by L. S Bethel
‘I don't have to,’ she realized. If he had lied to her about the moon, she knew it must still be her way home, which meant all she had to do, was find out when the next one was. Once she got the opportunity she would go back on her own and escape. Pain and rage shifted, transforming into strong resolve. She was determined now. She will make her own way home if only to get back at him for ever making her feel anything for him. As far as she was concerned, he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He was the enemy she would keep close until the right time. She would harden her heart against him and purge whatever feeling she'd had. They meant nothing now. Her priority, as it always should have been, was to get back to her real family. Difficult as it was, she pulled herself up. She washed her face doing her best not to look like she just had a breakdown. She had to go on as if everything was fine as if nothing had changed. The thought of having to pretend and still show affection for that man made her fury blaze once more but she would get through it for the sake of her family, she had to.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kang-Dae sighed as yet another petitioner approached the throne. He'd been there for hours now, becoming irritated due to fatigue and frustration. Another cart had been stolen. This was the fourth theft. He had to hold off on any more shipments until they could catch the culprits. No one could figure out how they knew when and where the wagons would be. Serenity had been the one who’d chosen those villages. Now the people were fearful, thinking they would be the next target. They refused any more aid from her. He knew that had hurt and frustrated her but she wouldn’t talk to him about it.
He had wanted to spend time with Serenity today. She'd been so busy lately immersing herself in planning for the Gi’s house celebration and other things. She had gotten a strange and sudden need to put more effort into different projects. If it was what she wanted he wouldn’t object, he just wished she would also take some time for herself. He felt distant from her the past few days. He couldn't quite explain it, but she seemed odd. She still smiled and talked in her usual brazen manner but something in her eyes was different. Kang-Dae had hoped to rectify this new distance by taking her out riding but the line kept growing. He was tempted to send them all off but decided against it and resigned himself to carrying out the day. Maybe they could spend the evening under the stars.
That plan was nixed when he returned to an empty room that evening. Was she planning another late night? That would be four nights in a row. He tried to bury his disappointment in optimism by telling himself she was slowly accepting her role as a queen. He just wanted her to have more than just responsibility here. He wanted her to have happiness. He told himself over and over that if he could just make her happy his actions would not be so horrible.
Kang-Dae decided to go and find her. If he couldn't spend time with her any other way, he could at least work with her. On his way walking outside he paused to see her just walking around. She didn't seem to have a destination; she was just walking with her head down. He stopped himself from rushing over to her. If she wanted time to herself, he'd accommodate her. It stung a bit knowing she rather be on her own than with him after so many days with little interaction. He turned and went back inside.
“The Queen had invited those in the surrounding villages to the celebration,” he heard a feminine voice say. He peered around the corner to see some servants walking together.
“I heard she and the King’s captain went out to personally invite them. Kang-Dae's ears perked up at that. She had gone out with Jung-Soo? ‘Seemed like Jung-Soo was spending more time with his wife than he was these days,’ a bitter voice spoke in his head. His irritation returned as he left to go to his study. If he was enduring another lonely night, he may as well get some work done.
***
“Is it working?” Jae-Hwa asked excitedly as she and her father arrived outside the palace walls beneath the tree.
“Patience, it'll take time before we see real results. Subtlety is key in this plan,” The conspirator said.
“They're not together as much, it seems like a good time to push even more,” Yoon spoke.
“We will. She's giving us all the stones we need to bury her. We just need to expose them to the King.”
“Are you sure it will be enough? He has been so blind when it comes to her,” Jae-Hwa said.
“The more they are apart the easier it will be. Soon she’ll fall right into the trap I’ve laid for her, and he will no longer be able to ignore her unworthiness as queen.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Kang-Dae’s mood was sour. The lords were hounding him about the food thefts, his headaches had increased, and Serenity continued to evade him. He'd gotten to the point where he was asking his servants where she was and what she was doing. The numerous times he heard she was off with Jung-Soo made his irritation rise even more. It didn’t matter if Amoli was often with them. His wife was off with another man and he couldn’t even get her to greet him in the morning. He sat in his study most days studying with every report brought back to him. He wondered if this was his punishment for his deception. Was he being forced to watch her slip away from him after doing what he had done to keep her there? His vision began to blur from the pain in his head. He rubbed his eyes aggressively. The council was meeting soon, and he'd see them both there. He dreaded what he might notice.
Jung-Soo and Serenity entered separately to his relief. She gave him a regular greeting with no special affection that he could see. The meeting began with Yu informing everyone that refugees were fleeing from the lands Katsuo had invaded. “They want land and provisions to live here while their homes are occupied.”
