Soo woke up to a sharp pain in her head. The moment she tried to touch it was the moment she realized she was tied up, leaning against a wooden post. She blinked slowly to clear her vision, and looked around.

She found herself in a small, wooden shed. Dull light streamed in from gaps in between the boards of the wall, the only light available to her. She was seated on a pile of dried grass, the only things keeping her from being completely soaked, and the occasional drip of water from the ceiling told her it was raining out.

Her head throbbed suddenly with pain and she winced audibly.

“Soo-yah?”

Myunghee . Hearing her voice lifted Soo’s spirits greatly. “Unnie?” she coughed.

“Soo-yah!” Myunghee cried, sounding relieved.

“Where… where are you?” Soo squinted around and finally spotted her tied to a post on the other side of the room. “Unnie, are you okay?”

“You're the one who's injured,” Myunghee reminded, then breathed deeply to compose herself. “It’s alright, Soo-yah. The others will come for us. We just need to have faith and be patient.”

“But where are we?” Soo asked weakly, closing her eyes to stop the world from spinning.

“If I'm right… we're with family.”

Soo frowned, and then understood. “The Haes?” It made sense. They had certainly been close enough to the village. Heartened, she realized that meant their friends were close by as well. “But then why would they hurt us? And why are we being chained and locked up like criminals?”

Myunghee had a hunch but didn't want to frighten her. “Perhaps they did not recognize us. Perhaps they'll set us free once our uncle comes.” It was unlikely, but not impossible. It certainly didn't hurt to hope.

The door opened, shedding more light temporarily into their darkness.

“Who's there?” Myunghee demanded, managing to sound braver than she felt. “Show yourself!”

A man stepped into their line of vision, but he did not say anything. He went first to Myunghee, bent over, and then to Soo, who opened her eyes enough to see he had placed a bowl of soup before her. She wondered how he expected her to drink it with her hands tied behind her back… then she realized perhaps this was another form of punishment. Why they were being punished when these people were supposed to be family, she had no idea.

“Wait!” Myunghee yelled when the man turned to leave. “My name is Hae Myunghee. My cousin is Hae Soo. We are on Hae property, are we not?”

The man nodded, but said nothing. It filled Myunghee with dread. They had recognized them… recognized them and yet treated them this way. Why? Was their clan, after all, in league with the current king? No… her uncle was the type to hold grudges. The king would have had to offer them something big to earn back their complete forgiveness, and seeing as how their head now lived in such a small, remote location…

Then what? Are she and Soo being used as bait to lure in the rest of the group? Would they surrender them to the crown, for a price? Or…

Are they going to punish Soo for her disobedience in the past?

Myunghee forced down her panic. Both scenarios looked bleak. Soo would end up being punished for something she had no memory of.

“I would like to speak to our uncle, Lord Hae Hajin.”

Soo glanced up at the name, but then she realized her cousin was referring to another, and shut her eyes again.

“The master is not here.”

“Then who has he left in charge?”

Myunghee imagined there was cruelty in the way the man smiled. Then again, perhaps she hadn't been imagining it. “Master Hae Hanjae.”

Myunghee stared up at him, momentarily too shocked to speak. Soo noticed. “Unnie… who is Master Hae Hanjae?”

Instead of replying, Myunghee raised her voice, angry in her fear. “I command you to bring me to him at once!”

But the man ignored her and walked away.

“My cousin is hurt!” Myunghee screamed after him, trying to free herself of her bonds. “Get back here! Will you not find her a healer?!”

She continued to scream even after the door had closed.

“Unnie,” Soo whispered, frightened. In their short time together, she had never seen Myunghee lash out like this. “It’s alright. I’m dizzy but I don’t think it’s serious. I should be fine with enough rest. But… who is Master Hae Hanjae? Is he another uncle?”

Myunghee closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. “He’s my father.”

They went the entire evening without food or water and were tired and sore by morning from sitting too long in one position. As before, the same man entered their place of confinement and placed bowls of soup in front of them, untying their hands this time before leaving without a single word.

Myunghee drank her soup and went back to sleep. She had spent an exhausting night trying to think of ways to escape, or else of things she would say to her father once they met again.

The soup was tasteless and cold, but it was enough to quench Soo’s thirst. Though beyond starving, she still felt infinitely better after a night of rest. Setting aside her empty bowl, she stretched out her stiff limbs with a grimace and began to fumble with the ropes that bound her from behind, but the knot was too far to reach, and her shoulders, fingers, and chest ached after minutes of unsuccessful tugging. She glanced around for something - anything - she could use to cut her ropes, but they had taken her knife and there was nothing useful close by. All she had was the ceramic bowl by her feet. It would have to do. Picking it up, she smashed it into the ground, the loud sound jerking Myunghee awake.

“Soo-yah, what are you-?”

