Hajin had lost track of the number of times she tripped. She couldn’t count the number of scratches she has. At that moment, she hardly cared. She could still hear the clinking of his heavy armor, the dull thud of his sword banging against his side as he ran to catch up to her. Being lighter, she had the advantage of speed, but she knew not where she was headed and could only hope he didn’t either.

She daren’t slow down. She had no idea how long she could keep this up once her adrenalin had run out, so she desperately tried to think of a way to get rid of him so she could find a place decent enough to hide in.

As though answering her prayers, her eyes, which had by now grown accustomed to the dark, suddenly spotted a thick root jutting out of the ground a few feet to her right. She veered sharply in its direction, successfully leaped over it, and kept running, her heart skipping a hopeful beat when she heard him trip. She had counted on the fact that, apart from decreasing his flexibility and mobility, his heavy armor was sure to have made him tired after sprinting after her for so long.

“You can’t hide from me! I grew up hunting in this forest,” he shouted after her, his voice growing fainter with every step she took away from him. “Even if you beg, you’ll be dead before sunrise!”

Scared beyond her wits, Hajin kept changing course. She continued on for a couple more meters before stopping abruptly. Beyond the thick canopy of leaves and branches in front of her, she could clearly hear the metallic sound of clashing swords.

She didn’t know how many men there were, and she had no interest in finding out. She looked up, hoping to see the sky so that she could try to navigate her way, but the overhead leaves blocked her vision.

“It’s fine! Keep running in one direction. You’re bound to come out of the forest sooner or later,” she silently told herself. Fighting back nerves and tears, she chose a random path and crashed into someone, the both of them tumbling to the ground.

Screaming, Hajin attacked the man using everything she had. Her left hand closed around the shaft of something hard lying on the ground. She picked it up and put all her weight into the swing. The baton collided against her adversary’s head with a sickening thud, and she watched, horrified, as he fell and stopped moving.

And that’s when she realized there were more of them.

She had entered a small clearing with half a dozen similarly dressed men, plus one oddball who stood out in the middle. They were all gaping at her. She saw that the man in the middle was dressed all in black, much like that other man from earlier named So, which made her wary. But along with this observation came the depressing realization that she had just knocked out one of the men who formed the majority of the group they were in… which meant she had no choice but to count the man in black as her only ally.

He came to the same realization and in one swift movement, jumped to her side and readied his stance. He was sweating hard and Hajin could see blood on his hands and face.

“Give me the baton and stay behind me,” he ordered.

In no position to argue, she it at him and stood back to catch her breath, wondering what on earth was happening. Who were these people fighting against each other and why were they dressed so strangely?

Temporarily safe, she tried to take inventory of everything she had… which wasn’t much. Practically everything she had brought for the trip was in her pack… her cellphone, her flashlight, her clothes, her money, her shampoo…

She felt the pockets of her dress and found the lighter she had used earlier to light the professor’s cigar, plus the Swiss Army Knife her father had given her years before, which she always kept at hand partly because it was useful, but mostly because it was the last thing he gave her before he and her mother…

She wiped her tears and focused on her present reality. There were more important matters to worry about right now, because apart from the lighter and the swiss knife, she had nothing else. She didn’t even have shoes, a fact reinforced by the sharp, stinging pain repeatedly snaking its way up her legs. Her muscles had started to seize up from exhaustion, and the soles of her feet had been rubbed raw from her long sprint through the forest’s foliage. She was so exhausted, she wanted to curl up into a ball and go to sleep right there on the forest floor.

“Step aside if you value your lives.” Her ally’s deep growl made her look up.

“We are under special orders to bring Your Highness in alive. Please drop the weapon and come in quietly.”

Another prince? Hajin studied the man. He was tall, with messy hair tied in a ponytail, sharp eyes and, she realized with surprise, he was much younger than she’d thought. His lips were pursed in a very angry line, and the next time he spoke, his voice boomed around the silent forest. “Did my mother send you?”

When no one answered him, he knew he had guessed right. “I do not wish to return… I order you to stand aside.” There was a clear warning in his voice that made even Hajin uneasy, but the men around them stayed in place. “I told you to move out of the way!”

With a mighty leap, the prince lunged himself at the nearest enemy. The man parried the blow, but the prince had expected it and shoved the man’s arm aside in one fluid movement so he could land a kick at the man’s chest.

“Subdue him! We take him back alive!” the leader yelled, launching his men into immediate action.

Hajin had originally feared for the young prince’s life, but seeing how well he fought, she quickly began to fear for her own.