“We do not have anything to spare,” Yoon said.
“We can give them land and with what we’ve gathered from Kah Mah we can spare enough to get them started,” Serenity spoke up.
“That stock must last. We cannot waste it on peasants.”
“Those peasants are who help keep you fed,” Serenity gritted.
Yoon scoffed. “And if we run out of food to feed our soldiers, will they fight in their place?”
“You don't mind using our resources for your little celebration, but this is frivolous to you?” Serenity retorted full of fire, a fire he had missed.
“What do you know? You have only been in our land for a few months. Ever since you’ve come, we’ve dealt with more thefts, deaths, and misfortune than we have ever had.” Serenity rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“I’m sure it looks that way to a small, minded man like you,” she quipped.
“My Queen,” Amir spoke trying to calm the situation.
“You know nothing about this country or the way we do things. The only reason you are not just another peasant like those refugees is because the King is too bl-,” whatever he was going to say next ended because he was suddenly in the air. Yoon yelped as Kang-Dae held him up by his robes. Yoon stammered and pulled at Kang-Dae’s hands. Kang-Dae threw him to the ground. There were gasps and exclaims from all around the room but Kang-Dae didn’t shift his focus from the man currently trying to scramble away from him. He pursued the panicking Yoon, unable to feel anything but rage. It consumed him. Yoon stammered out an apology but Kang-Dae had no interest in it. He was out for vengeance, retribution, blood.
“Save your apologies. I'll take them out in your skin.” Yoon paled and got to his knees bowling submissively.
“Please my King. I'm sorry.” Kang-Dae pulled him up by his clothes and brought him to his face.
“I grow tired of your apologies,” he growled.
“Kang-Dae!” Serenity’s sharp voice cut through the fog of fury he found himself in. “Enough. This isn't helping anything,” she scolded him. Her words shamed him and the disgusted look on her face, a disgust for him, hurt. He threw Yoon down and stormed off unable to take anymore, leaving everyone utterly perplexed.
Jung-Soo was worried about Kang-Dae. His behavior was almost out of control. He was suddenly violent, quick to anger, and paranoid. He’d neve
r seen him act in such a way before. He assumed he and Serenity were at odds as she too had been acting odd whenever he mentioned Kang-Dae. He had tried to bring up his worries with her, but she just dismissed him. “Maybe he’s always been this way and you’re just noticing,” she said so callously it stunned him. Jung-Soo had no idea what was going on between the two but knew it was serious. Even so, he wasn’t so sure that their marital issues were the main cause of Kang-Dae’s increasingly alarming behavior. Kang-Dae may be out of sorts when it came to Serenity, but never to this extreme. Even the way he had been treating him lately was alarming. He was cold to him, almost treating him like he was the enemy. This was beyond a little anger at putting Serenity in a dangerous position. No, this was something different. Only he had no idea what he had done to warrant such treatment from his oldest friend.
***
Serenity tossed in her sleep as she dreamt.
Kang-Dae struggled to find his way out of the green fog. He searched frantically for an opening but everywhere he turned more fog would appear. The fog seemed to be tormenting him. He was covering his ears and shouting as if it was all too loud. Different voices were screaming at him from all directions. In the mist there were three figures, watching him. The fog began to enter his nose, mouth, and ears. He tried to block it, but it just crept its way inside his head until his eyes glowed green. He went still, limp. Suddenly the figure behind him raised his hand and Knag-Dae mimicked the movement. The figure to the right did the same and Kang-Dae repeated the action, while tears ran down his face.
Serenity woke up curled up on her side of the bed as close to the edge as she could get. She looked over and saw he was still asleep. Her first instinct was to wake him and tell him her dream, but she stopped. Why should she? This just might be the consequence of his actions. He didn't die in the dream or look close to death. Though he had hurt her like no other, she didn't wish him dead. Besides this could be the distraction she needed to escape, when the time came. Until she figured out what the dream meant she would keep it to herself. If something happened, she would deal with it then. That part of her that tragically still cared about him annoyed her. It would creep up on her every now and then and speak to that naive part of her that would sometimes want to come up with possible excuses for him. But what he’d done was inexcusable. At the end of the day, he just didn’t want her to leave. On the surface that may have been sweet, but his actions essentially made her a prisoner no matter how she looked at it. Although she wouldn't actively move against him, she decided she no longer had to help him anymore either. Let him feel some of the heartache he made her feel.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Hui stood nervously before the King along with Kyril and Satori. “We have not made any progress in finding the thief. Perhaps if we were to ask the Queen-,” Kang-Dae’s gaze shot over to Hui who stopped talking immediately.
