Though Soo had been forbidden to tell anyone of Lady Oh’s affliction, it didn’t stop her from trying to help. Right after they had returned from King Taejo’s tomb, it had started to rain, keeping them all trapped inside until sunrise the next day, when Soo decided to cook some pine porridge after discovering the ground littered with pine cones that had fallen due to the strong winds.

“Sanggung?” she whispered from outside the closed wooden doors. “Are you awake?”

A cough told her she was. “I’m coming in.” She closed the door as quietly as she could behind her and made her way to the futon. She laid the tray on the sheets and uncovered the dishes, hoping the porridge smelled appetizing. “Sanggung… it’s almost noon. You should eat something.”

Lady Oh turned half-lidded eyes on her, but she didn’t look interested in the food. “Were you the one who put hot stones under my sheets?”

Soo fidgeted guiltily. She had tried to find the flattest stones possible so as not to cause discomfort, but the strong rain had significantly limited her choices.

Lady Oh watched the silent young girl. She had spent decades serving her king and others of rank… to suddenly be served felt very strange to her, especially by someone she’s only known a few weeks and whom she hasn’t treated all that well. She cleared , “Thank you. I’m alright now, so leave it and go.”

To her surprise, Soo shook her head and smiled. “I’m going to stay until you’ve finished it all.”

Lady Oh had never had anyone disobey a direct order from her before. “You… don’t be stubborn. I told you to leave.”

“I know why you threw away all the food I gave you. It’s not because you didn’t want to eat them, but because you couldn’t. I spent three hours grinding these pine nuts, so you can eat it without any problem.” Soo took a spoonful and brought it closer to Lady Oh’s lips. “You need to keep up your strength if you don’t want the princes to know about your condition.”

She knew she had struck a chord but Lady Oh remained impassive. Seeing this, Soo grimaced theatrically and flexed her shoulder. “Aigoo, my arm hurts so much from shelling and grinding all those pine nuts!” The monks’ pestle was as long as her arm and almost as heavy as a sack of rice. Lady Oh knew this. She wondered how such a tiny girl could have possibly managed to use it without breaking any bones… then she realized that was probably why three hours of work had only managed to produce half a bowl of porridge. Her eyes flickered towards Soo’s tired arms, something the latter was quick to notice.

“Sanggung, I know what it’s like to want to be independent… I’m like that, too - I don’t want to inconvenience other people with my problems. But you should know that there will always be people who will genuinely want to help. In moments like this, when you feel like all your strength has gone, it’s ok to rely on others.”

She lifted the spoon invitingly. “I’ll lend you my strength while I can, if you’ll let me.”

With neither will nor reason to keep refusing, Lady Oh finally opened . The taste was so strong, she had to force herself to swallow, and then, glancing covertly at Soo from behind her hand, she wheezed, “This is porridge?”

Soo had never made porridge from scratch before and realized belatedly that she should have tasted it before feeding it to sanggung. To her pleasant surprise, however, Lady Oh actually smiled - a small smile but a smile nonetheless - and took the bowl from her. “I’m no longer used to strong flavors,” she explained.

“Oh,” Soo understood and got up at once. “Then, I’ll make you some tea.” She checked the kettle and found it to be full of hot water. An apprentice had probably filled it in time for lunch. Beside the kettle, she found everything else she needed. She picked some lavender and chrysanthemum and got to work.

Lady Oh watched her, noting that though she did know the basics of tea making, she did not know how to carry herself and thus worked clumsily. She didn’t know how this young woman had managed to lose all her memories and etiquette, but decided that since she was being stubborn about sticking to her that she might as well teach her a few things.

“Raise your elbows.”

Surprised, Soo looked back. “Sanggung?”

“Your elbows,” she repeated, “raise them. Higher. Keep them away from your body. Relax your shoulders. Try not to move your wrists too much.”

Soo tried her best to comply, hoping, as she handed over the cup, that she had done enough to avoid a lengthy sermon. Thankfully, sanggung seemed satisfied with the tea as she sipped.

“Your knowledge is extensive but your form is wrong. You’ll need to work on your posture.”

“Yes, sanggung.”

