence in the middle of the floor, Yo watching him intently. Finally, he spoke again, but the air of cold steeliness was gone, and he sounded like the boy he was before he had left two years ago. His voice didn't shake, but it came close to doing so. "Br- Your Majesty? Can I ask you a question?" Yo shrugged, and Jung took it as a 'yes'. "Soo… While I was gone… How was she?"
Yo raised an eyebrow. "The one she is pining after wasn't you, you know," he said. The statement wasn't meant to be cruel, just flatly delivered, a warning – but it came out wrong and a curtain of poorly-gathered blankness dropped over Jung's face. To his left, he saw Ji Mong quickly look up at him and wince, and he shot a glare at the court astronomer. He didn't need Choi Ji Mong of all people to be wincing at him.
"I know," Jung said quietly. "But… Was she eating well?" He looked up, the hope on his face palpable.
There was a small pause, and then the corner of Yo's mouth lifted involuntarily. "…Yes," he said. "Well enough."
Jung's face split into a grin for a moment, and Yo snorted.
/
"My Prince." Kim Haeng Pa looked up from the book he had been reading and rose from his desk to greet Baek Ah. "My thanks to you for coming so soon, upon my request," he said, bowing from the waist, but not low. The thirteenth prince smiled and bowed slightly back, gaze ghosting around Lord Kim's study, at the weapons and paintings of Silla in its former glory on the walls, and the books of military strategy stacked neatly on the shelves behind the desk.
"You wished to speak with me, Lord Uncle?" Baek Ah asked mildly.
"Please sit," Lord Kim said, a half-hearted echo of Baek Ah's smile on his face.
Baek Ah sat, and Lord Kim also, behind his desk, back straight and expression hard and neutral. There was a silence, during which Baek Ah shifted uncomfortably. 'One thing I know,' he thought, 'And that is that this is not just a social call. Being born a prince is both a blessing and a curse – for I can admit to enjoying the privileges my fortunes allow me, yet to be embroiled in politics and intrigue is much more than I can handle. But there is very little in which I can deny my lord uncle.' Kim Eok Ryeom was officially Baek Ah's grandfather, for he had adopted Baek Ah's mother – but he was not old enough to be a grandfather by fifteen years; as was Kim Haeng Pa. But it was Kim Haeng Pa who had housed Baek Ah and his mother during the young prince's childhood, and Baek Ah remembered him fondly.
"Your mother sends her love," Lord Kim said.
Smiling again, Baek Ah nodded. "I do likewise."
The lord brushed a tired hand over his graying hair and looked stoically down at his desk top, looking as if he was going to say something, but did not, only sighing and leaning back in his chair. Baek Ah sought to fill the silence with conversation. "How is my lady aunt?" he asked, crossing his legs and shifting comfortably in his chair. "I have heard that the has successfully married all five of my cousins off to the Chungju Yoo."
He regretted the words as soon as they slipped form his mouth, for he saw Lord Kim's expression shift and sharpen, the lines around his mouth becoming hard and his eyes flinty. "Yes," he said stiffly. "That is so."
The thirteenth prince fumbled for words. "…I- I did not seek to offend you-"
"No, I apologize," Lord Kim said. "It is exactly that which I wish to speak of with you. Of our Yoo king, his Yoo mother and brothers and the northwestern Wang Shik Ryeom who has all but become one of the Yoo himself."
Baek Ah started in his seat, rushing to defend them. "Jung and So are not like either His Majesty or the Queen Mother. They are both good men."
Lord Kim raised an eyebrow. "So, in the time that I have been away from the capital, the savage wolf-prince and his spoiled brat of a brother have become good men?"
"Children grow," Baek Ah said with an offhand shrug, "And savagery can be curbed."
"Curbed?" The one word hung in the air and Baek Ah winced.
"He doesn't, ah, cut things up just for the shock value, and things like that," Baek Ah said, waving a hand. "He, ah, grew out of it."
Lord Kim seemed intrigued. "Due to your influence?"
