장  - The Beginning
 

The kingdom for the past few months has been in a drought — a very severe drought. It was the last straw for the King and he ordered his guards to go around the kingdom, looking for the girl with the palest yet beautiful face. Luckily, Hana, a simple commoner, was the only one because of her very pale skin, long black hair, skinny yet tall feminine figure. She was surprised when she found out about the shocking news, considering that there were tons of pale girls with long black hair throughout the kingdom.

Outside the door, she could hear the guards ordering her parents to move out of the way or else blood would be shed. Wiping the fallen tears on her cheeks, Hana made her way over to the door and pushed it open, revealing herself. She saw that her parents were down on their knees, hands together, and bowing down to the soldiers in begs of not taking their only daughter away. The soldiers stood highly with their silver armors and helmets shining along with their long-bladed swords in the sheath.

"Mom, dad, please get up," she told them, dropping to her knees. "I can't bear to watch my parents do this because of someone like me."

Her parents turned to look at her, their faces filled with tears and dirt from bowing their heads to the ground. They didn't say anything and wrapped their arms around her into a hug, crying. Hana couldn't hold back the heavy tears and began to cry as well.  How could she bear to part from her parents? It was just so much for her to take.

After watching the family cry for a while, the impatient soldiers went up to the parents and seized the young woman by force, who was still crying like a baby. They dragged her away but Hana couldn't stop looking over her shoulders at her parents, her house, and everything...she was going to miss her home. 

On their way to the castle, families of the surroundings stepped outside their house to see the commotion. Their faces were in shock and disbelief as they stared at Hana walking in a group of soldiers, crying and wiping her face. One of her best friends, Duk Gu even came running out of his house to try and stop the soldiers but because of his lack to fight, the soldiers simply kicked him aside and walked right past him. Hana wouldn't dare to turn her head and look at him, afraid that more tears were to be shed. 

"Hurry up!" One of the soldiers grunted and nudged her shoulder forcefully. 

Hana's skinny body stumbled forward a bit due to the heaviness of the soldier's arm against her body but she wiped her cheeks and continued walking through the village with the guards surrounding her as if she was a precious gem — in this case, she was. In the distance, Hana spotted a royal palanquin on the ground with two men on each end of the stick. She looked down at her clothing and realized that she was just wearing a commoner's baggy clothes. What an embarrassment it was to get on such a thing with the incorrect class and clothing! When they reached the palanquin, the guards stepped aside and ushered her to take a seat inside. Hana followed the guard's orders and crouched into the palanquin to sit on the soft pillow seat and pulled her knees up to her chin. She watched as they pulled a cloth over the entrance so that no one could see her.

"To the palace!" One of the guards shouted. 

With those words said, the palanquin was suddenly lifted off the ground, causing the young woman to quickly reach to the side of the palanquin and catch herself with a gasp. As the long walk for the palace continued, endless thoughts and questions clumped inside of her head.

Is she really going to jump into the pond of lilies?

What if she drowns?

Will she die?

Will her sacrifice really please the Water God?

Will she ever be able to come back and see everyone again?

Those questions were something she knew that could never be answered until she finds the answers herself. Hana hugged her knees closer to her chest and let out a depressing sigh. This was something that she would have never expected to happen to her so quickly. She was just a lowly commoner but now, she was the most prized woman in the kingdom because she was going to be sacrificed to the Water God, in hopes of bringing the precious rain back to the drylands of her kingdom. 

Hana stared at herself in the mirror as the palace court ladies fixed her hair, applied makeup on her, and adorn her in more royal luxurious jewels of the palace. The king had ordered the queen and his many daughters to give every precious gem of theirs to Hana so that she could wear it. The Water Bride wore a very long red flowy wedding dress which had a long train of cloth trailing after her whenever she walked, causing everyone to be cautious of her presence. The sleeves on her arms touched the ground if her arms were resting at her sides, but since Hana hated the feeling of her hands being hidden under heavy clothes, she would constantly push up the sleeves which the head of the court lady caught her doing and immediately put a stop to it. Her hair was put into a half-updo which was adorned in many red and gold jewels, clips, and red flowers. The lower half of her hair was detangled, well brushed, and slathered in rose oil to enhance the shine as well as to make her hair smell wonderful.

"Lady Hana, please press your lips together to transfer the color onto both sides," the court lady instructed. 

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