Another week on time! Woo!

YongSun’s heart was in . She was being led down a long corridor, the same grey brick on the outside of the castle made up the inside walls as well. She tried to look at everything she could, taking in all her surroundings, like Byul would have, like TaeOh should be doing if his legs and arms were not bound, being dragged by two of the guards, his face was stuck looking at the white marble floors. They were still surrounded by the same guards who rushed them at the front gate, one even held a blade in his hand at YongSun’s side. 

The halls were lined with paintings, she assumed of the past royals, they had something similar in her castle.

 For a castle, it was not very impressive. It was old, and that should have given it character, it should have given it life with the history in its walls, much like her own, where you could see the impression of the kings that had come before. But it was as if Henry had stripped all the history from his castle, replacing it with modern furniture and artworks, making it seem very out of place. She already knew she was not going to be comfortable here, not that she thought she ever would, but it was even more unsettling than she originally thought. She tried looking for places to escape but it was hard to see anything through the guard wall that surrounded her. She did however see the servants rushing about, acting as if them being walked down this hall at sword point was completely normal. That also unsettled YongSun. 

Finally, she and TaeOh were led to a large set of double doors made of oak. Iron decorations were inlaid within the wood, making a very beautiful design around the perimeter of the door, hiding the ugly thing that sat on the other side. 

The throne room was vast. It had to be at least double the size of her father’s. Everything was carved out of white marble, even the throne itself, with golden accents attached to the intricate design. King Henry of Kedoeron sat on the throne placed on a platform four feet off the ground. A large gold crown sat upon his head, looking too heavy with all those jewels on it. 

If YongSun had met Henry for the first time with his current expression, she would have cowered away from him. Feeling the blade Byul gave her, hot against her thigh, it felt as if she was standing next to her, giving her strength to face him like the high royal she was. He wore a purple cape that draped dramatically over the side of his throne and clashed with his red robes. His eyes narrowed on them as they entered.

TaeOh was thrown to the ground, head smacking against the floor so hard that it made YongSun’s teeth clench. He remained on his knees, head down, submitting to his king. YongSun wanted to tell him, very badly, to stand and face this man with dignity, but she knew this was all part of his plan, this was what had to be done. 

The King clicked his tongue. “Well, what do we have here?.” His voice was venomous but his face stayed neutral. “Princess, I did not think we would be seeing you again.” His almost black eyes bore into hers but she took a breath and remained calm.

She squared her shoulders and took a quick curtsy for him. “My King, I hope you would be so gracious as to hear our tale.” She tried to sound as propper as she could.

Henry took his time thinking it over. Then, ever so slightly, he moved one of his fingers. The guards moved back slightly but no one undid TaeOh’s binds. “You may speak, I am sure it will be a tale indeed.” 

YongSun swallowed her fear. She had to succeed or TaeOh would be taken from her and be hurt, she could not let that happen. “The night my father was murdered.” She mustered as much emotion she could, it wasn’t hard when she was speaking about her father. “We found him after the assassin left while he was bleeding out.” She didn’t need to fake the waver in her voice or the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “His final words to us were to flee the castle, not knowing if the assassin was still in the castle. We heeded his words.” She looked toward TaeOh, still submissive on the floor. “That night, the two warriors sworn to keep me safe and proceeded to help me escape the castle knowing very well that they were pinning his murder on themselves.”

She thought of Byul, making more tears surface and a new type of pain enter her words. “We ran into a lot of trouble, including losing the brave warrior, Yul, to a bounty hunter’s poisoned blade just before we reached the town of Velcorn.” A shudder ran through her. “We were trying to make it here, taking the one way we thought the person who killed my father would never suspect we took. We could not leave a note about our plans for fear that someone, but your grace, would discover it and come to take me out as well.” 

“That journey should not have taken you a month to partake in, my dear princess.” Henry interjected, she could not tell if he was believing it or not. 

“May I speak your highness?” TaeOh’s rough voice shocked her, he was not supposed to speak.

The king looked at him, he still had not made eye contact with the king. “Granted.” 

TaeOh looked up, looking more at Henry's boots than anything. “The weather was hard, it rained for a good part of our travels. We could not race here for the princess was not used to such travel on horse and in that weather. We tried but she fell ill within the first week of travel, it slowed us down, we needed to take care of her.” He paused, letting his words sink in. “We had to evade the bounty hunters.” 

“I sent those hunters after the princess.” Henry growled.

TaeOh dipped his head. “I know my grace, and you did it for her safety but I did not trust anyone but us to deliver the princess to you. I did not know if these hunters were with you or with the assassin, I did not recognize them as our men. Then…” He choked on his words, and YongSun knew what was coming. “Then one of them stabbed Yul, we didn’t find the right antidote in time, after days of trying to extract the poison from him.” Tears streaked down TaeOh’s face, YongSun knew they were not fake tears. “He died after five days. We burned his body the following dusk. I wanted to honour my brother so we returned his ashes to our home village. I will admit it slowed our trip, though I tried my hardest to go on with strength.” He took a breath, calming his tears. “And that my king is why I have failed you, I failed my brother, and I failed Thaiston by not being able to stop the King’s death. I have failed Kedoeron, but with my last thread of honour I made sure to deliver the princess to the one place she would be safe, your castle. And I will accept whatever punishment you see fit, my grace.” He said it with such firm words that even YongSun believed him.