"No," Baek Ah said, already afraid he said too much. There was love between him and his uncle, certainly. The thirteenth prince mother was his niece and Baek Ah grew up in his household. But now especially, Baek Ah knew he had to be careful what he spoke of in front of who, for it could cost him and those he cared for very dearly.
"I have heard baseless rumors," Lord Kim said, "Of Lady Hae Soo, the third queen, and her closeness with the princes."
"Not so baseless, my lord uncle," Baek Ah said with a smile. "She is my friend; one that could not be finer."
Lord Kim's expression soured, and he shook his head, a pedantic tone entering his voice, as if Baek Ah was a child in need of lecturing. "Anyone who is part of Goryeo's royal family is to be avoided – Baek Ah, surely you know that. You know not by what means she managed to receive such a rank."
Baek Ah looked sharply at his uncle and spoke flatly, desperately trying not to take offense at the blatant disdain to his best friend, and the assumption of his own foolishness. "I do know, and well. Hae Soo is an honorable woman and a great friend of mine. She never wanted to be married to the king, either my father or my third brother. To avoid marriage to my father she cut her arm open with a sharp shard from a broken vase on her wedding night, so that it would scar. Soo said that she didn't want to live a life controlled by other people."
Looking mildly impressed, Lord Kim shifted forward slightly. "Truly? She seems a remarkable woman."
"Indeed she is," Baek Ah said, trying not to appear too smug.
"Then why, pardon my curiosity," Lord Kim said, "Did she marry this king? Surely there is no love between them."
Baek Ah stopped. He would reveal too much if he spoke any further, and he didn't know what his uncle was planning to do with this information. Before the wedding, they had not seen each other in years – and now that Baek Ah saw his brothers and their houses involving themselves in complicated political and seditious dances, he was afraid that he would unwittingly become a part of House Kim's bitterness for old Silla and plots for power in the hierarchy of Goryeo. So he smiled mildly and simply said, "Love? I don't know about love, but I think there is a mutual tolerance borne of several years of marriage."
Lord Kim let the subject go, looking like he sensed that Baek Ah said all he would say. "I wished to speak with you of House Yoo."
"What of it?" Baek Ah asked lightly, dreading whatever it was that Lord Kim was about to say.
"It has been a point of debate among many, whether our new king will keep his throne for long. Taejo had built an empire, and things had been more-or-less stable under him. But when he handed it over to his son, King Hyejong dropped it. Wang Yo seems to be made of different stuff – however, a bloodthirsty king is no better than a cowardly one."
"You know that my rank in the palace is not so high as to involve me in such matters, uncle. I know nothing – only that my eighth brother is dead and that Yeon Hwa is having her utmost wish granted – to become a queen. I know that Hae Soo is lonely in her queen's quarters, and I know that lord uncle Kim Eok Ryeom was playing a dangerous game." Baek Ah sighed. "Neither gold nor steel interests me, uncle. My greatest wish is to never become embroiled in court politics – and to live in the country with my musical instruments, my paints and a loving wife."
Lord Kim raised an eyebrow. "A gisaeng?"
'It seems to be the worst-kept secret in the capital…' Baek Ah sighed inwardly, but only tilted his head to the side noncommittally in response. "Uncle, if you want to know who to back, I am not the one to ask."
"I see…" Lord Kim sighed. "I am a nobleman of old Silla. To see a Wang on the throne and not a Kim… Even after all these years, it is disconcerting."
Baek Ah's eyebrows advanced up his forehead. "Uncle!" he said warningly. 'Saying things like that may get him in trouble.' He leaned forward. "Silla was in decline and deeply vulnerable. During your lifetime, it was never as wonderful as they all remember it to be!"
"That may be true," he said with a sigh. "But it was ours. Given time, given resources, we could have fixed everything." Lord Kim waved a dismissive hand. "I was a very young man when your father rose to the throne, indeed I was only eighteen – very alike to you, wishing the world better and hoping to fly away from the maelstrom of intrigue that broke out then. But I had to change, just as you will have to."
