The bright golden medallion gleamed in the dim light. Kira heaved a deep sigh. She still grieved for her parents, missing them terribly.
She replaced it in its small bag and closed the box, her hands trembling as she retied the wrapping cloth around it. With a heavy heart, she hoisted the treasure box onto her shoulder, leaving behind the ghosts of her past.
3
"noona, you're late! Where've you been?" Taejo, prince of Hansong, nephew to King Eojin, and heir to the Guru throne, called to her as she entered the elaborate dining hall. This was the first of many dinners to be held for the various political groups coming to honor the Guru king.
Heading toward her cousin, Kira was surprised to note that he wasn't sitting on the royal dais with their uncle. Instead of sitting in a place of honor, Taejo sat at a lowly table a far distance from all the other nobles. The prince, along with his tutor, Brother Woojin, and Kira's brother Kwan, sat next to their friends Jaewon and Seung. While Jaewon's lineage was noble, Seung was a commoner. A rush of affection and relief warmed her to see her cousin's loyalty and his lack of pretentiousness. Besides, she was always happier sitting with her friends.
She eyed the beautiful court ladies who were being presented to their new king. They reminded her of the old court ladies of Hansong, none of who had ever been nice to her. Although she'd had no interaction with any of their female guests, she was grateful that King Eojin had not placed her in the women's quarters with them. Already she was aware of the glances and could hear the whispers of the visiting women.
Within the hall, the nobles vied for the attention of their new king. They'd come with the Tongey and Oakcho delegations, and each noble family seemed to have a marriageable daughter in tow that they were eager to introduce to the widower. The king had made clear to Kira and Taejo that he would not remarry. He'd lost his entire family to influenza many years ago and still grieved for them. But looking around the room at the coquettish maidens, Kira wondered if he could stand against their determined onslaught.
Kira knelt by Taejo's side, noticing that round-faced Seung looked uncomfortable sitting in a royal banquet hall. She exchanged a glance with Jaewon, who smiled at her. Kira averted her face, reminded of her disfigurement.
She touched her eye, feeling the puckered grooves of the scar that ran across her eyebrow and eye and down her cheek, compliments of the traitorous Lord Shin and his whip. It was completely healed now, thanks to her tiger spirit, but her face would be marked forever. Most people flinched when they saw her. Yet she found it a marked improvement from the fear that she used to inspire. She was self-conscious about the ugly scar, but in some ways she thought it suited her. It was a constant reminder of who she was-a demon slayer and the prince's bodyguard. The only time it bothered her was when she was near Jaewon. And that fact irked her even more.
"Noona." Taejo sighed. "You're not answering me-where were you?"
A servant placed a small table setting before her with a bowl of rice, several side dishes, a plate filled with delicacies from the main service table, and a bowl of white oxtail soup garnished with minced scallions. She snagged a pair of silver chopsticks and shoveled a large glob of rice into her mouth before answering.
"Just canvassing," she said. Hungry, she placed delicate pieces of marinated meat, bean sprouts, soy sauce potatoes, and pickled cabbage into her bowl.
"Is everything safe?" Taejo asked.
Kira hesitated. Safe was a relative term. "We must always stay on our guard."
He nodded with a serious look on his young face. "Everything must be extra safe for the coming celebration."
"Don't worry," Kwan said. "It will be great."
He turned his attention to Jaewon. "What's this I hear about you gambling on baduk again? There have been a lot of unhappy rumblings from the officers."
Jaewon waved his hand in annoyance. "Hey, I can't help it that they all stink. You would think trained military officers would be better at a game of strategy."
Kira hid a smirk. Baduk was a simple game of strategy involving black and white stones on a board. The object of the game was to control as much of the board as possible by capturing or surrounding the opponent's stones. The rules were deceptively easy-baduk was an extremely difficult game to master. The first time she'd ever seen Jaewon, he'd been raking in a huge win off of a merchant. He was one of the best baduk players she'd ever met.
