YongSun’s head was spinning. She had spent the last day trying to wrap her head around this whole Solarous thing. She was currently sitting with Ernesto in his greenhouse, talking with him as he picked his herbs. Byul and TaeOh did not want to leave her alone with him, after all they had only known him for twenty-four hours, but she insisted that she wanted to have this conversation with him alone. Of course, she knew they were watching her through the glass, pretending to be sparing in the yard while they talked. 

YongSun listened to the calming snip of the tools Ernesto was using to trim his plants. “So what powers exactly does a Solarous have?” Ernesto had mentioned to her that he wanted to reverse the binding on her, give her back her powers, but she wanted to know about it before she made the decision. Clearly her father didn’t want her to have these powers for a reason. 

He looked over at her, she had been sitting on his work bench. “Each Solarous has had unique powers in a way.” Ernesto’s family had been the keepers of information, it was their life’s task to learn all about the Uju and document it for the next generations. “Each has the same source of powers but each manifest in different ways and in different intensities.” He put a full basket of herbs down and grabbed an empty one. “The four powers all Solarous’ have are healing, musical ability, light, and the site.” 

A chill ran down YongSun’s spine. “The site?” 

Ernesto nodded. “The Solarous is connected to the universe by spirit, they are able to connect to the past, present, and future.” YongSun was frozen. “Each experience it in different ways, impulses, visions, through cards.”

“Nightmares.” YongSun meant to whisper to herself.

“Yes,” He studied her. “The connection to the Oracle spirit is always the deepest root, even if it might not be the strongest power.” He paused for a moment. “I take it you have experienced some form of this?”

“I get a lot of nightmares, I always have, and sometimes…” She swallowed hard. “I always thought I was kind of crazy when I saw connections to things going on around me.” 

He nodded. “The visions are not always clear, especially those that have yet to come. Your future changes with every new choice we make, and the visions can be interpreted in many different ways, it may not always be exactly what you are seeing.” He was still watching her. “Have you experienced any other abilities?” 

YongSun almost shook her head, but if she wanted the answers then she needed to be as honest as possible with him. “The other night, I had a conversation with TaeOh about his and Byul’s past. Later on when I was tending to her, it was as if I was living the story through her eyes, as if I was really there.”

Again Ernesto was nodding. “You connected to her past, you two mudt have a deep connection, it is not an easy thing to do. It should have been impossible with the binding, but some stories fight to be told.” 

YongSun wasn’t sure why her face heated at that. “So if I unbind my powers, I will get visions? And I can heal, and control light, and...sing?”

Ernesto laughed. “Kind of. Like I said, everyone is different. I would say yes to some sort of vision, maybe just in your dreams but stronger. As for the others, we will only know when we unbind you. You will have all of those powers to some degree but how much is still unknown.” 

YongSun started swinging her feet as she contemplated this. “And you would train me? Here?”

“No.” He said flatly. “You can not be unbound or trained here it is too unsafe. If you choose to do this, I will take you to the Knight and it will be done there.”

“The hidden magic village?” He hadn’t really said anything else about it since their first talk.

A smile. “It is a safe place for magic users. Yes it is hidden from the world for obvious reasons, I turned it into a sanctuary for magic users and their families after the Night War. I helped set up a few of them around the South but eventually we became one group, a collected power and the safest place for you, at least until you learn to control your powers.” 

“Why do you think my father didn’t want me to have powers?” The question had been haunting her since yesterday, why would her father make such a decision and why should she undo it? 

Erenesto place a hand over hers. “Because he was scared my dear child. For years after the Night War the North King rounded up people still in the South with magic and he either killed them or imprisoned them. Any child lucky to be born with magic was hunted. When you were born it was a sign that the world could restore balance but he was terrified the North King would send his men for you, so he did the one thing he thought he could do to protect you. Well the one thing he could do without having to give you up.” He patted her hand. “Your father loved you very much YongSun, he wanted nothing more than to keep you safe.”

YongSun felt a tear fall down her face. “He was marrying me off to another kingdom, for soldiers.” 