"What are you talking about?" Baek Ah asked, feeling greatly uneasy.
"I never liked Wang Geon, he had taken everything from us and redistributed the leftovers. But he was an honorable man, and I could not begrudge him the throne, unlike many others," Lord Kim said quietly. "Take my advice, Baek Ah. Do not turn away from the ugly things and try to pretend they do not exist. Do not be imprudent, holding stones together with your bare hands as the walls crumble around you. Be honorable, do nothing you will regret in years to come. Harden your heart and remember that you are twice royal."
/
During dinner, the king seemed tired and distant, not saying much. She had not seen him for a few days, and she had heard it was because of Yeon Hwa's illness that he stayed by her side. It was obvious that Yo didn't love her, but Soo wondered what on earth could make Yo stay by her sickbed – and if, perhaps, Yo was more fond of her than he seemed. When they were done eating, Yo commanded the servant to bring a bottle of strong wine, which was unusual as the king preferred not to drink much. Soo poured him a cup, but none for herself. Around the king it was best to keep one's wits sharp and avoid inebriation.
As her wrist dipped gracefully and the wine streamed in a delicate curve into his cup, Soo held the sleeve of her pouring arm up. Yo watched her movements with an odd look on his face, and when she stopped pouring the wine, moving to put the bottle down, Yo reached out and took her wrist.
Soo's eyes widened. "Y-Your Majesty, what-"
He took the bottle form her and set it down, pulling her sleeve down further and turning her up to look at it. There was an odd look of pensiveness on his face as he did so, and Soo's confused words died in her throat. Then, she realized why. "You haven't covered your scar," Yo said, no particular inflection in his voice.
'Oh, goddamn it, I forgot!' flashed through her mind, before she gathered her wits about herself. "My apologies for my absentmindedness, Your Majesty. Please forgive me," she said quickly.
Yo eyed her scar for a moment longer. It was a clean line, not particularly straight but long, and the cut had been deep. The scar itself had faded to white over time, not raised, easy to cover. "You did this to yourself?" he asked curiously. "I've heard the story before, but not from you."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I broke a vase and used one of the shards," she said, feeling oddly proud of that moment when she had taken her fate into her own hands.
He nodded and let go, drinking from his cup. "Rather than becoming a queen, you tore your arm open with a piece of a broken vase."
"I didn't want-" Soo began to retort defensively before she cut herself off.
Yo snorted, then slowly shook his head. "Whatever you do, you do not live quietly," he said. "Your story was popular among the commoners. The woman who would rather die than marry the king, for love of a handsome prince. It never mentioned which one of us it was, but I will surmise it was Wook." He smirked at her. "Am I right?"
Soo did not answer, and he shrugged. She poured him more wine and settled back in her chair, welcoming the silence. Sometimes, she almost enjoyed the king's company, but it was at moments like these that he reminded her who he truly was and what his true character was. He was vindictive because it amused him to see her riled up. Yet, sometimes, it was so hard not to see the man who grudgingly graded her snowman-making skills that one time, or wryly smiled as her makeup brush danced over his face after a particularly bad night.
"…Have you ever been pregnant?" he suddenly asked.
Soo choked on nothing, train of thought completely breaking. "What- No!" she exclaimed. As Ha Jin she had been on the pill, and in Goryeo… Well… One had to be extremely careful. "…I-I never- Ah, may I ask why the question, your Majesty?" she tried carefully, face flushing slightly. 'Oh, god, he's not going to-'
"Just a question," he said, waving his hand dismissively at her, not even taking the opportunity to tease her in any way. The distant look in his eyes returned. "Apparently, pregnant women cannot eat fish."
"Uh…" Soo said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think that's true." Something nagged at the back of her mind as Yo's fingers began to tap against the rim of his cup. Something about Yeon Hwa- Her eyes widened. "Your Majesty!" she exclaimed.
Yo looked at her. "What?"