“Shh…” Soo hushed, listening closely in case someone had heard. To her dismay, she could hear pairs of feet marching their way, and quickly hid the largest, sharpest piece of ceramic she could find in the inside pocket of her jeogori.

The door opened and a dozen servants came in, splitting into two groups to untie Soo and Myunghee.

“What are you doing?” Baffled, Soo pulled away with all her strength the moment she was cut loose. “Don’t touch me! Who are you people?”

“The master has ordered us to Lady Hae Myunghee and Lady Hae Soo to their chambers,” one woman replied with a solemn bow. “Please follow us.”

Soo exchanged suspicious glances with her cousin, but Myunghee nodded and got to her feet with a groan. She took a moment to get her blood circulating again before following the servants to the door.

“Do we trust them?” Soo whispered, eyeing the servants behind them, the guards flanking their sides, and the woman she presumed was the head maid in front. She could see no opening for escape, not unless by some stretch of a miracle they're able to subdue all these people by themselves.

“No,” Myunghee murmured back, “but we have no choice.” The only comforting thought was that her father was a pragmatist and had more use for them alive than dead.

They were led deep into the compound. Soo noted that though the place was small, it was by no means poor. Guards patrolled the paths constantly, with more standing watch outside closed doors that must be the storage sheds. The deeper in they went, the more Soo began to dread that escape was impossible… for how could their small company hope to rescue them against so many opponents?

“They’re splitting us up,” Myunghee said grimly. She saw how frightened Soo looked despite trying to hide it and squeezed her arm comfortingly. “Just do as you're told. We'll probably see each other again very soon.”

Soo marched alongside her guards to a far room at the east of the innermost compound. Her room was quaint, furnished for necessity rather than luxury, with white silk drapes around her floor bed, and more covering the walls. She suspected they were doors and windows that had been shut and bolted to discourage any form of escape.

She yelped and drew back when hands reached for her bodice. “I can wash myself, just show me where.”

The head maid appeared not to hear her. “Wash the lady thoroughly and prepare her for lunch. When the doctor arrives, see to it that he has everything he needs.”

Soo had never felt so violated in her life. Though she had struggled and fought the entire time, her strength proved insufficient in the face of so many equally-determined adversaries. They had even taken her little shard of ceramic.

The wizened old doctor was the only exception. He spoke in a quiet voice and looked her over for visible wounds. For hidden wounds within her person, he simply asked her attendants whether she had any, and left when they replied she didn't.

Blushing and angry, she kept her hands to herself and glared at anyone who dared to come within two feet of her personal space as she walked through closed, winding halls to where she presumed lunch was waiting, the thought of food and Myunghee the only things spurring her on. She tried to remember which passages they took, but eventually was forced to give up.

A door at the end of the hall opened suddenly,bathing them all in warm, bright candlelight, whereafter, her maids stepped aside, clearing her a path. Not sure what she would find in the next room, she entered cautiously.

“Soo-yah.”

“Unnie!” she called back, relieved. She turned left, following the direction of Myunghee’s voice, and came face-to-face with a finely-dressed, large man with small, calculating eyes, a button nose that looked like a bigger version of Myunghee’s, and lips that were pursed in a perpetual frown. She figured this was uncle.

The dining hall wasn’t large but it was rich. Jade and gold ornaments covered every surface, with glass cabinets containing fine china lining the walls, which contained numerous braziers and candleholders that both warmed and lit up the room. She imagined it would be quite stifling in here during summer, but the heat was welcome after the late autumn chill from outside and after being dunked into equally chilly bathwater not too long ago.

“Soo-yah,” Myunghee called again, this time nodding towards the empty seat at the table across from her, on her father’s left.

Slowly, Soo sat, wondering what was happening. She looked to Myunghee for answers, but her cousin was silent and completely still.

Her uncle suddenly moved. He brought up one pudgy hand, bedecked with jewels, and reached for a bell, which he rang twice. More servants immediately filed in from an open door, carrying trays of food. They smelled and looked scrumptious, especially after a night of starvation and nothing but a bowl of tasteless cold soup for breakfast.

Just as quickly as they came, the servants left, leaving behind a table that was suddenly full of hot, freshly cooked dishes.

“You must be hungry,” her uncle’s voice was deep and surprisingly pleasant to the ears. He spoke slowly, his every word clear and loud in the quiet. “Eat. We have much to discuss.”

Soo waited for Myunghee to start eating before she did. Mouth watering, she reached for a piece of braised pork and took a bite. It was so good, she had to use all of her willpower to make sure she didn't moan.

Her uncle offered her a plate of greens, and she quickly accepted it with both hands and a whispered thanks. She couldn't help but notice that he hadn't offered any to his daughter, who ate stiffly, as though she were eating horse fodder rather than steamed fish.