Ernesto stood up taller, a sort of shield formed over his eyes, as if he was pushing something back. “Parents do a lot of things for a lot of different reasons, my dear princess and I cannot tell you why but one thing I know for sure was that your father loved you more than anything in this world.” 

YongSun’s body was shaking as the tears fell from her eyes. “Thank you.” She choked out. 

He placed a hand on her shoulder and let her cry, let her mourn. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there crying, how long he kept his hand on her shoulder but eventually they were interrupted. “What the hell did you do to her?” Byul was standing in the doorway, sword slightly raised, TaeOh standing behind her with the same anger expression on his face. 

Ernesto raised his hands almost jokingly in defense. “Just a heart to heart warriors, no need to be concerned.”

Byul’s eyes shifted from him to YongSun as if waiting for her to confirm his words. She wiped the tears from her face and steeled her nerves. “I want to unbind my powers.” She told them all. Everyone turned to look at her in silence. 

Byul didn’t want to believe it. Over the last day she had been trying to tell herself that YongSun couldn’t be magic, but here they were talking about the unblinding process she was going to go through as if they were talking about the weather. She had no idea how to feel about this, she knew she was very concerned about how YongSun was taking it. One thing was for sure, she and TaeOh would not be leaving her anytime soon. It was something they had discussed while they pretended to train. They both agreed that they needed to accompany the princess on this journey to the Knight to make sure she was safe. Byul was becoming more and more aware of why she wanted to make sure YongSun was safe, the problem was she was sure TaeOh was doing it for the same reasons. She was sure soon she was going to have to yield her feelings in favour of TaeOh and YongSun but it was something she wanted to hold on to a bit longer. 

Byul didn’t understand most of what Ernesto was telling them. She knew he had to mix a sort of potion, YongSun would have to drink it, she would go into some sort of coma for a bit and then she would wake up with her powers. All of it sounded a lot more simple than it probably was. Ernesto said it was a day and a half ride to the village, they would be leaving first thing in the morning. It was actually a few days ride from Byul and TaeOh’s home village, a thought Byul shook away quickly. They had not been back there since they left all those years ago, and she wasn’t about to go back now, too much pain lived in that soil, pain she didn’t want to remember. “Is this going to be safe?” TaeOh’s voice brought Byul out of her inner trip down memory lane. 

Byul didn’t miss the look TaeOh got from Ernesto, it was the same one he had given them when Byul almost attacked him when they arrived to see YongSun crying next to him. The look that meant he knew the feelings they both had for the princess, and that he respected the lengths they would go to, to keep her safe. “I assure you all that it is very safe.”

“No offense but we have not known you long, I don’t really trust what you think is safe.” He shot back.

“TaeOh enough.” Byul chimed in. “If this is what YongSun wants then we will do it. We will make sure she is safe.” Byul ignored the shiny look YongSun was giving her, she looked back at her brother. “We have no choice but to trust him, and so far he had given us no reason not to.”

TaeOh gave her a look but it vanished as quickly as it showed up. “You’re right.” He admitted. “I am sorry Ernesto.” He sounded like he meant it. 

“Please excuse my brother, as I am sure you know we have all been through a lot over the last month. There is nothing we will not do to protect each other.” Again she could see some look from YongSun, but she was one from TaeOh as well, something she knew they would be talking about really soon. 

Ernesto nodded. “I completely understand. I wish there was an easy way to show you that I want the same thing.” Byul knew she trusted him, but no matter how much she trusted him, she would always be worried about YongSun’s safety. 

“This is something I need to do.” YongSun chimed in, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “I need to do this no matter how dangerous it might turn out to be.” Byul nodded, if this is what YongSun wanted, as long as it didn’t kill her, then she would help her see it through.

“Purposely putting yourself in danger? I didn’t peg you for that type of girl princess.” TaeOh scoffed, earning a look from not only Byul but YongSun as well. 

“You do not get to make decisions for me TaeOh, this is my life.” She looked ver