“The men report that the river current is slowing down. We do not know when the king’s men will come after us. For everyone’s safety, we’ll have to leave,” General Park informed everyone after sundown on their fourth day.

“But… buin is injured. She cannot travel on horseback, the stitches will come undone!” Hajin protested.

“We were never meant to linger here,” Prince So said in response to her concern. “We were fortunate with the rain, but it can no longer help us. If we stay, we risk another battle with the royal guards. You know the men’s injuries best, Lady Soo. Will they survive another encounter?”

The true answer was no, but she was determined to come up with a compromise. She couldn’t subject Soon Deok to that amount of pain if she could help it. “General,” she addressed, relying now on the man’s fatherly instinct, “how long do you think we have before we need to move?”

He glanced at one of his men, who promptly replied, “Two hours, three at most, my lady.”

It was better than nothing. Turning to the Fourth Prince, she said, “That should be enough time for the men to create a stretcher of sorts. It needn’t be perfect… just strong enough to carry buin.”

“S-ste-stecher?” Prince Jung clarified, confused.

Hajin silently scolded herself. “I meant a hammock. You know… a hanging bed, something two people can carry between them?” She was relieved when they murmured understanding. “It will have to be made of wood - I want her moved as little as possible. We can do that, right?”

General Park looked at Prince So. “Your Highness, we ask permission to make this stretcher.”

He gave an affirmative nod. “Granted. Take as many of the men as possible and make it quick.” He looked towards his brothers. “I'll take the rest of the least injured with me and scout the area. You three stay behind and look after the women. We'll be back with news shortly.”

With nods exchanged around the room, most of the men left.

Hajin hadn’t counted on moving her patient so soon and would need to search the forest for more herbs that could help. She said as much, to everyone’s surprise and disapproval.

“I won’t take long. I'll go in and be back before the rest of the men,” she assured them.

“At least take someone with you,” Myunghee urged, but Hajin shook her head, “Everyone else is injured and the princes have been given strict orders to stay put. Besides, General Park and his men will be in the forest. I’ll be sure not to stray too far from where they are.”

Navigating by candlelight was much harder than Hajin thought. She couldn't see the stars overhead, and the bright light she held only made the darkness around her seem solid. The sound of voices was her only guide. In time, she found General Park and informed him of her intentions.

“My lady, thank you for doing this,” he said earnestly. “I am eternally indebted to you for saving my daughter’s life. There are more than just men in this forest. If you should encounter anything dangerous, call and I will rush to aid you, no matter where you are.”

She appreciated the thought and smiled… though she wished she hadn't heard such an ominous warning right before plunging into unfamiliar territory in the dark. “I'll try to stay within hearing distance. Anyway, we should be able to determine each others’ locations through our candles.”

Before she left, he unfastened something from his leg and gave it to her. The weapon felt heavy in her hands, even though it was much smaller than a sword. “A father’s gratitude. Use it to protect what’s important.”

The unfamiliar weight on her leg felt strange, and as she had no experience and no wish to ever be part of such violence, she fervently prayed she would never have to use it… though she couldn't say no to having any form of insurance and protection.

She made slow progress through the forest, much to her chagrin. Once, when she was studying to be a nurse, their clinical instructors had brought them out to the province for three days of survival training. They had been allowed none but a few camping essentials and a list of herbs to look for in the forest before their time ran out. Along with those essentials came a flashlight, which was considerably more reliable than a flickering candle, which not only hampered her movements, but gave her a headache.

She took longer as she bent over foliage, inspected mushrooms, bushes and vines, always checking behind her to see if the general was still within vision. Reassured by their proximity, she wandered farther, plucking leaves, flowers, mushrooms, and whatever could be useful, and putting them in a pouch she had brought with her to be inspected at first light the next day.

It was the silence that first alerted her to the possibility of danger. Though she kept perfectly still and strained her ears, she heard nothing… neither the sound of hacking, nor the low rumble of voices and grunts from her male companions. And the worst part was, she wasn’t sure when she’d last heard them, having been too busy inspecting the spots on a cluster of mushrooms.

Cautiously, she stood and had a look around, and found to her dread that she couldn’t see the light of their candles either. Had she strayed too far? Had they gone back without her?

No… if she was certain of anything, it was that the general wouldn’t leave her like this.

