"You're kidding me. I'm under your authority? Like hell I am!" Shin Hye gave her best mean eye, despite having never used it on anyone but her reflection. Jong Suk didn't even flinch. Instead he lifted up her braceleted arm.

"See this jade bracelet? It's enchanted. Moreover, it controls your fire powers by blocking it. So, stop whining and let's go. You don't have a choice."

Shin Hye tried to remove the bracelet from her wrist, but the annoying thing didn't even budge and she had to give up her efforts. She tried to summon just a tiny bit of fire to set Jong Suk's pants on fire but the heat she had felt before refused. The one person my fire skin curse doesn't work on and it has to be this arrogant jerk. "Gah, get this off of me! Hello, I saved you and your men's lives with my fire powers? How dare you treat the Priestess in this way!"  

Jong Suk's eyes flared intensely and instinctly Shin Hye backed off, intimidated. She swore that if looks could kill, she would be a pile of ashes. Her mean eye had nothing on this man's glare. She instantly knew this was someone she did not want to anger, but apparently she had. Shin Hye could see now why people followed his commands without question, and why he was awarded General although he was still young.

"And as far as I'm concerned, you couldn't control your powers and nearly burned my men and the whole land to a crisp!" He hissed the last word. "And wasn't I the one who saved you first? Now, hurry up, you brat. Priestess or not, the Emperor is expecting us. Or did your temple guardians never teach you the principle of obedience?" 

At this Shin Hye became frantic. "The villagers? Are they okay, are they all right?"

"They're mostly fine, although they wouldn't have been if you couldn't rein in those damn powers of yours." Shin Hye bristled at his snarky words but felt relieved that at least the villagers were all right. They were the closest thing she had to family. But jeez, that attitude of his. 

For the rest of the day while the men tended to the wounded and fallen, Jong Suk kept Shin Hye close to him, always keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't escape. Not that she could probably escape far. She had seen how some of the men had leered at her and shuddered. Now that her fire powers were blocked, she didn't even have a way to defend herself. 

"The demons came from the East, sir, where the sun's light touches the least as it sets," a soldier was reporting to Jong Suk. "We have 27 wounded, and only 3 casualties."

Jong Suk nodded. "Make preparations for sending the bodies home. And make sure the families receive the men's wages. Now, for more pressing matters, it seems we'll have to wait until morning to travel. Tell the men that we're moving out at dawn. We'll load the wounded and bodies in the wagons and carts. As for you," he said pointedly at Shin Hye, "hurry up and follow."

The men quickly set up camp, pitching tents and lighting fires and lamps before the first stars had started twinkling. Shin Hye stared, mesmerized at the sky. "So this is what the night truly looks like. It's much bigger from what I've been able to see from my opening," she mused softly. For the rest of the afternoon, she had sat quietly in the grassy area where her fire hadn't charred and observed the new world around her. Perhaps that was why Jong Suk didn't have much trouble with her, although he expected her to run the moment there was an opening. Shin Hye for the first time could see what the village looked like, a concentrated area of thatched roofs and wooden smokestacks with smoke cheerfully blowing out. A painter in the village had kindly painted picures on scrolls for her and dropped them through her temple's opening. A fe