Finally, after ten minutes of silent eating, her uncle spoke again. Not looking at his daughter, he asked, “When will you be returning to the capital?”

Myunghee pressed her lips tightly together and replied, “I will not be going back.”

He tutted. “A wife's place is beside her husband.”

“I wish to have my marriage nullified.”

He tutted again and took a sip of wine. “Ridiculous.”

“My husband and I are on opposite sides of the war. If I return, it will only be as a prisoner. Knowing this, why should I?” she challenged. “Why ask it of me?”

“War?” His voice was mildly curious rather than incredulous. “There is no war that I am aware of.”

“You must know that half of the country is opposing the current king.”

Soo almost choked on her rice. She stared at Myunghee, wondering why she was being so frank. She could easily be punished for saying something like that so openly.

“I do not wish to support such a tyrannical king,” she added.

“And yet your husband remains by his side. Do not think me a fool. I know very well what his true intentions are. He wishes to be king. With our help, he very well could be. So tell me, what’s stopping me from sending you back to him to resume your duties as his first wife, and, when the time comes, as one of his most powerful queens?”

Myunghee hated his nonchalance. He spoke of such matters so lightly, as though he were playing a game rather than deciding the fate of the country. He had information, he always did. The Haes are adept at gathering intelligence.

He leaned back in his seat and fixed his eyes on her. “One reason. If I deem it good enough, I will allow you to remain.”

Myunghee had already thought her answers through prior to coming here. “You must not want Jeongjong on the throne. He shamed the clan, chased uncle out of the palace, forced you to live here.” It did not escape her notice that the Haes did not lose much by way of wealth after such a downfall. Where was it all coming from?

“As for that unfortunate circumstance," he drawled and looked at Soo, “we have your cousin to blame.”

“Me?” Soo blurted out without thinking.

He raised his eyebrows at her, looking at her like she was an idiot. “Naturally. You refused marriage to the late King Taejo and ran away like a common wench. Without your status as the late king’s wife to protect us, chasing us out became easy for the Yoos. And now the Yi protect the borders, leaving us with…” He waited for his daughter to finish his sentence for him.

“Nothing.”

He nodded.

“You call this nothing?” Soo grumbled, taking in all the wealth in the room. This was just one room of many. Did he think her blind as well as stupid? And did he just say… the original Hae Soo had run away to avoid marriage to the king?

Good for her, she thought, but I’m guessing bad for us.

“Without power, wealth becomes meaningless,” he said in dangerous tones, his cold gaze daring Soo to look away. “We have wealth but we cannot spend it, else we risk exposing our businesses to the crown.”

“Why? Where is it that we get it from?” Myunghee asked at once. She knew she was pushing her luck, but she had to try. She felt the answer was important. “From whom ?”

He trained his cold gaze on her. “A story for another time, perhaps. You have given me no good reason to make you stay. If that is all,” he reached out for his bell, but Myunghee grabbed it before he could.

“My husband will not make a good king,” she said firmly.

He looked intrigued and waited for her to continue.

“While at the palace, I learned things… saw things. King Jeongjong no longer heeds the advice of his ministers. He does not even listen to the Queen Mother. He acts on impulse most days,” she explained, “by contrast, my husband is a thinker more than a doer. He’ll spend more time thinking than actually doing anything. Neither of them make good kings.”

“Then, who would you rather have ruling this country?”

She took a deep breath. This was a gamble, one that could potentially yield devastating results. “You know we travel with a group of princes.”

“Naturally.”

“Prince Jung, youngest of the Yoos, is one of them. He has a powerful family to back him, should Jeongjong lose the throne, as well as the military strength of Grand General Park.”

He withdrew his hand from the bell and leaned back in his seat. “You’re saying he would make a good king?”

Not at all, she thought grimly. “He is young and lacking in experience… but he can be taught. He can be better.” She looked at her young cousin then. Soo thought she saw guilt in her cousin’s eyes. “He is also unmarried.”

Soo felt her jaw drop.

“Ah,” her father also looked at Soo, as though this idea had just occurred to him.

Myunghee quickly reminded, “She was deemed worthy enough to marry the late King Taejo. Nothing has changed."

They were all silent for the longest time. Soo found herself hyperventilating as she tried to catch Myunghee’s eye. Was she actually being sold off to Prince Jung? “Don’t let anyone know you’ve lost your memories. Do as I do and keep your head down.” Was this the reason?

Finally, without warning, Master Hae took his bell and shook it once. A small man dressed in brown bowed himself in. “Yes, master?”

“Have some men our guests to their chambers. No one is to enter and leave their rooms without my permission.”

Startled, Myunghee said, “What are you planning? Father!”

But armed men had already entered the room and were forcing them off their seats. Myunghee tried to think of all the possibilities to explain her father’s reaction and actions. If they were being confined to their rooms, that meant they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Then what?