She silently watched the King on his throne, thinking over everything that TaeOh had said, everything YongSun had said, trying to find something wrong with them. After what seemed like an hour of silence, YongSun’s legs started to ache from standing so still, he spoke. “You’ve done this kingdom a great service Captain Oh.” He motioned with his hand again, a guard came forward and cut off the binds on TaeOh, he moved to one knee, still kneeling in front of the king. “You will be rewarded for your bravery, as soldier Moon Yul will be for giving his life to protect the future of this kingdom.” He shifted in his seat. “You will resume your position as leader of the fifth legion.” TaeOh nodded at his command. “But,” A chill ran down YongSun. “I will be keeping a close eye on you for a long time.” 

TaeOh bowed his head. “As you see fit my king.” He closed a fist over his heart and bowed to the king. 

Henry looked pleased. “You may raise my son.” TaeOh followed his command. “You may return to the barracks now Captain.” 

She felt TaeOh stiffen. “Yes my king.” He gave a bow to the king, he turned to YongSun, his eyes locked with her, they seemed to be telling her not to be afraid, that he would be close. “Princess.” He said in his sarcastic TaeOh tone, calmness rushed through her, that was his way of telling her that everything was okay. With that he departed, leaving her alone with the king. 

“Jae.” The king summoned one of the guards. A young man with his hair tied behind him, stepped up beside her. “Please see princess Solar to her bed chambers, notify the staff to attend to her, she has had a long journey I am sure she could do with some proper rest and food.” He paused, looking her over. “And a bath.” 

YongSun clenched her teeth at the comment, the soldier bowed to the king and YongSun gave another curtsy. “Thank you my king.” The words were sour in but she made them come out sweet. 

He nodded at her but his eyes told her that he would be keeping a close eye on her as well. As she was being led out of the throne room she could not help but have a bit of hope, they had achieved the first step, then made it into the castle. They were not naive, they knew they were going to be separated right away, but at least TaeOh got to walk out of the throne room with his own feet and not dragged to the dungeons. This was the first of many tasks they needed to complete while in these walls. 

YongSun was shown to her bed chambers by Jae and then he left immediately after assuring her, or warning her, that there were four guards outside her door. She was walking into the main room, it was the size of her old bedroom. It had a small landing, whether a few steps led down to a seating area. YongSun thanked the Goddess under her breath that this section of the castle did not seem to be made of white marble. The walls were still grey brick but the floor was a shiny brown wood. The sitting room had a fireplace on the right, a large clock on the left, a beige couch and matching chairs that surrounded an oak table. Another set of stairs led to two more doors, YongSun had no idea what lay beyond. 

A small knock on the door made her jump, she turned to see the door already opening. A small girl walked in, her brown hair was swept up into a ball on the top of her head. Her grey, brown dress marked her as a servant. “I am sorry to interrupt my lady.” She gave a slight bow. “I am Kim YooJin, I was assigned to you.” The girl reminded her of HyeSoo, her handmaiden, she wondered how the girl was doing now. “The king said to get you ready for lunch my lady.” She said shyly.

YongSun nodded at her. “That sounds lovely, thank you.” She tried to say in her best princess voice, though she was confused because it was barely past breakfast, there were still hours until lunch. 

The girl bowed. “First to the bath, the tailor will be here soon to fit you for a gown.” 

That sent panic through YongSun, thinking of the balde strapped to her leg. “May I please visit my bedroom first, I am terribly shy and need a moment to collect myself.” 

The girl looked shocked at the request but nodded. “Through there my lady.” She pointed to the door on the right. 

YongSun left the girl and rushed to the room. She opened the oak door and closed it behind her. 

The room was even bigger than the sitting room. A large oak four post bed took up the far wall and was made up with white covers that contrasted with the color of the wood. Accompanying the luxurious bedding, a large intact looking white carpet rolled out from under the bed. There was a small sitting area next to the just one window in the room, red chairs with gold trim and a small white marble table. Two oak side tables sat beside the bed on opposite sides. On the left side of the room an opening led to a smaller room with drawers and horizontal poles, a square on the floor that was a step off the ground and a grand mirror, it was dressing room. Overall the room was breathtaking to Yongsun's taste, afterall it was very contrasting to what she was used to in the past few months. 

She could not afford to take a long time in there and hurried over to the bed, lifting the grand mattress and sliding her blade under it. She knew she should not be without it, but her servant accidentally finding it would be even worse. She put back the bedspread and raced from the room. YooJin was waiting in the same place she left her, by the door, arms hanging at her sides. 

YongSun smiled at her. “Thank you Kim YooJin.” 

YooJin waved her hands. “My lady please, YooJin is more tha