Soyeon pulled her horse to a halt as she galloped into the clearing. Behind her, Minnie and Miyeon fanned out circling the area to make sure no one was lying in ambush. Shuhua reined in her horse too, her steed nervously chomping on his bit.

“We’ll take a rest here. Hopefully Krystal and Soojin will find us here. If not, I’ll leave them a trail,” Soyeon declared as she jumped off her horse.

The others nodded and also dismounted. Soyeon reached into her saddle bags and fitted a nosebag to each horse’s mouth. Aside from their regular mounts, they also had fresh horses for everyone, courtesy of Yongsun’s stables. Minnie and Miyeon had stolen the swiftest ones when they rescued Soyeon a few days ago.

Soyeon watched as Shuhua slowly paced around the clearing. This was where they had celebrated Shuhua’s sixteenth birthday. Soyeon smiled when she remembered the way Shuhua had begged her to reason with the King. Shuhua had promised not to try to run away from the castle for a solid month if Soyeon would take her out for her birthday. Luckily, the King agreed and the plan went without a hitch.

But now, times couldn’t be more different. Back then, Soyeon had picked Minnie and Miyeon to accompany Shuhua, Yuqi, and Soojin to this clearing for a picnic. They had ridden out in secret, but once they entered the forest, someone, probably Minnie, had struck up a song. They sang boisterously, without a care in the world, as they rode to the clearing. Yuqi and Soojin had teamed up to cook all of Shuhua’s favorite foods. Transporting the piping hot seaweed soup was a logistical nightmare, but Soyeon rigged a basket for it in the end. They had eaten and then explored the surrounding woods.

Soyeon still remembered the tender look on Shuhua’s face after Soojin picked her an enormous bouquet of wildflowers. Minnie did the same for Yuqi. At that time, Soyeon had tried to avoid looking at Yuqi. She had to reject the lady-in-waiting’s advances because of her position as head of the King’s Guard, not because she disliked Yuqi. While Soyeon put any prospects of love or marriage behind her, it still stung when Yuqi moved onto Minnie after only a month.

Now, Minnie helped Yuqi take a drink from th