Early the next morning, Jung stood at the edge of the field, remembering the laughter of his brothers as they played horse nearly a decade ago. Eun throwing insults, daring Jung to try to knock him down. A pang of guilt flowed in at the thought of Eun. If only he had been able to stop Yo from sending So after him and sister-in-law. If only he had been in time to save him. Yo had once told him that So had held back and spared him the day he had been charged for treason by Hyejong and hunted down. Despite the love he felt for his older brother, a part of him wondered if Eun and Soon Duk would still be alive if Yo had died that day.
Jung could not help but remember that painful past as So slowly sauntered onto the field, practice sword in hand. And even though Eun had requested that So give him a quick death, he could not forget it was So's blade that had ended Eun's misery. He gripped the wood of the practice sword in his hand, storing up his confidence to face his feared brother. Maybe it was time he learned to trust the only brother he had left.
So struck amazingly fast, catching Jung off balance and putting him on the defense as his sword blocked the first blow. Jung tried to move back but So would not let up his attack, his eyes fierce, a wild desperation seething within them. The battle between brothers continued with the echo of wood striking against wood and the sound of their war cries and grunts when wood hit flesh.
Finally, Jung heard Baek Ah's voice calling for So to stop. "I can take it, hyungnim. Leave!" Jung said as he wiped the blood from his mouth.
So retreated, his sword by his side as Baek Ah turned to Jung. "No, you don't understand, Jung. He can kill you even with a practice sword." So blinked at this realization, his sword falling from his hand. Turning on his heel, he walked off the field, leaving his brothers to stare after him in confusion. Baek Ah took off after So as Jung followed him.
"Good morning, Wangja-nim." General Moon greeted Jung as he entered the field in a cheery mood.
"General Moon, we will have to practice at another time. I have to attend to something urgent." Jung replied in a hurry as he rushed through the gated pathway.
"Pyeha, what is wrong? Did Jung do something to make you angry?" Baek Ah asked when he found So sitting by the Damiwon steps, staring out over the lake. He sat down on the step below him, folding his hands.
"She doesn't believe she will survive the pregnancy, Baek Ah." So shared, his voice hoarse, his eyes filled with pain. "She has requested that I move Princess Kyung Hwa into the palace and make her first queen if anything happens to her."
Baek Ah remained silent, not knowing how best to respond to the information. Jung leaned against the tree near the edge of the lake and simply replied. "It's a sound contingency plan, Pyeha." He gave a small smile. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to Hae Soo, but she is a smart woman. We have to trust her. I've met the Princess and she's a gentle, good woman. Very much like her father."
Tamping down the rage he felt welling up to the surface, So said carefully. "I love her, Jung-ah. She's known all the good and bad within me and has accepted me as I am. I don't know if I can survive losing her."
"I don't know if I could handle it any better if Woo Hee had told me the same thing." Baek Ah sighed not wanting to think about Hae Soo or Woo Hee dying in child bed. "Soo is right though, even if we hope for the best, we have to prepare for the worst."
"I have informed Soo that I will allow Princess Kyung Hwa to return to the palace, but not as my wife." So said, hating the thought even though he saw the necessity. "Her presence will put the clans on edge, however they won't be able to protest. It will send a message to the Hwangbo clan that I will not be dictated to."
Jung peered over the water in thought then gazed at So and Baek Ah. "What about the promise to marry Yeon Hwa if Soo doesn't deliver a crown prince, Pyeha?"
"I never promised to make her first queen or a queen at all." So stated flatly, his eyes narrowing. He gave his youngest brother a shrewd glance. "In three days, I will have Hae Soo moved into Manwoldae Palace. It might be best to have the wedding there." Standing up, So began to head back to Cheondeokjeon Palace, his brothers falling in beside him.
"Lady Sun Hee will be greatly honored, Pyeha." Jung nodded as they entered the courtyard.
"Soo-ya will enjoy the wedding and it will be a good excuse to have her issue the invitation to the princess." Baek Ah agreed with a smile.
"No, if we are to use the princess as a shield then I should be the one to send the royal invitation. She will be comfortable within Jung's household with her friend." So explained to Baek Ah. "I will let Soo know of the plans tonight."
"Sun Hee will like that, Pyeha." Jung replied with a nod. His attention captured by the burial temple nearby. The stairs steep yet wide, he remembered the last time he climbed them to pay homage to Taejo. "Pyeha, since I was not able to be here for the burial rite for Eun-nie or Soon Duk, I thought it would be nice to pay my respects to their spirits and to father."
So relaxed, his gaze traveling to the temple. "Yes, it would be nice." The brothers climbed the stairs in silence, each deep in their own thoughts. Upon reaching the top, So lit a stick of incense and bowed before the urns. Baek Ah and Jung followed suit. "They would be grateful to you, Jung-ah. Their grave site was easy to locate. Their spirits are at peace now that they are home again."
Jung formally turned and knelt before So. "Thank you for bringing them home, Pyeha."
"You do not need to kneel before me here, Jung-ah. We are brothers." So gently ordered as he peered down at his younger brother. "I have decided to allow you to visit your mother at Chungju before the wedding." He informed Jung when the younger man stood up.
"Thank you, Pyeha. I will inform Lady Sun Hee." Jung bowed with a smile of anticipation which faded when So said, "No, only you are allowed to visit her this one time, Wang Jung"
"But, Pyeha." Jung began when So coolly cut him off.
"She is still an exiled prisoner who cannot be trusted." So informed him with a frown. "She is not to be trusted."
