Shadows feel long across Jeong's sleeping face. She always looked more peaceful when asleep. Happier. Things always seemed more bloodless wherever she went.

Hak could barely look at her. It was unnerving. Jeong was proud and rude and irritated and strong. Strong most of all. She wasn't peaceful. She wasn't still. She should be lounging around in one of the gardens, or standing behind Soo-won rolling her eyes. She should be shrugging off worry and her injuries the way she always did.

Jeong was like a mountain to Hak. A goal and a challenge all rolled into one. Solid. She was stronger than anyone else - except Gramps, but he didn't count. No one was stronger than Gramps. Jeong was someone he could spar with. Soo-won was - he was royalty. Hak couldn't seriously raise a hand to him.

Her chest, swathed in white bandages, was barely rising. Soo-won knelt beside her, fingers on her wrist. He glanced at Hak and gave him a weak smile. He had dark shadows under his eyes.

Hak leaned against the doorway. He felt the way Soo-won looked; tired and on edge. "You should get some sleep." He said.

Soo-won hummed. "In a few."

Investigation lead to a hole in the patrol routes of the guards. A missed rooftop access point, and a simple lapse in attention lead to one of Hak's only friends nearly dying. A single mistake and Jeong got hurt.

Suddenly the palace guard's incompetence wasn't so funny.

Hak didn't know what to say to Soo-won, didn't call out his lie. If Yona got hurt, Hak would be pacing like a caged tiger. Itching at the bit to find the culprit. Soo-won was different, but Hak didn't know how he could stand it.

Yona could be attacked right now. And I'm not with her.

The thought was ridiculous. Four guards were stationed at her door, and two more to each of the side ones and the windows. It should be enough.

And yet.

He grit his teeth and left the sick room with a nod to his prince. He had Yona to look out for. Jeong would understand.

It's would be a relief when she woke up.

And she would wake up.

Jeong was going to get an earful for making the royals worry.

Nothing would happen to any of them under his watch. If the palace guard wasn't good enough, he would make them better.

Hak would go all the way to the top if he had to. The conviction settled in him like a second spine. Despite how tired he was, he stood straighter. Helplessness left him confused and angry, spinning without a place to go. A plan helped.

The captain of the guard would be a good goal.

Lady Bin-na, wealthiest woman in the whole of Kouka, tried to summon the will to get up and do something. Anything. Everyday was the same boring routine and she was tired of it all; but routine was a powerful thing. She eventually let the servants pretty her up like the a doll.

One maid bowed. "His lordship is out, My lady." Like she had for the last few months.

Her mouth twisted out of it's normal look of half amused contempt into something less fake, less happy. Bin-na waved the girl away. "Never mind that. What needs to be seen to?"

One of the clerks brought her some of her husband's paperwork. It wasn't like he was going to do it.

Bin-na ignored the heavy oaken desk in favor of lounging on decadent couch, flipping through report after report. It was giving a little around the middle. "This couch needs to be replaced," She said, not looking up from the paper.

"Yes, lady." Her bodyguard said from his position behind her.

Bin-na glanced over the petition for a loan - some sort of peasant bakery, likely to be shut down in a year or less, not worth considering - and threw the paper away in disgust. "No. It would be shut down in month."

One of the interchangeable clerks bowed and scurried off with the paper.

The bodyguard didn't react. Well, he never did. the man was like a block of wood, or the ground. There, but you didn't expect it to start talking to you. Bin-na was used to that. She forgot he was there sometimes.

She looked down at the paperwork. Some days a weight settled at the base of her throat and into her lungs. It became a chore to breath, a curse to think. Time stretched out like taffy she once saw at a festival.

Everything felt so slow. Trapped.

She collapsed back against the couch. Perhaps she could have the ceiling repainted, redecorate the mansion? The fresco of intricate dragons and waterlilies was getting dull. It was nearly two months old. There wasn't any point in keeping it around any longer.

...Perhaps another party?

A shudder traveled up her spine. No, if she had to deal with the twittering sycophants again she would have to order her bodyguard to kill some time just on principle.

There was a timid knock on the door.

Bin-na waved one of the clerks over.

The bodyguard glanced at her, but she continued to stare up at the ceiling. He placed himself in front of her.

A maid tumbled in, out of breath, and gave a hasty bow. "One thousand pardons, my lady, but the prince is on his way over!"

Bin-na bolted upright. "The prince? Now?"

"Yes, my lady!"