“Since we’ll be spending quite some time together, I’ve decided we might as well make the most of it.” Lady Oh gave her an appraising look. “I usually expect my trainees to be up before sundown and I shall expect no less from you. You must come with fresh water. The monks get theirs from a spring west of the fortress. It is a small but deep well sheltered by shrubbery. You may ask an apprentice to take you there later. Now, before you leave…”

As she turned to pluck some books off a shelf by her headboard, Soo stammered, “Wait, what are you say-”

“I want you to read these books as well.” Lady Oh plopped three thick, dusty volumes of Soo-can’t-read-what-it-says-on-the-covers onto Soo’s arms before she could register what was happening.

“Sanggung!” she coughed and snorted away the dust. “What’s happening?”

Lady Oh raised her eyebrows. “You are a daughter of the noble Hae clan. Certain proprieties are expected of you which you currently do not possess. With the way things are, no family will want you for a daughter.”

Soo’s jaw dropped. She’s being prepared for marriage? She took a closer look at one of the books and saw to her horror that the reason she couldn’t read them was not because they were dusty and tattered… but because they were written in hanja rather than hangul.

But of course… hangul would be invented much later during the Joseon era. Why had she never thought of this before? In this time, she was completely illiterate.

A choice now lay before her: lie through her teeth and pretend to know how to read, or come clean and look even more suspicious than she already was. After all, what kind of noble didn’t know how to read?

She decided on the truth since there was no way around the fact. “Sanggung, I actually can’t-”

“Sure you can, I’m sure Lady Hae will understand. I’ve finished the porridge and wish to rest.”

“But sanggung, I-”

“I shall see you this evening.”

“I give up! I can’t read it. It’s impossible,” she wailed. Soo was to be found that afternoon stretched lazily over the floor outside her room, calligraphy brush in hand, sheets of new hanji by her head, and Lady Oh’s books spread open around her. “Why didn’t I learn Chinese characters when I had the chance?” she mumbled, remembering her school days. Her school had offered a semester of hanja, but she had forgone it in favor of advanced English. Now she desperately wished she had taken the former instead.

“What’s this?” a familiar deep voice laughed from above her.

Soo sat up quickly and came face to face with the Thirteenth Prince, who eyed her poor attempts with amusement. “By chance… are you illiterate?”

She crumpled up her used sheets and eyed him sheepishly. “I think I forgot how to read and write when I hit my head.” It was a lame excuse and she was not surprised when the young prince laughed at her. She was surprised when he sat with her and took her brush.

“Big 大, red 红, fruit 果,” he wrote, his fine and elegant, making her attempts look downright - there’s no other word for them - kindergarten. He smiled at her. “It also goes by the name 山楂. Literally, the mountain hawthorn.”

“Oh,” she said, eyes lighting up in recognition. “Good for the heart.”

“But why are you learning these? You should start from the basics.” He unfurled one crumpled up sheet of hanji and laughed. “Yah, at least we can be sure of one thing from your forgotten past: you were not a good student. Your writing is terrible.”

Soo looked up, saw him laughing at her mistakes, and hastily swiped them from his grasp. “Yes, well, I’ve never really enjoyed studying. Why are you here, anyway?”

Baek Ah sat back against the wall of her room and took out a pad of hanji. “My 10th and 14th brothers are both being punished at the stables. Jung wasn’t able to tidy up his room satisfactorily enough, and our 10th brother was told he was disqualified for letting his injured wife clean up after him,” he replied, staring up at the sky. “Besides… it’ll be sunset soon. The view from here is the best.”

Soo watched, curious, as he took out brushes and paints from the pouch he was carrying. She stopped studying to watch him work. Baek Ah was silent the whole time, completely engrossed in what he was doing. He captured the colors of the late afternoon sky behind clusters of leaves perfectly.

“I had no idea you were an artist,” she said, returning from within her room with a candle in hand to light their darkening surroundings. Night came much faster nowadays. She was awestruck, gazing at his work.

He smirked and set it aside. “Most of my brothers are fighters… Eunnie-hyungnim and I are the only ones who didn’t inherit the fighting prowess of our father.” He looked thoughtful as he twirled the brush between his fingers. “My people have always valued the arts. I inherited my mother’s artistic sense instead.”

Soo frowned and prodded, “ Your people?”

He looked at her and smiled. “My mother is a princess of Silla. After Silla was annexed by Goryeo, my father married my mother and allowed her and her family to keep their titles as royals. I’m the result of that union.”

