(971 AD, 22^nd year of Gwangjong’s reign)

Ju did one final check to confirm that he was dressed to kill or rather win in the tournament. He inspected his sword again before placing it inside the scabbard. Then he pulled at the string tied around his neck and fished out a rather flashy pouch filled with herbs. He smiled as he it fondly wondering if she’d be there. The guard outside announced the arrival of Queen Daemok and Ju quickly hid the pouch under his shirt. The moment she stepped into the room, Ju noticed the worried expression on his mother’s face and knew why she was there. He had expected this visit and chosen to stick around to face it rather than sneak off early. But now that the confrontation was near, he wondered whether sneaking off early and facing her after the tournament might not have been a better idea. 

“You’re here to wish me all success, right?” he asked with a disarming smile.

Queen Daemok looked at him fondly but her smile was forced. “My son has already won the tournament 2 years in a row and proven to the world that he is the best swordsman in all of Goryeo. If he participates in the tournament, his success is essentially guaranteed. So how about we focus on the other competitions this year? You could win the championship for archery or wrestling. Let’s show everyone how multi-talented you are. That will silence your critics for a long while. What do you say?”, she asked sweetly, her head tilted at an angle, her palm his cheek gently.

Ju smiled, impressed by the angle of attack she had chosen. He considered pointing out how flawed her logic was. For one, there was no way he could win either the archery or the wrestling championships. Wang Chi was a much better archer than he was and Soel would also be participating this year. The wrestling arena had always been fiercely competitive and to add to that, Uncle Jung’s sons, who were champion wrestlers were participating this year. For another, he could argue that he needed to win one more time to equal Uncle Jung’s record of three in a row, to cement his place and his reputation as a fearsome warrior. But Ju decided against making any of those arguments.

Having danced this dance with his mother many times over the years, Ju knew that he will never win this round if he lets it go in the direction in which she was taking it. She’d know exactly what arguments he’d use and she’d have her counter arguments ready. No one ever won a bout with Queen Daemok by using logic or by out-thinking and out maneuvering her. The best approach was to simply get straight to the crux of the matter instead of beating around the bush and letting the queen run circles around you.

“Is it because Uncle Jung is participating this year?” he asked.

His mother closed her eyes and sighed. “I’ve been preparing for this day for a long time, ommoni. I’m ready. I can win.” Ju said confidently.

“I do not doubt your skills, Ju. It’s just that Jung has become so close to the King”, she said in a low voice. “I’m just worried……” she said in a tired tone. “Don’t worry ommoni. I’ll be fine. Neither of them has a reason to kill me yet”, he winked at his mother, only half-joking.

What he said was true, well mostly true, “yet” being the key word. He knew it would very likely change in the near future but then, his mother didn’t need to know that.

“Moreover, I can’t back out without losing face. I have a wager going with Uncle Jung. He claims that the only reason I won the last 2 times was because he stopped participating.”

Ju hoped that the audacity of the claim would outrage his mother enough not to probe him further. He didn’t want to have to tell her the terms of the wager nor did he want her to figure out that he had goaded Uncle Jung into making that statement with some deliberate barbs and trapped him into accepting the wager.

“Ha, classic Jung”, his mother scoffed. “Do you have a plan of attack though?” she asked, her expression grave.

Ju nodded and said one word - “Speed”.

“Hmmm…. that should work. So you are not wearing armor?” she asked, looking thoughtful.

 “I can’t afford to”, Ju pointed out.

 The queen nodded her agreement. “Be careful out there”, she cautioned, her voice filled with concern.

“Always”, Ju smiled, taking his mother’s hands in his.

Just as she was about to let him go, Queen Daemok remembered why she was there in the first place.

“My son seems to have picked up a few tricks”, she said with a short laugh. “Most times, I wish you were less like your father and more like me. But then there are times when you pull a trick like this and I end up wishing you were more forthright like your father and a little less like me”, she said, patting his hand affectionately.

Taken aback, Ju exclaimed, “My father? Forthright? Are we talking about the same person? King Gwangjong has been out-scheming an entire court full of conniving nobles for over 2 decades now.”

Queen Daemok laughed heartily at her son’s reaction before explaining with a faraway look in her eyes, “But he wasn’t always like that. A long time ago, when he was your age, he loathed schemes and plots. He was blunt and brutally honest with everyone, no matter what the circumstances and what the cost.”

“Ahhhh….. so that’s what he was like when you fell in love with him”, Ju teased, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“I’ve been pampering you a little too much lately”, Queen Daemok noted in mock anger as she reached up and twisted his ear.

With a yelp, Ju slipped out of his mother’s grip. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. I know you have a reputation to maintain”, he said in an undertone, an impish smile playing on his lips, before rushing out the door.

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Ju took his stance and gave his uncle a winning smile, one specifically meant to provoke the erstwhile Grand General to attack. As the heavy sword came swinging towards him, Ju waited till the last possible second before evading it, causing Vice King Moonwon to go into a spin and lose his balance. An enraged Jung didn’t waste a moment before taking another swing at him but Ju continued to dance out of the way of blow after blow. In his desperation to land one, Jung swung the sword left and right, not stopping long enough to realize that he should possibly change his approach.