Coming to a terrible conclusion, Hajin quickly bent and extinguished her flame - and not a moment too soon. Blinded by the sudden darkness, she lay flat on the ground and rolled sideways into the nearest bush, trying to keep as still and silent as she could. From which direction would danger come? Were the general and his men hiding, preparing to fight back?

The sound of boots made her stop breathing, and she watched, terrified, as a man came into the clearing where she had been. He saw the candle and picked it up, feeling the soft, hot wax.

“This is the place,” he said quietly as two more pairs of feet joined him. “Whoever it was is still nearby.”

“It looked like a woman,” one of his companions said gruffly.

“She’s not alone,” the first man said with certainty. “Scan the area, but be careful. If you encounter the wolf-dog, don’t engage. Keep watch and wait for the rest of the men.”

Wolf-dog? Hajin thought to herself as she watched them leave. She waited a long time to make sure they were safely away before she came out of hiding. Her eyes had adjusted to the gloom by now, but it was not enough to tell her where she was and where her companions were…

She saw the direction each man had headed and took the one that she knew would lead her roughly towards the general.

She dare not speak out. She strained her eyes for vision, willing them to see more. She strained her ears for the faintest of sounds, willing them to hear more. Most importantly, she crouched and kept her hand on the weapon on her leg, ready to strike at the earliest opportunity.

When a hand reached out and clamped to silence her scream, Hajin forgot her weapon and flailed around to break free, but then the general’s familiar voice in her ear made her stop.

“Please calm down, my lady,” he whispered, sounding loud in the deafening silence. “We have unwanted visitors.”

She nodded and relaxed. “I saw them… there are three right now, but they spoke of more men coming.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

He hesitated only a second longer. With a single gesture, his men stepped quietly out of their hiding places and began to make their way back to the cottage. Apart from the occasional rustle of leaves, you could hardly tell they were there. She realized belatedly how loud she must have been and prayed she hadn’t just led the intruders straight to them.

“Follow me,” General Park ordered, crouching low and gesturing for her to do the same.

They had gone only a few paces when a man suddenly launched himself at the general, but the general was quicker. A sidestep and a later and the first man crumpled to the ground. The sickening squelch of metal piercing flesh made Hajin whimper as she backed away, but she forced down her panic at the general’s hush.

They grew silent, listening… but there was no mistaking the sound of rushing feet now. The other two were coming, and they would be better prepared than the first.

“Run!” General Park barked, pulling Hajin and forcing her ahead of him. “Whatever you do, don’t look back!” She heeded his words. Heart in , she ran for all her life’s worth. She heard the general engage in battle behind her and cried in terror, hoping he would be alright.

“They’re coming!” she yelled the moment she spotted the cot. “Get buin on the stretcher! We need to leave right now!”

“Where’s the general?” one man demanded.

“He’s fighting!” she replied, just as the princes and Myunghee filed out. To them, she gave a clearer warning, “We need to leave! Men are coming!”

To her surprise, the general’s soldiers ignored her and rushed back to the forest. They would have gone in if the general hadn’t arrived and barked at them for lingering. “Pack everything! We have no time to linger.”

“Do we send someone to warn the Fourth Prince?” one man asked.

“The Fourth Prince will be fine. Right now, you need to worry more about yourselves,” General Park said, ordering them to saddle up the horses and ride for Hanseong. “Our King is waiting.”

Everyone moved at top speed. With help, Hajin was able to fit the impromptu stretcher with some dried grass and a cloth to make traveling easier for Soon Deok. They tied the stretcher between two horses, ridden by Princes Baek Ah and Eun.

General Park waved away their offers of taking a man each behind them. “Your movements are already hampered. Go, wangja-nim. We will try to slow down the army and ensure your escape. Prince Jung-”

“I’ll fight with you and wait for my brother,” the youngest prince said firmly. “Sister Hae, Lady Soo… go with them. You need to be far away from here when the fighting starts.”

“But if any of you are gravely injured-” Hajin tried to protest, but she found herself instead being hoisted up and placed behind Prince Eun against her will.

“We’ll worry about that later.”

“Soo-yah, please,” Myunghee begged from behind the 13th Prince. “We need to leave.”

Reluctantly, Hajin kept silent and watched with worried eyes as the cottage grew smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared at the crest of the wooded hill.

“Try to keep her steady,” Hajin ordered her companions. She fumbled impatiently with the jar lid, fingers slipping because of all the blood from Soon Deok’s wound, which had reopened. “Buin, please bear it for a little longer.”