Soo’s mouth formed an ‘oh’, finally remembering who this prince was. One day, in the very distant future, he would end up marrying his 8th brother’s daughter.

What a complicated family, Soo thought with a dour shake of the head.

“But of course you, being you, wouldn’t know that,” Baek Ah chuckled good-naturedly, making Soo frown indignantly at him. “Ah, I shouldn’t have told you about my mother’s family. It was good having someone to talk to who didn’t judge me based on the past.”

“Why would people judge you based on the past? It’s not even your past,” she grumbled, a little sour at his condescension, but still curious enough not to drop the subject.

Though the prince smiled, it held no trace of humor, only bitterness. “War is messy. Many lives were lost both from Goryeo and Silla, and even though we lived in peace during my father’s reign, it wasn’t enough to completely wipe out past grudges, even amongst my brothers.”

That surprised her. Baek Ah always seemed to get along with his brothers. She had no idea there were grudges between them.

Seeing her surprised look, Baek Ah immediately corrected, “Not with them… with the brothers we’re running away from. Our third brother likes to exploit weakness. Our ninth brother is only good to those who can benefit him. I have a lot of weaknesses and my family is poor and holds no power. I’m right down there with my fourth brother in their list of people to bully.”

“Your fourth brother?” This surprised Soo even more. The fourth prince - intelligent, strong, the leader of the group… weak and useless?

“My fourth brother has a dark and complicated past,” Baek Ah explained and began packing up his things. “If you want to, you may ask him about it. Good luck.”

“I think it might be easier to ask a fish to walk.”

Baek Ah chuckled at the analogy and got up, “That’s why… good luck.”

Soo sat there, full of questions about this mess of a family.

A few days ago, while on her way out to forage for some berries, she had come across something that she was sure would get her in trouble if anyone knew… she had overheard General Park whispering instructions to a messenger right outside the gates of the fortress. She had heard him telling the messenger to hasten to deliver a scroll to ‘their king’, and to tell him that they would be leaving the fortress in a week at least, two weeks at most.

Soo doubted General Park was messaging King Jeongjong, who had imprisoned and sent assassins to murder his only daughter, Soon Deok, something they had very nearly accomplished were it not for Soo’s timely intervention.

So then, who had the message been for?

She had just seen the tomb of King Taejo, had witnessed Lady Oh and Prince So paying tribute to his spirit. That left only one possibility.. the second king, Hyejong.

Could King Hyejong indeed still be alive and doing his best to undermine King Jeongjong, who had forced him out of the throne and into hiding? If she’s right then that means the brothers are effectively divided into the fourth, tenth, thirteenth and fourteenth, who are loyal to the second king, against the eighth and ninth, who are loyal to the third.

Things were pretty simple and straightforward up to that point, and yet… she was pretty sure the fourth king, Gwangjong, or Prince So as everyone currently knew him, had ascended the throne in the year 949 at the age of 25. That’s three years from now. The question is… if Prince So is indeed loyal to King Hyejong and is fighting to return him to his seat… then how did Gwangjong become king so fast… and why?

“Aren’t you coming?” Baek Ah asked suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Where?” she asked blankly.

“Dinner,” he replied, gesturing towards the inner compound. “Or are you in training to be a monk and skipping dinner from now on?”

Shaking her head, she packed her things away and closed her room, then she joined him on the ground. They walked in silence, through walkways covered in shingles, and gardens paved with river stones. Everything is silent in the aftermath of the twilight, the birds having begun their migration to warmer places, but Soo didn’t mind. She found the silence and the stillness beautiful. It’s not often she got to experience such tranquility, especially in the hustle and bustle of the 21st century.

It’s as they’re nearing the dining hall that Baek Ah finally spoke again. “I can teach you, if you’d like.”

“Huh?”

“How to read and write. We have a week or two left before we need to move again and I need something to help pass the time. I’ll teach you.”

“Would you?” she squealed in excitement, then cleared when he laughed. “I mean… that would be wonderful! Thank you!”

Soo spent the next few days caught in between three teachers: Lady Oh, who took up most of her early mornings and evenings, Myunghee, who took up most of her afternoons, and Baek Ah, who took up the rest of her free time.

