Your eyes, they shine so bright;
I wanna save that light.
I can't escape this now -
Unless you show me how.

- Demons, Imagine Dragons

And so it was that their paths crossed for the third time. And when it did, the world seemed to stop turning. Something took to the air, some sort of reverence—as if the moment unfolding was being witnessed by no less than the heavens itself.

A sacred aura glided into the room, binding the two souls in a standstill. Neither one realized how, in just that short instant, their destinies were being fused into one immutable, eternal fate.

Himchan could not tear her eyes off him while her mind ran through a confusing maze of thoughts. One moment she was hopeful—happy, even. It would not be so bad after all. He had saved her that one time; he could not be as horrible as how her maid in Ilsan had painted him out to be.

But with her next breath, she realized something that numbed her senses completely.

Oh God. He’ll remember. This is it. I’m dead. He’ll know I’m a fraud.

She suddenly felt very small and insignificant. And much, much too aware of him. He seemed to occupy the whole room, dominating every bit of space. He was not even moving a single muscle. He was standing perfectly still, a good ten feet in front of her, and yet she could actually feel him. The sense was tangible, as if he were actually touching her. It was unsettling, unnerving. Unconsciously, she stepped backward.

Yongguk acknowledged the subtle movement for what it was and smirked. Just as he had predicted, she was scared of him. And she had every reason to be. She was now wholly and legally bound to him. By law, he could do whatever he wanted to her—he was her husband, her lord, her master.

In a soft, clipped voice, he said, “Get in bed,” and then turned around and methodically took off his shield.

Himchan could feel the blood drain from her face. No. This could not be happening to her. Not now. She had been naïve enough to hope that she would have enough time to plan what she had been ordered to do without actually getting to this point. She looked around, willing her surroundings to change. Everything had to be a nightmare. She was not really there…

From the corner of her eye, she saw the warrior stop beside the large bed, his head turned at an angle. “Do not make me repeat myself. You will not like the consequences.”

“If you do not do what I tell you, you will never ever see your brother again. Do you understand?”

It was those words, and not his command, that silenced all hope in her heart. The room was not going to change. She was not going to wake up. She was still going to find herself locked in the room of the man who now owned her every living breath.

Those words sealed her choice.

Himchan turned to the moon one last time and wondered what death would feel like. For some reason, it did not sadden her…

She closed her eyes and made her way to him, her every step echoing in the cavernous room. Without raising her head, she climbed into his bed and stayed as still as possible. She willed her mind to not think of the present, to only think back to happier days, back to when she was a little girl playing with the water-lilies in the pond her father had made for her mother…

“My Himchan-ah, you want to know the story of the lily?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“In the beginning of time, the gods made a garden and filled it with lots of beautiful flowers. But even then, something was missing. The goddess of beauty said, ‘The flowers need to see themselves so they will know how beautiful they are and bloom even more happily.’ So she put a pond in the middle of the garden so the pretty flowers could look at their reflection. They saw their beauty and were happy so they puffed their chests with pride and bloomed even more.

“But as days passed, the pond grew murky and dirty. The flowers started complaining that they could not see themselves clearly anymore. So the goddess of beauty put the lily in the pond and told her to keep it clean. The lily was happy. She loved her pond and she made sure it stayed as clear as a mirror for the garden flowers to use. The lily thought the flowers were elegant and beautiful. She admired them. One day she asked them if she could be their friend.

“But the garden flowers had grown proud and too full of themselves. They did not want to be friends with the lily. ‘You are not a real flower. You’re just a pond-cleaner.’ ‘I don’t want to be friends with someone as ugly as you.’ ‘The goddess only created you because she loves us. She doesn’t love you. She wants you to work, so work.’ And they all laughed at her.

“The lily grew sad. The goddess saw her one day and asked her why she was sad. So the lily told the goddess, ‘I’m lonely.’ ‘But the garden flowers are here,’ said the goddess. The lily told her she was not good enough for them, that she was only good for cleaning the pond.