"How long do I have?"

"I ran here, my lady - perhaps forty minutes."

That was barely enough time to prepare to receive royalty and get herself presentable. "Prepare the red room - and ginseng tea." That was the prince's favorite. "Run to the cooks and warn them - and make sure my personal maid is waiting for me! Hurry, quickly!"

What on earth would bring Lord Soo-won to her manor at this early an hour? And with so little warning? He always struck her as a polite young man, not like his hellion of a cousin. This was out of character.

Her servant's usher the prince in, before bowing low and leaving the two of them alone.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, My lord?" Bin-na asks, genuinely curious. The young man hadn't brought any retinue. A knot loosened in her at the lack of guards. "It's early for visiting."

"I'm sorry for coming on such short notice." Soo-won bows a bit and slides a scroll across the table to her. "I was wondering if you could look something over for me? It's a work in progress, and I would love some professional expertise."

She looks at the scroll for a long moment, fluttering her fan. "I'm afraid that I don't know much about businesses, or the like. My husband does the most of the accounts and he's away on business right now."

His smile gets even more mild. "Of course he is," He said, a little too brightly. "How silly of me! I could wait for him, if you prefer it? I don't know much about the way of these things, I'm afraid. It's only about opening up a bit of trade with Xing once they get their little war squared away. Once my honored uncle has un-banned trade with them, of course." He gave a sheepish little laugh.

Bin-na was suddenly acutely conscious of the many scrolls spread out across the table in her husband's study. He mouth goes dry. Did he know? How could he? No one would deal with a woman. Everyone knew that she had no interests except holding the latest lavish party. Her husband was a good man, who worked hard to support his frivolous wife.

She'd worked hard to make it that way. Bin-na couldn't stand the looks of pity she'd get if the ladies knew that truth.

What was in the folder? She smiled behind her fan, kept her voice relaxed. "I'd be happy to take a look at it, if you don't mind my armature opinions. I do know a small amount about business. It comes from being around such a lot of merchant type men."

"That's very kind! Thank you for humoring me."

Bin-na opened the scroll while hiding the tension coiling in her heart. 'Illegals sales of weapons ... suspected... treason... alliance with Xing, assassins… Choi Bin-na, using her husbands connections'.

She glanced sharply at the prince before she could stop herself. Assassins? She hadn't… but would it matter? It was a neat solution. No one would object. Feeling numb, she looked at the scroll again and felt her heart drop into her throat.

He continued smiling, his blue eyes vacant and trusting.

"This is all very interesting, but I'm afraid I don't understand," Bin-na said, voice soft and demure, proper ladylike folding of her shaking hands. "What does all of this have to do with me? It's hardly the time for such things. It's quite improper."

When she was a girl they brought a traitor to court and killed him by piling stones on top of him one by one, until he was crushed under the weight. Just one of these would see her executed, her lands seized and her husband disgraced. She would lose everything. Each one of these was a stone and the prince would bury her under it.

Unless he disappeared.

Bin-na tapped her fan and her bodyguard fell into place behind the young prince. His sword cleared the scabbard without making a sound. She could do it. He brought no guards. His own bodyguard was comatose.

Soo-won laughed again and it was such a bright sound in such a tense moment that she nearly flinched. "Well of course, I couldn't present this to my noble uncle without the proper evidence. It's only hearsay for now."

The implication hung in the air.

Bin-na stared at him with a clam face, but inside there was only horrified fascination.

Blackmail.

The pretty, polite, naive prince was offering her an ultimatum.

It would be difficult - nearly impossible- to hide the death of a prince, much less one that visited you just before he died. He knew that. He would be counting on that. But... he came prepared. If he was smart enough to find all this, then why would he come here alone?

"This isn't the only copy." She said, dropping the mask for moment. It would be easy to leave instructions to run the copy to the king. Bin-na exhaled. "How long do I have to decide?"

Soo-won folded his hands neatly on top of each other. "I would say about another twenty minutes. My uncle has been very upset. Assassins, likely from Xing, attacked us yesterday. I'm sure you've heard all about it." He looked at her through his lashes. "Oh, my apologies, you ladyship. I'm sure that talk of such ugly things would only hurt your delicate sensibilities."

Finally, she saw the whole plan in all it's ugly glory. Let's say there was a noble who decided to make a little money on the side. Boredom. Pride. Helpless frustration. Whatever you want to call it. Let's say this noble had ties to an unstable country and access to the palace. Everyone knew Bin-na nearly lived in the palace during the season. She was the biggest name. The Choi coffers were fat with coin, the name fat with influence.