She was so busy learning how to knit, embroider, mend, cook, and do other womanly trades with Myunghee, how to read and write hanja with Baek Ah, and how to be a proper lady from Sanggung that she no longer had energy left to spare to contemplate on the near and distant future… not until it finally became time for them to leave.

Soo hovered nervously over Sanggung’s shoulder, wondering if she had gotten everything right. She had just spent two hours in a nearby village market, purchasing food and medicinal items that sanggung had listed down on a sheet of paper.

“You mistook yam for hawthorn again. Take note that though they may have the same first character, their second characters have very different meanings,” Sanggung said sternly, making Soo scowl at herself. She knew she had gotten something wrong. “Reread the second volume and go fetch me more water.”

“Yes, sanggung,” Soo mumbled, picking up a clay jug.

Sanggung whacked her hand with a reed.

“Ouch!”

“Don’t slouch. Grace and poise, Soo-yah!”

“Yes!” she chirped at once, straightening up and leaving the kitchen.

“Smaller steps! Don’t run! You are a lady, not a common serving maid!”

Soo forced herself to slow down and take little steps, trying not to be too self-conscious as she rounded the corner and left through the gate.

Myunghee chuckled. “Thank you, Sanggung, for your patience.”

Lady Oh flicked an eyebrow and sighed, but she shrugged. “Your young cousin is very talented, Lady Hae. It’s too bad she is very uncultured.”

Myunghee felt bad about admitting it, but she couldn’t deny it either. “I don’t know what happened. She used to be such a dutiful, good girl. That someone could unlearn a lifetime of teachings after one accident is a scary thought. I still don’t know what could have happened to her.” She turned back to the table and resumed cutting up vegetables for their evening meal.

She thought back to the day Soo had gone missing. It had been a cool autumn evening some years ago. Eighth Prince Wook had been summoned to the palace to prepare for the Exorcism Ritual that would be held the next day and had not yet returned for dinner. Wanting company, Myunghee had ordered her cousin’s maid, Chaeryung, to fetch her from her room, only to be informed almost an hour later that Soo was missing and nowhere to be found within the residence.

“Have you checked the gardens? The library?” Myunghee asked crisply, heading out into the cold.

“My lady, your health! The doctor said that-!” Chaeryung gasped, grabbing Lady Hae’s thick fur coat and running to catch up.

“I want all the servants gathered in the main hall at once,” Lady Hae ordered, shrugging into the coat.

She had interrogated them all, but could glean no information as to Soo’s whereabouts. How could no one in the entire household not know what Soo had been up to, nor where she had spent her time that day?

But then a maid had volunteered the information… that Soo had been secretly seeing a man the past few months and had probably run off with him. Another had agreed, but didn’t think Soo would elope as the man had been of noble birth and would therefore have been free to marry her.

“Who?” Myunghee asked in disbelief.

“We do not know, Lady Hae, we never saw his face,” the maid replied. “But we sometimes saw them in the temple at night, heard them talking and…” she and her companion exchanged glances.

“And what?” Myunghee’s question had come out in a whisper. She thought she knew what they were going to say… but she couldn’t believe it. Not her cousin. Not the good, young girl she had nurtured and cared for since the deaths of her uncle and aunt.

“Well, as I say… I think they ran off together.”

“We cleaned her room, washed her clothes, mistress,” the other said, looking uncomfortable, “and… we noticed that she had stopped bleeding. So we assumed that-”

“Impossible,” Myunghee expostulated, “I don’t want to hear any more of this gossip! Guards, search the nearby forest! Everyone else, search the entire residence. No one is to rest until we find her. Chaeryung, I will write a message to my husband. Come with me to the library.”

But Prince Wook had arrived at that moment and asked what all the flurry was about.

“Soo is missing,” Myunghee said at once, rushing up to intercept him.

“What?” The prince paled, glancing around as though hoping the lady would somehow show herself. “Wife, what do you mean? Did someone take her?”

“The last time anyone saw her was after lunch today, in her room. No one knows where she is. Husband, will you help us search?”

Her prince had summoned the help of the palace guards. They had searched the entire city, the forests, the open roads. They had searched for days, without success. Her husband had been furious, outraged that someone could have slipped into his own home and taken his wife’s cousin so easily. He had ordered for their guards to be beaten to death, something that appalled Myunghee. She had never known her husband to be so cruel.