"Princess Yeon Hwa… She isn't-"
He was out of his chair and his hand over her mouth before she could blink. The chair screeched across the floor with his sudden weight. His knee was braced against the chair beside her thigh, and his other hand was on the back of the chair. When he looked down at her, his eyes were sharp. "Queen," he said in a low, silky voice laden with menace. "Queen Yeon Hwa has taken ill. Speak to no-one of this."
Soo's eyes were wide and her breath died in her throat, her heart beating quickly with surprise and fright. She blinked up at him and he seemed as if he was going to draw back – when the court lady outside the door said something, and the door opened.
The young messenger in the doorway gulped audibly, face going red. Soo realized what the scenario appeared like to him, and wanted to roll her eyes but didn't. Yo, however, did. He drew back, completely unconcerned, and took the folded paper from the boy. He waved an imperious hand and made a clicking noise at him, and the messenger scampered off as fast as he could, the doors swinging shut behind him.
Yo unfolded the paper and read a few lines with raised eyebrows; looked up at Soo for a few moments, smirked, then continued to read. When he finished, he laughed, folding the paper back up and throwing it onto his desk, then going over to the table and drinking form his cup.
Soo's mind began to race. Why had he looked at her like that? What did the paper say that put the king in such a good mood? Something that applied to her that would make the king happy… Soo could think of nothing, and her eyebrows drew together in consternation. The thought came to her, unbidden, and she wished that her mind would let go of false hopes. Was So coming back? Could that be it? But why would that make Yo happy?
And, more than anything, why was he hiding Yeon Hwa's pregnancy? Wouldn't she be held in higher esteem as the wife of a king if it was common knowledge that she was with child?
/
Soo waved as Baek Ah and Jung left her and smiled widely, content that her friends were both here, for being together with them such a joy. Having tea with them almost every day made her feel happier and lighter than she had in months. The happy mood was soon dampened, however, by an approaching court lady's words. "The Queen Mother requests your presence Milady Hae," she said, then bowed low and glided backward as she delivered her message.
Again. Damn. Without quite realizing that she'd done it, Soo's hands tightened into fists, nails biting into her palms, but she nodded her head, forcing pleasantry into her voice. "I will attend her." This was the fourth time Queen Yoo summoned Soo in as many days, and she was beginning to be sick of it. The Queen Mother obviously wanted something, and all Soo knew was that she should not get it, whatever it is.
They made trite conversation over tea, conversation in which they spoke of things such as the weather and fashion in the capital. Soo knew enough of the first and barely anything of the second, and she tended to stiffly sit and pretend to sip at her tea as Queen Yoo spoke at length, an obviously fake smile playing on the Queen Mother's lips. Soo would not drink anything when Queen Yoo was nearby, she decided, and she would slowly drip the tea from the cup into her sleeve under the guise of drinking.
Everything about that woman made Soo feel as if her hair had been brushed the wrong way, and she recalled So weeping, face bloody, as he tore apart the towers of prayer stones; the poisoned tea; Yo's first, unsuccessful coup attempt after Taejo's death. There was something wrong. Every time Queen Yoo looked at her, Soo's shoulders tensed and she expected to be poisoned, stabbed or to watch someone she loved get hurt. Soo didn't believe in absolute evil. But if she spent any more time around Queen Yoo, she might begin to. In those four days, she had not seen Yo – and Soo didn't know what he would have to say about her situation. Probably, 'Pretend to be nothing but a pretty face in front of her,' as he had mentioned earlier. More than anything, she wanted to fake being ill and hide away in her rooms from that woman.
Wistfully, Soo remembered a time, long ago, when she was Go Ha Jin; a friend, recently married, complaining about her 'evil mother-in-law'. 'If it was a competition,' Soo thought, 'I think now, I would win the 'Evillest Mother-in-law' award.' Not that it was anything to be proud of, she'd give the award up in a second. Soo sighed, wising for the days when Queen Yoo was resting in a temple in Chungju. Those were good days.