"Jung-ah, this is good. Do not push Pyeha into revoking this gift." Baek Ah warned Jung.
"I understand, hyungnim." Jung bowed before his older brothers and strode down the stairs.
Chungju Yoo Hanok
Jung dismounted from his mount, handing the reins of his horse over to the stable boy. Apprehensive, he headed for the main hanok where Yoo Shin Myeong stayed, isolated in her rooms. So had exiled the former queen to remain locked within the Yoo compound until her death. News of her declining health had reached him in the north, however with the marriage arrangement and Pyeha's decree, he had not been able to visit.
A servant showed Jung to his mother's chambers then quickly left. Huang Kyo, his mother's old lady-in-waiting, turned from attending her mistress and bowed before him. "Your Majesty, Jung Wangju is here to visit you." She smiled tenderly down at Shin Myeong, gently wiping her brow. He was shocked at how aged she had become with illness. Her long black tresses now snow white and her beautiful face lined, pale, and swollen with pain, eyes dulled with confusion.
"Jung-ah." The former queen mewled weakly, her breathing ragged with effort. "Where is Yo-ya? Where is your brother?" She reached her hands out toward her youngest son as she tried to rise from her bed. "Yo-ya left me. He left me to die." She moaned, tears started to stream down her pale cheeks.
"Eomeoni, I'm here." Jung caught her flailing hand in his own, bringing it to his lips. "Yo-ya is gone."
"Gone?" Shin Myeong frowned as she tried to remember something important that she had forgotten. "He's not gone. I feel him near me, he calls out to me in the night." Fear caused her to shudder. "He left me to that monster." Jung lifted her up, holding her as she began to cough violently. Gently, he wiped the cloth across her mouth.
"Yo betrayed me too." Her eyes never leaving a distant corner of the room. "Jung-ah, he didn't care. Wang Geon lied to me." She looked up at Jung with desperation. "You are my pure child. The only one who was fully my son. When your older brother, Wang Tae, died, he didn't care. He made me choose between my sons. So-ya."
"Eomeoni, please, it's all right." He tried to sooth the distraught woman as she burst into another fit of coughing, her breathing growing shallow. She reached up, her hand settling weakly on his cheek. "So-ya was his son, so I chose to save Yo. If I couldn't have his full heart, then I would cut his heart out and leave him with nothing." She hissed, her anger giving her a burst of strength that sapped her just as soon as the words were said. "I killed my youngest son, Jung-ah. I killed my So-ya." She moaned against his chest, tears gathering, spilling over and down her face.
"Shhh, eomeoni." Jung whispered against her hair as he closed his eyes, feeling his own tears burning behind his eyelids. "I'm here." He repeated, rocking her back and forth. Her breath hitched, then stopped. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that he was not alone in the room with her. Slowly, he turned, his eyes meeting So's tormented expression. He frowned down at his mother, her eyes open, staring into the void.
"Pyeha." Jung croaked out as he gently closed her eyes, laying her body on the bed. So moved closer to the bed without saying a word. He ran his hand over her still warm cheek. "She never let me touch her." So said distantly, shock and grief welling up in him.
"How could she throw me away for that reason?" He sat down on the edge of the bed, not looking at Jung. "I don't remember Yo being there that night. Mu was there with me. We had just come inside from stargazing. Ji Mong had told us that we had stars of kings." So laughed bitterly. "All because I was born under a star of a king, she thought father would stay if she threatened him by taking the life of one of his regents. Not her son, but a regent."
Both men jerked around as a startled gasp sounded from the doorway. "Pyeha." Huang Kyo bowed deeply before So. He stood up, moving away from the body of his mother and stopping before the bowed woman. "Please rise and attend to her majesty."
Jung rose to follow So out of the room. So halted in the courtyard, he held his hands in tight fists by his side and did not turn around. "Jung Wangju, I will give you two days to arrange her funerary rites, then you will return to Songyak."
"Please stay." Jung barely got the words out around the lump in his throat. "You are my brother and her son."
"Would she really want me here, Jung-ah?" So grounded out as he spun around to face his younger brother. "I'm still the monster to her. Her child is dead to her and what is left is a monster."
Jung closed his eyes in pain and guilt, then he opened them to look straight into So's eyes. "I need you here. You are the last of my family, Pyeha. Please stay."
The sound of horses brought their attention to the arrival of a palanquin at the open gate. So glared at the palace guards who halted before the entrance, then sighed as Soo was helped from the palanquin by a General Moon, her lilac skirt settling about her legs as she stood up, her worried gaze landing on him. He stared at her, mixed emotions filling him with exasperation, anger, love, and relief. Only Soo-ya would dare defy him, he patiently waited as Lady Moon gracefully filed out of the palanquin after his lady.
The general bowed deeply before So as Soo walked toward him, tenderly taking his hand in her own. The silence was heavy as she held his gaze. "She died, Soo-ya." Came Jung's strangled voice from behind So. Soo gasped, her eyes widened as So's hand clenched tighter around her hand, pulling her along after him. Sun Hee raced into Jung's embrace as tears rolled down his face.
"Why, Hae Soo?" Turning to face her, he growled once they were out of ear shot. "Do you know how dangerous it is for you to defy my decree?"
"Queen Yoo is dead." Soo blinked back tears for him. "I'm sorry, Pyeha. I'm so sorry."
He wrapped his arms fiercely around her waist, holding onto her as if she could become a part of him. Never wanting to let her go as he buried his face into her silky hair. "You stubborn woman." He whispered softly, grateful to fate or whatever gods had allowed her to belong to him.