“Unnie!” Soo hissed, rushing over to her side as they were led out of the room and back into the dim hallways. “Marriage? To Prince Jung?”

Myunghee grasped her cousin’s hand quickly and pulled her closer so she could whisper, “Our uncle may be the head of our clan, but my father is the brains,” she explained, “I’ve just bought us and our friends some time by giving him something to think about. Until then, at least we can be sure of our stay here, and of our friends’ lives.”

“Have you seen the number of guards they have?” Soo asked, not reassured in the slightest. If they can’t escape and their friends can’t come, then they’re all just sitting ducks, waiting for her uncle to make his move.

But Myunghee smiled, “Our friends were able to infiltrate the palace and rescue Prince Eun and Soon Deok. Have a little faith, Soo-yah. They’ll think of something.”

Soo wished it were that easy. Sitting alone for days in her room, with nothing but a painted tapestry for company, and no news of the outside world, of Myunghee, of anything, she thought she might go mad. To pass the time and ease her nerves, she took to studying Sanggung’s books. She found out after a day of confinement that she could ask for things to be brought to her, so long as they couldn’t be used as weapons. She had asked for some hanji, an ink stone, and a brush to practice writing with.

After two days of studying by herself, she found she was getting nowhere and wished she had Baek Ah to guide her. Sprawled on the floor, staring up at the wooden ceiling, she was so bored, she wished she had Eun to make her laugh, or Myunghee to make clothes with, or Soon Deok to teach her how to fight, or Jung to tell her stories. She found she even missed arguing with So.

The door to her room slid open, and she sat up in surprise to see her attendants walk in. For the past three days, no one had entered her room. Her meals had always been left out on trays right outside her door, where two guards stood on constant watch. The only exception was the wizened old doctor who came in every morning after breakfast and every evening after dinner to dress her wounds.

“A young lady must not have a single scar on her body,” he had explained quietly, impressed to find that she could name the herbs he was using on her.

“What’s going on?” she asked at once, getting to her feet.

The head maid entered after the rest and bowed. “Master has requested the presence of Lady Hae Soo for lunch.” Requested, not ordered. Soo was not deaf to the difference.

She swatted their hands away when they made to touch her body. “I’ve already bathed. I can dress myself.”

Again, the head maid ignored her. “Dress the lady and bring her to the master quickly.”

Soo contemplated biting this time, but her curiosity got the better of her. She wondered what her uncle had to say.

She was led to a different dining hall, outside the inner compound. This one, she would have no trouble locating again. As before, she entered to find her cousin and uncle already seated at the table. She didn’t need telling this time and took her seat beside him. Then they waited.

The silence stretched with the awkwardness, which gradually became tense when they realized: he was waiting for something.

Or someone.

It wasn’t long after this realization that noises could be heard outside their door. There was no mistaking it: it was the sound of fighting.

Soo wished to see what was going on. Could it be their friends?

“We will soon have company,” her uncle said at last, hand poised to ring his bell. In a voice that held no trace of humor, he warned, “if either of you say a word… they all die.”

The sound of a bell ringing continuously throughout the compound distracted the princes and their companions, more so when the men they had been fighting suddenly stood still, their weapons hanging uselessly by their sides.

“What’s this?” Jung demanded, staring at them with incredulity written all over his face.

So was as confused as he was, but the answer presented itself soon enough.

A door opened, and a small man in brown bowed to them. “My master welcomes the young princes of Goryeo. Please, follow me.”

Baffled, everyone convened to So.

“What do we do?” Soon Deok asked. “They all just stopped fighting.”

“The compound was unguarded save for this area,” General Park reminded them. “They must be close by.”

“It could be a trap,” Baek Ah forced himself to say. At this suggestion, Jung and Eun glared suspiciously around them at the unmoving men.

“It could be,” So agreed, weighing their options. He slashed at the nearest man, who, though he held onto his bleeding arm, did not fight back.

“We could kill everyone here and then step inside,” General Park suggested grimly.

“I don’t think they’re going to hurt us… yet,” So decided at last. “But just in case, we form ranks and watch each others’ backs. Ready.”

Everyone went into position and held up their weapons. As they made their way to the open door, the guards also moved, closing in around them until they were completely surrounded on one side.

“Where is your master?” So demanded.

The small man bowed and slid open the door behind him.

“Welcome,” a deep, low voice greeted them from within.

“Soo-yah! Sister!” Eun and Jung gasped when they saw them, but So held them back with a warning shake of the head. He had met the leader of the Haes, Lord Hae Hajin, years ago in Shinju. This man was not him. And since Soo was an orphan, that only meant he was Myunghee’s father. And yet Myunghee looked angry and Soo scared. Why?

“Please,” the master of the house said with a humorless smile, “have a seat. We have much to discuss.”