Sitting in the midst of a raucous audience, Soel had her hands folded in prayer. Her eyes stung because she refused to blink. Every time Jung took a swing at Ju, her heart stopped. By now, her father was swinging the sword furiously in all directions without any rational thought and Ju was waiting way too long before getting out of its murderous path. Even though the weapons used in a tournament were blunted, the weight of Jung’s heavy sword and the power behind his swings would ensure that if it were to find its target, the taste of its blade would be the last thing Ju feels in the mortal world.

As a scrawny kid who jumped the fort walls and ran around the Songak market incognito, challenging full grown ruffians who liked to tease and poke at the weak and the meek, Ju had learned that the best offence against a stronger, better built opponent was to use their size and their strength against them. The basic principle was simple - swinging and missing drained a lot more energy than swinging and hitting. As long as he avoided being hit and prolonged the fight for as long as he could, he could tire his opponent out completely before landing one strong offensive hit that would end the fight.

In an actual battlefield with multiple opponents, without an empty ring and the space to dance around, Ju knew that someone like Uncle Jung could make mincemeat of him. He had no armor and one good hit from any sword, not necessarily his direct opponent’s, would be the end of him. On the other hand, in an arena, while Jung’s armor protected him, it also slowed him down considerably and so did the heavy sword that he used. Ju kept his eyes on Jung, watching him keenly as he struggled for breath and shook off the trickling sweat that threatened to blind him. This was not a battlefield and this fight was not for glory, at least not for Ju. His wager with his uncle required that the one who lost should grant one wish to the winner and Ju intended to have his wish granted.

Jung was looking around frantically trying to locate Ju, his vision blurring, when he saw a person dressed in black robes rush forward, jump up and twist in mid-air before kicking the sword out of his hand. “Hyungnim”, Jung whispered, frozen in place, remembering a very similar assault by 4^th prince Wang So on the precipice of a mountain on the day that 3^rd prince Wang Yo fell off the edge, to the river below.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Ju made his way to the fallen sword and picked it up before pointing his own at Jung. He smiled as a roar went up in the crowd. There was only one sure way to win a tournament against a determined, unyielding and stronger opponent – to disarm them and take possession of their weapon. It was finally over. As the announcement of the tournament winner was being made, Ju made his way towards Jung.

“You already know what I’m going to ask”, he stated without preamble.

“I will not allow it”, Jung replied unequivocally.

“Are you going to break your promise to me, Vice King Moonwon?”, Ju asked, eyebrows raised, exaggerating his bafflement.

“I’d rather break my promise to you than break my promise to Hae Soo. When you think of a different wish, come find me”, Jung said as he took possession of his sword before walking off the arena.

Letting out a sigh, Ju walked towards the podium where the King and the Queen were waiting to felicitate him on winning the tournament the third time in a row. As he walked up the stairs and looked at his father’s proud smile and his mother’s beaming face, Ju knew that he had an uphill task ahead of him. He tossed his head and smiled ruefully. He had failed to win over his easiest opponent but then again, he was just getting started.

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The sun had already sunk beyond the horizon when he finally got to the astronomy tower. He found the person he’d been dying to see all day standing on the balcony, staring into the darkness beyond. He smiled as he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

“Congratulations to the new archery champion. Have you been waiting for long?”

“I’ve been waiting forever”, she said, pouting, as she turned around to face him.

He reached out and tucked a few errant strands of hair behind her ear as he explained, “Well, being the tournament winner and all, I had to stay for the celebrations. After all…”

But before he could finish, she cut him off. “What did father say?”

“He said no”, Ju replied nonchalantly, leaning in for a kiss.

Soel covered his mouth with her fingers as she pushed his face away. “And that doesn’t concern you?” she demanded.

“Well, honestly speaking, I wasn’t really expecting that he would hand his precious daughter over to me after just one tournament victory”, he admitted as he moved closer.

“I’m not something that my father carries around in a pouch for him to hand me over”, Soel responded, her disappointment manifesting itself as frustration and annoyance.

“That’s a shame. I was hoping to carry you around in a pouch all day”, Ju said with a cheeky grin as his hand s its way around her waist but before he could get far, she swatted the hand away, her eyes narrowing in a scowl. “Ya………. I just put my life on the line and won a bloody tournament. Shouldn’t you be embracing me, agonizing over my safety and shedding a few tears?” Ju asked in mock annoyance.

Soel looked chastened as she asked with quiet concern, “Are you hurt?”

Ju made a show of checking his arms for any signs of injury as he said, “I’m not really sure. It depends on which answer would secure me that passionate kiss I’ve been longing for.”

“Both of them”, Soel said with a short laugh as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

Resting her head against his shoulder, she whispered, “I’m scared.”

Ju closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “Don’t be. I’m sure there is a way out and I’m going to find it”, he said, refusing to acknowledge just how scared he was and attempting to sound more confident than he actually felt.

“You promise?” Soel asked hopefully lifting her face to glance up at him.

Ju cupped her face in his hands and looked her straight in the eye, wanting her to know that he meant every word. “I promise”, he said evenly. “And I need you to promise me something too. No matter how hard it is, no matter how long it takes, no matter who asks it of you, promise me that you’ll never give up - on me, on us. I want you to have faith in me because I promise that I’ll move heaven and earth to find my way to you.”

A few drops of tears stole their way down her cheeks as Soel smiled and nodded her head in assent. Ju returned her smile as he gently wiped her tears before leaning in and sealing their deal with that passionate kiss that she had promised.

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What do you think? Do you like the way the relationship is progressing or do you find something lacking? Please comment and lemme know.