Today, they had tea in the pavilion overlooking the lake, and Queen Yoo's eyes bored into Soo – a trait that she had passed on to at least one of her sons, if not two. Soo tried a smile that felt more like a grimace and bowed low, waiting to be seated until Queen Yoo was comfortable. Tea was poured, and as always, Queen Yoo spoke first. She looked out over the lake, and her lips curved up in a smile. "My son has returned from Khitan, Lady Soo, do you know?"
Soo gave a half-bow nod and pretended to drink. "Yes, Your Grace. It good that he has returned well and unharmed," she said politely.
"Jung is a good boy," Queen Yoo said, nodding. "You are close to him, are you not, Lady Soo?"
There was steel in the Queen Mother's voice, and Soo swallowed, ducking her head and fishing for clever, slippery words. "We are well acquainted," she said slowly.
"He speaks much – and well – of you," Queen Yoo said, satisfaction creeping into her tone. "Tell me, Lady Soo, have you met His Majesty's son yet? My grandson?"
Soo shook her head, slightly discomfited by the quick subject-change. "…I have not had the honor." By Yo's descriptions, Grand Prince Gyungchunwon was a pudgy, petulant four-year-old who ate anything and everything; and was often sick. From others, she had heard that the little prince looked very much like Yo. As much as Soo hated to admit it, that would be the most adorable thing she'd ever seen. Cooing over Yo's baby photos was not something she could do in this era, she reminded herself.
"The poor boy has taken ill again," Queen Yoo said with anything but sympathy in her tone.
"My condolences, and well-wishes for your grandson's speedy recovery," Soo said, her heart clenching. In this era, the child mortality rates were so much higher… She hoped that the boy would be alright.
"Jung has succeeded greatly in Khitan," Queen Yoo said with a smile. "The king wishes to reward him."
Saying nothing, Soo bowed her head again. What would Jung ask for? What would Yo give him? Why was Queen Yoo speaking of this to her, and what did Yo's son have to do with anything?
Queen Yoo leaned slightly forward in her seat, scanning Soo with intensity, and Soo resisted the powerful urge to draw back, keeping her eyes fixed in her teacup. The Queen Mother smiled so widely and insincerely that it made Soo's skin crawl. "You are a very pretty girl to make His Majesty fall for you. My son has chosen well."
"Your Grace is too generous," Soo said, trying to appear as simperingly stupid and pretty as Yo said she should appear in front of his mother. She remembered the Queen Mother's cruelty, directed at her, others… She began to have a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"There's something I want you to tell him, Lady Soo," Queen Yoo said softly, reaching out and taking Soo's hand. "My daughter-in-law, you are a wonderful girl, and I know you will make many smart decisions." Soo wanted nothing more than to scream and run, because that's one of the smartest decisions she could make, under the circumstances. "You want what's best for Jung, your dear friend, and to help your loving husband, right?"
'Loving husband,' were the two words that made Soo bite the insides of her cheeks to keep herself from laughing, and laughing hard. Yo being described as a loving husband was just so wrong, and Soo realized what Queen Yoo wanted. She lost influence over her son, but she wanted to regain it through Soo – who is in all outward appearance – Yo's favored wife. 'Oh, Your Majesty, what have you gotten me into now?' She looked up at Queen Yoo. "Yes," she said.
The smile on Queen Yoo's face grew. "Good…" she said. "The way you can help him is to make him feel like Jung is really the right person to be his heir, you understand?" She patted Soo's hand and drew back. "I'm so worried for him…"
Soo blanched, a stuffy feeling beginning in her chest. 'So that's what she wants…' She swallowed, then pretended to take a sip of her tea. "Of course, Your Grace. Your concern for His Majesty is truly admirable."
When she was dismissed from the pavilion and Queen Yoo was out of sight, Soo braced herself against a wall, pressing a shaking hand to her chest. Queen Yoo was frightening, and what this meant for both Jung and Yo, not to mention Yo's son… Soo's mouth went dry. What should she do? Talk to Jung and try to come up with a plan? Tell the king and risk the life of one of her best friends? Tell no-one and risk the life of Yo's son and son-to-be? Cold fear gripped her heart and she thumped a fist against the front of her chest, trying to dislodge the stuck feeling.