“My King, we need to assume that whoever may have taken the poisons have the intention of using it. We need to take precautions with your meals,”
“Just my meals?” Kang-Dae asked his tone threatening. Satori swallowed knowing he needed to tread carefully.
“Of course I mean the Queen as well. Shall we inform her?”
“She’s on her way out of the palace,” Kyril spoke up. Kang-Dae turned toward him.
“What? Why”
“She’s accompanying a shipment for the children my King.”
“Is Jung-Soo with her?”
“Of course, my King,” Kyril reported thinking it would relieve Kang-Dae.
Kang-Dae’s jaw clenched. “Why?”
“Well, she insisted. She said he’s good at keeping the children in line.”
Kang-Dae’s head began to pound once more.
“My King, about the theft,” Hui started. “We can’t rule out someone close to you could be planning something nefarious.”
‘Someone close to you.’ ‘She’s with Jung-Soo.’ Those words were swirling through his mind along with the way brown eyes that used to greet him so warmly were now cold and cautious. Kang-Dae stood up.
“My King?” Hui called out as Kang-Dae ignored him and left.
He made it to the gates just as she was about to depart. A surprised Jung-Soo watched him from his horse. Serenity’s guards’ eyes followed him as well. Ignoring them all, Kang-Dae stormed over to her carriage and tossed open the door startling both Serenity and Amoli who were seated inside. “Come out.”
“What are you doing?” Serenity demanded
“Out!”
Amoli climbed out first. Serenity sat back stubbornly.
“I will not allow this carriage to move. You can stay in there all night or come out now,” he warned. Serenity scoffed before coming out, refusing his hand as he tried to help her down.
“What is your problem?”
“There have been several thefts of our shipments in the past few weeks. Now is not the time for you to be going out.”
“The kids are counting on me. If I don’t get this to them who knows what they’ll do to get their next meal.”
“I will send some men out secretly to do so. It is well known where and how you handle giving. You’re just making yourself a target.”
“How do you know it won’t get stolen from them?” She challenged.
“I will make sure every precaution is taken.”
“If you send a bunch of soldiers, you’re going to scare them off and they won’t come back. I need to be there, they trust me,” she told him.
‘Why don’t you trust me?’ he thought, too fearful of her answer to say it out loud.
“Until we catch these bandits this is how it has to be. No more shipments will go out”
“The shipments for the North are going out tomorrow!”
“Not anymore. We can’t risk losing any more of our resources to our enemies.” Kang-Dae maintained.
Serenity huffed. “Fine,” she mumbled pushing past him.
Head low he stood there feeling guilty. Even though there was truth in his words he knew it was his jealousy that prompted his actions. When he looked up, the maids, soldiers and nobles quickly averted their gaze. Was he becoming as much of a joke in their eyes as he felt?
***
Storming into the place Serenity almost bumped into Kyril. “Apologies, my queen”
“It was my fault,” she muttered, too upset to look up.
“What is it?”
“The shipment north has been canceled.”
Kyril tilted his head. “That is interesting considering they have already left.”
Serenity’s head shot toward Kyril who was sporting a mischievous smirk.
“Really?”
“I was feeling a bit antsy, so I moved up the timetable. I was just about to report it to the king.”
Serenity felt relieved but a little worried as well. As angry with him as she was, Kang-Dae did had valid points.
Noticing her conflict Kyril asked,” Do you want me to call them back? I assure you they have more than enough men to handle any situation. Satori and Amir will take the northeast, while Nasim and Yu take the west. They are quite capable I promise.” Kyril assured. Serenity wasn’t as sure as he was, but she trusted his word. Besides, the people needed food. They couldn’t keep waiting.
“Don’t bring them back and give it another day before you tell him” she said. Kyril nodded with a smile.
“Do not worry, my Queen. It will all work out and when it does the King will be pleased.” Serenity doubted it but she didn’t argue. At least some good would come out of today.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Serenity was starting to make moves. She was ready to go. Between Kang-Dae’s betrayal and his mood swings, she was becoming convinced she might have fallen for someone dangerous. His behavior had become almost frightening. He barely slept in the room anymore which she was partly grateful but that annoying part of herself couldn’t help worrying over him.
Serenity went to one of the scholars on her own feigni
ng a curiosity on the moon. She casually asked about the blessed moon. Having recently did the predictions for one they were able to quickly come up with an answer not only for the next one but the next four. The closest was three weeks away and then another a month after. She didn’t have much time to plan her exit without Kang-Dae realizing what she was up to. The hardest part would be leaving the palace without suspicion. She would come up with some way. She would not be stopped this time.