“The goddess knelt beside the lily and said, ‘I made you because I have great trust in you. You play an important role in my world. Without you, the other flowers won’t be able to see themselves, to see their worth. You, my dear lily, make the dirt go away so they can see their value. You bring out the best in them. They do not know this because they have grown too proud with their own beauty. But, my sweet lily, you are the most beautiful of them all. Because all their beauty combined reflect on you. You, who have brought it out of them. You, who can paint the colors of the rainbow on the water that you have made clean just with your presence. I gave you this role because you are the one I know who has the most strength to sacrifice herself for the good of everyone.

“The lily smiled and felt happy. Over time, the garden flowers recognized how good she was and felt sorry for how they had treated her. They asked for her forgiveness and became friends with her. And after that, in the garden of the gods, they all lived happily ever after…”

“Is that why you made this pond for Mother? To tell her she is your lily?”

“Yes. And you know what, Himchan-ah?”

“What, Father?”

“You are our lily.”

Himchan saw her father’s warm smile dance before her eyes and she felt her heart ache. Father, I’m sorry. I’m sorry… I’m scared…

She could hear the rustling of fabric and realized the warrior was taking off his keikogi.

“Become his wife. Make him trust you.”

She felt the bed shift under his weight.

“And once he does, learn his secrets. Tell me his weaknesses. Find me a way to bring him down. Do this and your brother lives.”

She could feel the heat of his body and hear his steady breathing. He was getting closer. Then suddenly, without warning, he was on top of her. She yelped as his whole weight pinned her to the bed.

You are our lily.

Was it the wind? Or was it just her mind? It did not matter. It was already there. Open. Unhindered. And it had spoken to her. As clearly as the day she had heard it for the first time.

She opened her eyes then. And when she did, something did change. It was not the room, or the fact that she was alone with the warrior. Both remained the same. But...

She was no longer afraid. She was calm, resolute. Her father had believed in her. Nothing else seemed to matter but that one fact.

Yongguk noticed it. It was not so obvious that there was no way he could miss it. In fact, it was fleeting, like a magician changing masks. But for some reason, he saw the change in her. His eyes locked with hers and he suddenly felt exposed. It was as if she could look to the very depths of his soul.

It made him feel vulnerable and violated. His face hardened and his body grew taut with fury. He roughly took her wrists and held them in a vise-grip above her head. He was supporting his weight on his thighs, which freed his other hand to wrap around her neck with just enough force to limit her breathing but not completely strangle her. Inching his face closer to her, he spat out his words with fierce contempt.

“Heed me and heed me well. In the eyes of My King and my people, you are my wife. But in mine, you will always be the whose coward of a father had to trade to save his own hide. You will have the protection of my name. That and only that. You are not to speak to me or show yourself to me unless I will it. Should you displease me any more than you already do, I will gladly throw you out of my home. When that happens, you will no longer have my name to save your skin. Every man in this kingdom will defile you for the that you are.”

She did not make a sound or even try to loosen his grip on her neck. She remained completely still, but her eyes…

She had a strong spirit—that he could see. Had it been any other time, under other circumstances, he would have admired her for it. But it was not any other time and she was the daughter of the King of Ilsan.

Yongguk broke the contact and released her. He got up and, without even looking at her, said, “You are not welcome in this room. You are not allowed to ever come here again. Do you understand me? Find yourself somewhere else to sleep. Rid yourself of any dreams of a happy family. I will never let you bear my sons and curse my children with your filthy blood. In my heart, you are not my wife. You are only a means to an end.” He walked over to his closet, took out a silk robe, donned it over his hakama and, without another word, stalked out of the room.

Himchan stared at the closed door, wondering why, of all the things he had said and done that night, only his last words left her bruised.

She could not understand it. She should be happy. Was this not what she had been hoping for?

But why did it hurt what he said? Why did it matter what he thought of her?

And why, when she heard his voice outside the window followed by a woman’s laugh, did she only then feel the tears come?

--

A/N:  I know keikogi and hakama are traditional Japanese clothing so please excuse my liberal use of the terms out of context. I just wanted you, the reader, to be able to picture Yongguk's clothing clearly. Especially when he's just wearing the hakama and a robe. Mamamia.