Let's say someone was planning a coup. That person would want all of that power, all that prestige on their own side.

Soo-won did was Bin-na would have done.

Set it up so they had no choice.

It would fall apart if she could find out who hired the assassins. He would know that. Unless he was so confident no one would ever believe her about it.

She looked into his blue eyes and knew. Breathless with horrified admiration, stared at the ruthless demon she once considered a nice young man.

There one person that no one would suspect.

Bin-na saw the way the he looked his foreign bodyguard. No one would believe him willing to hurt her. His uncle certainly wouldn't.

Bin-na was trapped.

"I understand," She said hoarsely. "I think that the Choi family will put its full support behind this plan."

He all but bounced in his seat. "Really? That's wonderful to hear that! I'm glad that it could be resolved easily."

They spoke for a few, surreal minutes about gossip at the palace, none of which Bin-na could remember fully. What she does remember is asking a question just as he was leaving, horses reins in hand. "Isn't your bodyguard still in with the healers?"

A split second flash of something crossed the princes face, cracking the pleasant mask - regret? Pain? Amusement? Bin-na couldn't tell. It was gone to fast.

He gave a solemn nod. "Jeong takes her duties very seriously."

"A good person." A minor miracle with what Bin-na knew of the bodyguards past, pieced together from the kindly gossip of a rather nice Xingease carver and flashes of insight. "She seems to like your uncle very much. I rather think that she would choose to save him if it came down to it."

The prince turned to look at her with a warm smile and eyes like ice. "Well, I would agree with you. I have my own plans for her."

The topic was obviously closed. Bin-na saw the prince of and returned to the study, where she collapse on like a puppet with the strings cut.

Her bodyguard catches her with one arm and she has never been so in need of his support. "I can still take care of him," he murmurs.

She rests her head on his chest for one second. Just breathing in safety. Comfort. "No." She said, stepping away. "It's too late for that now."

Gods above, she wished she could go back to being bored.

I know I'm dreaming from the smell, or rather the lack of one. I'm standing in a large empty space and there's a pressure pushing down on me, like a building storm. There's no way to describe it but desolate. I don't know how I knew but I did. Nothing lived here. It was blinding white void, everywhere but the pillar of black rock I stood on. It goes down, further than I can see.

I'm look down and freeze. I know these clothes. I'd never forget them. The jeans, jacket and t shirt that I lost - years ago. Even if they survived the first few months there's no way they would fit me now. It synthetic fabric almost feels - unnatural. Wrong.

The artificial wind picks up and I catch the flutter of cloth at the edge of my vision. I look up. There's a man standing in the nothingness in front of me. His mouth moves but all that comes out is a terrible storm of noise. A voice but not a voice.

A sense of dread fills me.

"I can't hear you," I scream over the static even though I can't hear my own voice. I taste ozone on my tongue, thick enough to choke. It's whipped away in the storm of noise, like a feather in a hurricane.

His face shifts to Jia, a wicked smile in place, then to Grandmother with tears running down her face, then to the boss his smile and manners gone; he strides over to me, face changing with every step, everyone of them someone I knew - everyone of them dead. All the while, his mouth is moving.

I step back, forgetting for a moment about the edge.

My foot meets air.

I fall backwards, but all I can do is look up at the man that isn't a man.

Soo-won's face looks back at me and I can hear him for the first time.

You don't belong here.

I gasp at the sting of waking up; my heart sounds like war. Hooves thundering, breath gasping, steel flashing. Everything hurts, not like broken bones but like there was something that I was missing on the inside. I struggle to sit up, but my left arm buckles under the weight and I fall back.

Someone is talking. The words sound small after the dream, and it takes me a while to understand them.

"-Jeong. It's okay. It's okay." Soo-won said, pressing me down into the bed with one hand.

Weak as a baby, I can't move. I'm drenched in sweat and my mouth feels like a desert after a drought. "Where's Yona?" I ask, the first thing that my tired brain can think of. "She's usually the first one in."

Soo-won paused for a fraction of a second. "Yona is confined to her rooms for the time being while the incident is investigated."

"Oh. Right." The assassins. The King almost lost his daughter, and she had to be shaken. Yona was sheltered in every sense of the word. Hak would be with her. Soo-won was here. That seemed right for some reason. My head felt fuzzy and tired.