Now that her adrenalin had run out, she was feeling faint and weak from pain. A man rushed to grab her, probably to try and use her as a hostage, but the prince saw him and knocked him out with a strong punch below the jaw. Hajin heard the man’s upper and lower teeth collide in a crunch and saw his eyes roll back into their sockets. She guessed he would be out for a while.

Not wanting to rely on the prince, she grabbed the fallen man’s weapon - another baton - and watched out for more potential sneak attacks. She raised it, ready to strike, but no one else came at her. Instead, she saw one of the first men to fall slowly regain his senses and get up, ready to attack the prince from behind while the latter fought with the remaining three still standing.

Oh no, you don’t!

Hajin was too far away to block the blow in time, so she did the only thing she could think of: she threw the baton as hard as she could and hit him squarely on the shoulder. She felt proud to have been able to stop the attack, but her pride was quickly replaced by dread when the man, angry, turned to her instead.

“Not bad!” the prince remarked. She scanned the clearing and saw to her surprise that this youngster had beaten everyone using nothing but the baton and hand-to-hand combat. She couldn’t help but be impressed. She watched as he looked down at the man behind him, who looked up at him in fear, and with one final strike to the ear, the last man standing fell to the ground.

“You… did you kill them?” she croaked after a moment’s silence.

“No, they’re alive, just knocked out,” he replied offhandedly. He eyed the bloodied baton in his hand and tossed it aside, a look of disgust on his face. “But some of them might die if they aren’t found in a few hours.”

“You defeated… all of them. Half a dozen to one. How…?” she realized was hanging open and promptly shut it.

To her surprise, he laughed. “I may be the youngest, but I’m still a prince, after all.”

She wanted to ask: ‘A prince of what? '  but then she saw the alarmed look on his face and before she could do anything, she found herself in an headlock, being pinned against yet another man.

“Ah, Jung… I thought it might be you,” a voice Hajin had no trouble recognizing said in her ear. Disgusted, she immediately clawed at his arm in an attempt to break free.

“Hyung-nim,” Prince Jung said, looking wary. “I don’t want to fight you.”

“Since you are fighting the King, I’m afraid you have no choice,” the ninth prince said, ignoring Hajin’s struggles entirely. “Unless you surrender now and come quietly.”

“I can’t do that,” Prince Jung bawled his hands into fists. “The King tried to have our tenth brother and his wife unjustly killed. Tell me I’m wrong, hyung-nim.”

There was silence save for Hajin’s grunts and ragged breathing as she vainly tried to free herself.

“You’re not wrong,” the ninth prince said at last, to both Jung and Hajin’s surprise.

“Why?” Jung yelled, angry tears spilling onto his cheeks. “What did our tenth brother ever do wrong?”

“Nothing,” the ninth said it so casually, Hajin felt even more disgusted, “he simply has the misfortune of being born into a powerful family. The throne needs to be stable, Jung-ah… all threats need to be eliminated.”

“Eun hyung-nim has never wanted the throne!” Jung cried out in disbelief. “You just wanted a reason to get rid of his grandfather!”

Ninth Prince raised his voice, making Hajin wince and turn away. “Anyone who doesn’t stand with the King is against him. Yes, Jung, I’m afraid that includes even our brothers. Baek Ah and So hyung-nim will have to be neutralized as well, now that they’ve openly rebelled… which just leaves you. So tell me… are you with the King… or against him?”

Hajin wondered what the young prince would say. At the moment, he was crying bitter tears and glaring at his brother, who sighed, “I’m tired and I have things to do… matters to take care of,” he grinned and ran his tongue along Hajin’s neck, making her shriek in indignation, “so what’ll it be, baby brother? Shall we fight… or shall we go home?”

“How about you take a nap?” a different voice drawled tiredly from behind them. A whack and a thud later and the grip around Hajin’s neck loosened. She turned and shoved the prince away from her body, only to come face-to-face with the masked man from before.

“Hyung-nim!” Prince Jung called, relief in his voice, but his brother wasn’t looking at him. Raising his sword, he aimed it at Hajin’s throat.

“Jung, are you hurt?” he asked, frowning at Hajin. He still couldn’t place this woman. Who was she and what had she been doing at Lake Dongji?

“I can manage,” Jung said with a slight wince. “She’s alright, hyung-nim, she helped me-”

“She’s a spy.”

“I am not!” Hajin yelled at once. She swatted the sword away, which surprised both princes. A small sting at the base of told her the sword’s tip had managed to scratch her, but she ignored the pain and the fear that she could have lethally slit if the sword had been just a little bit closer. Her anger always made her more brave.