From across the table, Seung gave her a shy smile and pushed over a small teacup, which smelled of ginseng and honey. Kira sighed but took it with a nod of thanks. Every day Seung had been pushing his herbal remedies on her, insisting on treating her as a patient still. It was a very sweet gesture on his part, and Kira appreciated it. She grimaced as she prepared to drink the tea.
"I put a lot of honey in it," Seung said earnestly. "It will taste much better."
She held her breath and gulped it down. Shuddering, she forced herself to smile at him. All the honey did was add a cloying sweetness to what was a strong, bitter, and nasty brew.
"Thank you, I feel better already," she said. "I don't think I need any more."
Seung shook his head. "Oh no, you must drink it every day for at least a month to get its full efficacy."
Kira blanched as her brother snickered, and even Taejo gazed at her in amused sympathy.
"I don't think Kang Kira likes the taste of ginseng, Seung," Jaewon said. "In fact, I'm pretty sure she hates it."
"No, really?" Seung asked with a shocked expression. "But ginseng is so delicious! It's earthy and aromatic and so good for you. I can't imagine anyone disliking it."
"That's because you have strange taste," Jaewon said. "You're the only one I know who actually likes to eat those nasty Cathay century eggs."
"They are a real delicacy," Seung retorted. "Only a person with true gourmet sensibilities can appreciate the depth of flavor that a century egg contains."
"Sorry, I'm not eating anything that smells of horse urine," Jaewon said.
As Taejo giggled and gagged with exaggerated disgust, the two friends continued to bicker about food. Kira took the opportunity to share her findings with her brother.
"I found Mother's treasure box," she whispered to Kwan.
Kwan's face brightened. "That's wonderful! At least we have something left of our family."
"Were you able to recover anything of Father's?" Kira asked.
"No, the Yamato burned down Father's quarters and his office. There was nothing left." He sighed. "Were Mother's things hard to find?"
Kira shook her head, swallowing over the lump in her throat. "Although I wonder if we would be better off leaving them hidden. I'm not sure where we could keep them safe."
"Why wouldn't you just keep them here?" Taejo asked, his face curious as he pointedly eavesdropped on their conversation.
The siblings looked at each other. Kira knew neither of them would speak about their deepest fear. That Hansong would be taken again.
"Send your family treasures to Dragon Springs Temple," Brother Woojin cut in. "Master Roshi can keep them safe for you there. There are several of my fellow monks here at Hansong who will be making the pilgrimage to the temple. They will be leaving a few days from now. I'm sure they would be able to deliver them for you."
Kwan nodded in agreement and thanked the monk, but Kira was hesitant. She sensed that she might never see her mother's treasures again.
All of a sudden, shouts rose over the drone of conversation. Everyone turned to face the doorway, where a new group of arrivals appeared. Kira recognized the supercilious Lord Yu of the Tongey delegates. She clenched her jaw in anger. He'd once tried to throw her out of a military meeting with the heads of state. When King Eojin had refused his demand and let Kira stay, Lord Yu had never forgiven either of them. The mutual dislike between Kira and Lord Yu was both intense and public.
One particularly brash Tongey nobleman jumped forward and shouted into the crowd, "Your Majesty, the Tongey are celebrating today! After the murder of our beloved King Asin, we believed his bloodline was finished. But we have discovered that we were wrong. We are proud to introduce to you to the late King Asin's nephew, the lost heir of Tongey, Prince Namhoe!"
There was a loud gasp of surprise and disapproval from the gathered nobles. Glancing toward her uncle, Kira was not surprised to see the king's impassive countenance, but behind him, she could see the anger in his advisers' faces.
"The Tongey are rejoicing in our good fortune," proclaimed Lord Yu. "Perhaps you were premature in naming your heir, Your Majesty."
Kira gritted her teeth to bite back her temper. The Tongey had made clear their displeasure with King Eojin's announcement of Taejo as his heir. They'd never been happy pledging their fealty to a Guru king. This was their response.
The antagonism in the room was strong. Guru soldiers, who usually stood unobtrusively in the background, had stepped forward with their hands poised over their swords. Nobles quieted and froze, staring avidly at the tableau before them. The whole chamber radiated discord.