They had ridden for hours until they came upon a shoreline. The princes had quickly scanned the large rocks for a cave to hide in while Myunghee and Hajin fussed over Soon Deok. She had been silent the entire journey, choosing not to alert her companions to the amount of pain she was under for fear they would stop and be overrun by the army. She had counted on the darkness to conceal her pooling blood.

“You should have said something,” Myunghee said shakily, unwilling to fully berate the young woman. She wiped sweat and silent tears off of Soon Deok’s face while Baek Ah stoked the flames of the fire he had managed to make.

Soon Deok was too weak to reply.

“Damn this thing!” Hajin cursed, unable to get the lid open.

“Here,” Prince Baek Ah took the jar and opened it, then he watched with the rest as Hajin began repairing the damage the ride had done to Soon Deok’s back.

It took a while for the numbing properties of the mugwort poultice to work, and Hajin couldn’t wait ‘til then. Soon Deok had already lost too much blood. The wound would have to be stitched again. Though weak and pale, Soon Deok was not unconscious this time and cried out in pain multiple times. Myunghee sobbed silently, while Baek Ah paced the cave.

But it was Eun who felt the effects of his wife’s tortured cries the most.

“Buin…” he muttered, looking as pale as she was. He unclenched her hand from its tight grip on the stretcher and took it in his own. “It’s okay. You’ll be okay. You’re stronger than I am. You can get through this.”

He continued to utter words of comfort in her ear amidst her strangled screams.

After some time had passed and the herbs finally started to take effect, Soon Deok’s cries became less frequent. Hajin worked swiftly, ordering Soon Deok to drink from the flask of watered down wine they had brought with them from time to time.

The sun was fully up by the time Hajin finished, and Soon Deok was fast asleep. She had fainted halfway through the procedure from a combination of pain, exhaustion and alcohol, which Hajin counted as a blessing. Though she had managed to keep her composure, it was with great difficulty. All the operations she had witnessed and assisted in the past had been with the help of sedatives and anaesthetics. She found it was a hundred times harder to remain professional while working on a conscious patient.

“She’ll be fine,” she assured the 10th Prince, who continued to stare blankly at his wife’s bandaged back. Hajin squeezed his shoulder and got up, making her way over to Baek Ah, who was standing watch outside their cave.

“Where do you think we are?” she asked quietly, looking out at the pristine waters of the sea. She hoped the soothing sound of the waves would grant Soon Deok and Myunghee pleasant dreams.

“I’m not sure. I’m used to traveling, but always on the main road,” he replied with a sigh. “But if I’m right and we follow the shoreline to the south, we’ll be able to cross the inlet at some point and reach Gyeonggi-du, then it’ll only be a matter of traveling inland before we reach Hanseong.”

“And… what of the others? Had you decided on a place to meet beforehand?”

He nodded. “When sister is well enough, we will travel to the mountains of Paju and search for the rest of our party there.”

“How long do you think they’ll wait for us? It might take a full month before she’s ready for travel.”

The prince sighed, but shrugged. “If worse comes to worst… we’ll travel on our own. The Grand General told us to ride to Hanseong, so that’s where we’ll go. Don’t worry, Soo-yah… though I may be a sheltered prince, I know enough about the country to be able to navigate us through. We just need to locate the Han River and follow it. Easy.”

She eyed him grimly, wondering if he was being serious, but she didn’t want to be a debbie downer, so instead she switched topic. “I do hope they all managed to survive.”

To her surprise, the prince laughed. “Are you worried about my fourth brother’s warning?”

Even more surprised, she stuttered to say, “I’m worried about all of them!” She had no idea anyone else knew about that conversation. Apparently, the 13th prince was well within the 4th prince’s confidence. He read her mind and grinned, “Not to worry, my lady. My brother just needed to make sure you could be trusted upon to do your best should the occasion arise. He won’t kill you, not with so many people taking your side.”

“So,” she snapped, blushing, feeling foolish for believing the threat, “are you telling me his bark is, after all, worse than his bite?”

She could tell he was amused. “Not at all. You may have heard of the infamous wolf-dog of Songak…” The name rang a bell, and she remembered hearing it for the first time just the night before. Prince Baek Ah nodded, “For the most part, the rumors about him are true. In this case, my lady…” he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “my brother’s bite is literally… definitely… worse than his bark.”