Soo-won met my eyes with a hard look of his own. "Do not leave the bed."

I paused, about to do just that. "Do you read minds?"

"You are not subtle, Jeong."

Still he helped me sit up and let me have a small cup of water. There were no bendy straws in whatever time period it was. The thought made me a little sad. Just one more thing that I'd have to miss now.

I sniffed. "I'm subtle as hell."

He rolled his eyes."If you say so." His smile seems different. More subdued.

"Soo-won, what's wrong?"

Soo-won closes his eyes. The he open his eyes and stares at me evenly. "What did the assassin mean when he called you a traitor?"

I flinch and water spills over my cup. I don't bother cleaning it up. He hadn't forgotten. "I didn't know you spoke Xingease." I said, trying for lighthearted and falling flat. I clenched my fists. I… didn't want to do this.

"Jeong. Please."

I flinch again. Words did not describe how much I didn't want to talk about this. But if the assassins were after me, if the rumor somehow spread. They deserved to know.

Soo-won deserved to know.

"I... Before I came to Kouka," I said, stumbling over the words. I don't want to talk about it. "I was a member of the royal guard in Xing. The king took an interest in me."

I can still remember the day I met the King for the first time.

Three days straight of battle with a nation along the border - I don't remember which kingdom we fought and it hardly mattered. People all looked the same when their insides were on the outsides. I was listing to one side, propped up by my sword and the fact that if I fell I would have to clean my armor and I did not have the energy for that.

There were bodies on the field; I recognized some. Here was a baker who missed his wife , here a man who made off color jokes with a spear in his throat, there was a second son who became a soldier for glory. He smelled of blood and less pleasant things. Two years older than me, but all I could muster up at the sight of his still terrified face was a burst of utter resignation. In them I saw the future and it was coming closer every day. This battle was won. There would be another. There was always another.

I would have left, if I had the energy. I would have wept if I had the will. As it was, I closed his eyes with a steady hand and sliced off a piece of his hair with my sword. That would go to his family, if I could find a soldier or merchant going that way. Tradition. You can't take the body, but you do what you can.

The sound of hooves brought me back to reality. I looked up to see a man on horseback rapidly approaching. Our colors, and heading right at me. I looked at death approaching and felt only apathy. He would have to go around or through. I wasn't getting up.

He pulled up just short of me, horse rearing and just missing my head. "Who goes?" the man demanded, his dark hair a proud flag. He was a handsome man in his late thirties, with a generous mouth and sharp eyes. His clothes weren't clean but even under the mud I could see the glitz and finery. There was dried blood on his face and his horse's hooves.

At the time I didn't know who he was. I thought he was just another general. It took me a few seconds to understand the words. My Xingease was shaky. No one cared that I was foreign, as long as I followed orders. I was working one it anyway, because only understanding half of what anyone said was annoying. But his answer was to clear and fast to understand it much. "Jeong. Jeong-hui." I said, finally using it without hesitation.

There was nothing that I could do about it.

"You? You are Jeong-hui, the one that my generals have been raving about? You don't look like much." He looked down at me in a way that made me very conscious of the blood on my armor.

I shook off the feeling. Even at fifteen I knew that there were people out there who would judge you no matter what you wore. It wasn't uncommon in the future. The one thing this place had in common with it. Figures it be a bad one. Bet he didn't know the meaning of dirt, I thought with black humor. "Sorry you think so, your lordship." I said.

He sniffed. "Well, that's all very well." He held out his hand to me.

I stared at like it was a particularly interesting puzzle.

"Give me your hand."

I stared for a moment longer and slowly raised my hand - only partly because of the bone deep exhaustion. I yelped when the man yanked me off my feet, armor and all, and up over half his horse. I clutched at the ornate saddle for dear life.

Revising my thought, I upped him to actual General. One of the ones who thought that war should be fought. Not an intellectual exercise. Even half starved, I was pushing six feet, and with the armor I weighed more than a little. "What- whoa!"

The second I was sitting, the man spurred the horse on, heading for the battle field. I didn't get a second to question it. I clung to the man with my all of my strength, weariness chased away by alarm. I've never been on a horse before and I never wanted to again. I was already far enough from the ground normally, I didn't need this extra height!

That's how we met for the first time. King Bai, the man who I would devote myself to for two years.

The man I would kill.

an: this one is late because internet connection issues

also i have a new story put up: Horseshoes and Hand-grenades, a knb oc fic which updates on wednessdays so check that out if you want