“We need to set an example,” he had explained, stone-faced and facing forward. “We paid them to watch over the property and still, Soo went missing. Who knows what else could be taken from this household in the future if we’re not careful?”

Myunghee is pulled away from her dark memories by the sound of Soo clumsily walking in.

“The water… is here,” she huffed, putting the jug down and plopping herself onto the nearest seat.

Again, Sanggung whacked her with the reed.

“Ah!” Soo gasped in pain, sitting bolt upright.

“Grace and poise!” the older woman snapped, annoyed. “Again!”

“Again?” Soo’s shoulders slumped in dismay.

“Get another empty jug and fetch more water. Right now!”

Myunghee watched Soo. Did her cousin really run away that day, to be with a lover who had gotten her pregnant? If so, where was the baby now and who was the lover? And what had happened to make her lose all of her memories?

“Soo-yah… Prince So told me you saw my husband back at Lake Dongji,” she said suddenly.

Soo looked at her and nodded. “Yes, unnie, I saw the eighth prince. He and Prince So battled it out, but I didn’t stick around to watch.”

“Did he recognize you, by chance? He should have seen your face and known who you were.”

Soo shook her head. “He was more focused on Prince So, and anyway, it was dark. He probably thought I was someone else.” She cleared , looking sheepish, “Sanggung, I saw some ripe hawthorn berries by the well. Shall I pick some for you?”

“You’ve already failed your test,” Sanggung reminded sternly, then smiled at Soo’s disgruntled expression. “But a few berries are welcome. We can add them to the monks’ morning meals.”

“Okay!”

Lady Oh watched Soo skip away, too surprised by the unfamiliar word to scold and remind her to walk more slowly. “O-kay?”

Myunghee forced herself to stop thinking about the events of the past. Whatever had happened then, only Soo knew. And perhaps not knowing was for the best.

“Well, I can say this for Soo…” she said, smiling at Lady Oh, “she’s a lot warmer now than she used to be.”

It was at dinner that Prince So gave them the news. “We shall be leaving in three days’ time. The monks will be going into retreat soon, and it’ll be winter. We need to reach our destination before the first snow.”

“Where will we be going, hyungnim?” Jung asked.

So and General Park exchanged glances. “We need to travel north, somewhere close to Seokyung. Sister… do you think your family will allow us to stay?”

Myunghee looked up, surprised. “My family?”

“You wanted to go home,” So reminded, “that’s why you helped us get Eun and Soon Deok out of the palace in the first place. We need a place to stay. What do you think? Can your clan be trusted?”

Myunghee tried to remember what her uncle, head of her clan, was like. Looking worried, she said, “I’m afraid my uncle is not the generous type. Years of dealing with Khitan and Qing have made him shrewd and skilled in negotiation. Unless you can give him something valuable…”

So nodded. He had expected as much. Since being stripped of power over the northern borders, the Haes have been struggling with their finances. The throne no longer gave them monetary support, and with Khitan and Qing fighting each other, trade with either has become much trickier.

“We can offer him gold,” So said. “Will that be enough?”

“I can’t say,” Myunghee replied truthfully. “Maybe.”

“We have no choice. The Yi clan currently in charge of patrolling the border is too loyal to King Jeongjong. He treats them well,” General Park reminded So.

So was at a bind. His brother, Mu, did not trust the Haes and did not take too kindly to So’s suggestion of returning them to power after they depose Yo. In that regard, he had nothing concrete to offer the Haes should the time come. He’ll have to be extra mindful of his words.

“The Haes must not want Yo-hyungnim on the throne. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?” Eun said, to everyone’s surprise. He did not usually provide input in such conversations.

“That’s true, but it’s more complicated than that, Eun-ah,” So sighed.

“Then what else can we do? Since we’re going that far up north, does that mean we’ll be escaping to Qing?” Jung asked, looking worried.

“No. Qing is dangerous for you, princes,” General Park answered.

“I have business at Seokyung,” So said, “it is imperative we get the support and trust of the Haes, who know the border and the surrounding lands better than anyone. Rest easy, brothers… we'll figure it out.”

Just like that, everyone nodded and resumed eating. Soo was shocked, looking at Prince So, who, despite the impassive expression, looked tense. Will they really be alright?