“Then who are you? How did you come to be on palace grounds?” So demanded, recovering from his surprise.

“I told you, I’m a tourist! Do you not get tourists in this part of the country?” she snapped.

When both Jung and So stared at her, she sighed. “You know, people who come from another place, going elsewhere to visit and have a look around and- oh, come on! How can you not know what a tourist is?”

“What language is it that you speak?” So demanded, getting more and more confused by the minute.

She glared at him. “Seeing as how you are able to understand me, I’d say we’re speaking the same language, albeit you sound more like an old man!”

So looked at Jung. “We can’t risk her being a spy.”

“No!” Jung yelled, placing himself between them. “I’ll vouch for her.”

So bared his teeth in anger, “Don’t be a fool! If she makes even a single mistake, you’ll have to pay for it!”

“I trust her. She saved my life.”

So scoffed. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“She did. She took down one of the men by herself and gave me his baton. I couldn’t have fought them off without a weapon to block their blows. Also…” he looked at Hajin over his shoulder, “she clearly hates our ninth brother. If she’s not with them, then she’s with us, isn’t she?”

“I don’t know, they seemed pretty cozy from my point of view.” Though it was said lightly, Hajin could detect the underlying malice in So’s tone.

“How dare you! He tried to me twice today!” she shrieked, coming out from behind Jung so she could face So head on. “And you! You tried to kill me! I demand an apology at once!”

So narrowed his eyes and walked slowly towards her. “Who are you to demand such a thing from a prince?”

“Who am I?” she scoffed in disbelief, “I’m G-” she stopped, wondering if she should tell them her name. She decided not to. “It doesn’t matter who I am. Why? Will you apologize to me if I’m a princess, and ignore me if I’m not? Tsk! This is a very strange, backward neighborhood you guys live in.”

“So… you want an apology?” So was getting impatient. They had a long ways to go before they could consider themselves safe. They had no time to be arguing with a woman. He held his sword more tightly in his hand and leaned over her. “Fine, I’ll apologize. But then I’d have to kill you. That’s fine, though, right?”

Hajin flushed, wondering if he was being serious.

“Then… I’m sor-”

“Hyung-nim, we need to go,” Jung interrupted. Taking hold of Hajin’s hand, he forced her back behind him. “Sister-in-law got injured on our way out, that’s why I let them go ahead and remained here. We need to quickly find a healer to tend to her wounds.”

So didn’t move a single muscle.

Feeling the tension still in the air, Jung tried again. “I promise you, hyung-nim… if this woman does anything remotely suspicious… I’ll take care of her myself.”

At these words, Hajin looked at Jung in alarm, but he kept his eyes fixed solely on his brother. They stared each other down for the longest time before the elder finally relented. He sheathed his sword with a sigh. “Fine, do what you want.” He gave Hajin a final withering look full of distrust and went on his way.

When he judged his brother was far enough ahead, Jung turned to Hajin. She backed instinctively away from him, but he reassured her with a warm smile. “Don’t worry. You saved my life. I won’t ever forget that.” He patted her shoulder and nodded. “From now on, I will treat your life as if it were my own. Don’t mind my brother… we’ve been through a lot.”

“What is this place?” she asked weakly. Though she knew she was far from being completely safe, the shock that had blocked out all her emotion earlier was slowly starting to fade now that immediate danger had passed. “Who are you people? Why are you fighting?”

Jung frowned, wondering if she was being serious. Her strange clothes and strange speech had confused him too, but he had overlooked those qualities in favor of the gratitude he felt at her timely arrival. If it weren’t for her, he would have been dragged back into the palace and locked up.

And he had no wish to remain a hostage, not when his family members were at each others’ throats.

He decided to answer her questions first. “You are in Kaesong, the capital city of the Kingdom of Goryeo. I am the fourteenth son of the founder of this land, Wang Jung. That brother lying there is my ninth brother, Wang Won… and the one who just left is our fourth brother, Wang So.”

Hajin’s brain failed to grasp anything beyond the word Goryeo.

It couldn’t be. This had to be a dream.

Trying to keep calm, she forced the words out of . “What… what year is this?”

He decided that perhaps she had lost her memory. It was the only explanation he could think of. Eyeing her grimly, he replied, “It is the eleventh month of the Year of the Wooden Snake, twenty-seven years after the founding of this land.”

Twenty-seven years since the start of Goryeo. Hajin felt her insides shrivel up as she did the math. Taejo Wang Geon became king in 918… twenty-seven years later would mean-

“945.”