.ninety two.

-

"You know she was very excited to marry you. She did not want to marry your brother, the tenth prince. But I did nothing to stop that wedding because of his majesty. Had I known this would happen...I wouldn't have let her marry him."

-

Everything fell silent when it was all finished in the courtyard under a blinding sunlight that had quickly turned into a cloudy day. It was almost as if the skies were mourning the loss of the prince and the general's daughter, having been witness to it all too. So stood off to the side with tears in his eyes, his sword hanging limply in his hold by his side. Eun had fallen to the ground by his wife's side, his hand reaching for hers with his final dying breaths, but falling just inches short of hers. With bloodied hands he had tried to reach for her, and Hae Soo only watched them through her sobs, her small body fallen into a heap on the floor in defeat. The soldiers that had been holding both Jung and Baek-ah had finally let the two princes go.

Just as the fourteenth prince hurried to Minji's side and dropped to his knees beside her lifeless body, General Park stumbled into the courtyard with the clear intent of stopping his majesty from doing the unthinkable. Jung had sent for him with one of the servants, Chae Ryung. But she hadn't gotten to the general fast enough and by the time he arrived it was too late. His heart broke into a million pieces at the sight before him.

There she was, his youngest daughter, his Hak Soon. Her eyes closed and would never open again. There was a big gash across her chest from where all the blood was coming from, and there was already a big pool of it on the floor around her. Inches away was the tenth prince with arrows in his arm and abdomen, as well as a gash across his chest. The latter had most likely been the thing that killed him, the general thought. But just then it was as though the wind had been knocked out of him. His entire world crumbled as he cut across the courtyard to where Prince Jung was already kneeling, tears streaming down his face as he cradled the twenty one year old Hak Soon in his arms.

The general was a mix of emotions at the moment. He was devastated to lose his daughter and her husband, but he was confused to find the rest were missing. Han, Soon Deok, the children. They were all gone and he could only assume they had not been found yet. Perhaps Eun and Hak Soon had turned themselves in to buy the others some time.

Jung glanced at the general and moved out of the way. General Park soon took the prince's place and cradled Hak Soon in his arms. Yo only watched with satisfaction from the balcony, allowing them to mourn the two for even a moment. It was the only chance they would ever get, if he had anything to say about it. The tears streamed down his face and fell both onto his metal military suit and Hak Soon's face. He could feel her dead weight and she was already growing cold to the touch. There really were no hopes. She was really dead.

Soon Baek-ah, along with Hajin, and Jung sat around him to mourn the two people lost that day. With a shaking voice, her father began to speak. "It feels like an eternity ago that I sat with my two daughters at breakfast one day." He said to the three people listening, and it was like he was talking to his daughter as well. "I was to arrange for Soon Deok to marry since she would soon turn eighteen, but the opportunity presented itself for Hak Soon first." He paused again as he looked to Wang Jung, but everyone knew exactly what he meant. When the king had asked him if Eun had someone in mind to marry, he had picked Park Hak Soon. To Jung, he said, "You know she was very excited to marry you. She did not want to marry your brother, the tenth prince. But I did nothing to stop that wedding because of his majesty. Had I known this would happen...I wouldn't have let her marry him."

Had she married Jung, the general thought to himself, she would still be alive. The only reason she had perished now was because she was married to Wang Eun and it was thought that he wanted to be king.

"Still, time has a way of making things happen for a reason and she might have married him anyway, under any other circumstances." The general sniffled as he tried to control his voice and his tears. Everyone around him remained absolutely quiet, letting him speak. "It just breaks my heart to know that my Hak Soon will no longer be with us. Perhaps in another life we will meet her, and his majesty, again. Perhaps in another life they will get to love each other longer."

With tears in his eyes and finally deciding to let her go from his heart, Jung spoke up with a question. "Did she at least get lots of love from my brother?" He looked to the general and Baek-ah for his answer, since they were the two people there who most spent time with them when they were alive.

Baek-ah gave a slow nod of his head. "Yes. They loved each other very much."

Jung nodded and got back on his feet, turning towards the king with hate burning in his eyes. He stormed over to him, all the way to the balcony where he was standing, and gripped the material of his gown angrily. "Hak Soon had nothing to do with this, and neither did Eun. You've killed two innocent people for nothing." Jung said to his older brother through his tears. Soldiers ran up the steps to help the king, as did General Park. He had now left the two bodies to the care of So, Hae Soo, and Baek-ah.

Grabbing the fourteenth prince's arm, he tried to get him to calm down. "Let it go, your majesty. There's nothing we can do about it now. She wanted to die by her husband's side. It was her decision. All we can do now is mourn her--"

At that, Yo gave a shake of his head, quickly correcting the general. "As traitors of my kingdom, they will not be buried. There will be no memorial services, and no one will be allowed to mourn them." It was as though he was filled with joy at the terrible things he was saying. He probably was. "They are to be thrown out in the field outside the palace, to be eaten by predators for their horrible crimes. Finally, anyone who is caught moving the bodies will be punished to the highest degree."

He then gestured to a group of soldiers to carry the bodied out of the palace. Jung and Baek-ah again tried to stop him. They had at least some immunity because they were princes of the kingdom. But Yo had them held back once again as the two were dragged away like they were nothing more than a sack of potatoes.

-

It was seven hours of rowing across smooth oceans for Han and Soon Deok. One of the people who sold him the boat had informed that it would take about five hours if one could maintain a non-stop rowing. But it was difficult and by the second hour, Han felt like he couldn't continue anymore. He had taken a thirty minute break while his wife massaged his arms and they let the waves move them. Soon Deok had grown worried for Jinki, as he has easily gotten sea sick and she held his small frame in her arms as he threw up by the side of the boat.

The other children were okay, except for them being bored of sitting for so long and eventually they grew hungry. The twins and Jinki also continuously asked their aunt and uncle when their parents would catch up to them. Soon Deok and Han didn't have the heart to tell them just yet. During the time that he was resting, Han had tried to catch fish for them to eat. The other children, Soon Deok, and even Han had been allowed to have the raw fish in order to sustain themselves. But Jinki, because of his poor health, was to rely on Soon Deok's breast milk. Soon Deok had promised that she would keep Eun and Hak Soon's children safe, and she would do anything to keep her promise.

Han had tried to convince his wife to let him start a small fire on the boat, to cook a small piece of the fish for Jinki, as it was the only way it would be safe enough for him to eat. But Soon Deok refused with a firm shake of her head. "For the last time, no, Han-ie. I will not let you start a fire on the boat." She told him.

The soldier jutted out his lower lip into a childish pout in an attempt to sway her. "Just while I cook a tiny piece of fish for Jinki. We can't just let him watch us eat. That's cruel. Also, it will be controlled fire. Nothing bad will happen."

But she still refused, knowing that if the fire got out of control while they were in the middle of the ocean, it would have terrible consequences for them. "He'll do just fine with my milk until we reach shore. Then you can start all the controlled fires you want."

It was far into the night when they finally reached shore and they could see a forest just a few feet off in the distance. But it was dark and they didn't know what laid in the forest. Han was also surprised to find there was no one waiting for them. What he had arranged was for someone to be there to lead them to their cabin in the woods. Now there was little chance that they would find it on their own. But he would worry about that the next morning. Right then, his main priority was to build a fire to keep them warm and catch some fish for them to eat. 

He had also taken Jinki and Soohyun with him to help him find coconuts that they could drink from. After their meal together, Han brought some fallen palm leaves from the coconut trees and used them to cover the children and Soon Deok from the cold. He then stayed up most of the night, watching them sleep to keep watch from intruders. He also didn't want one of the children stumbling off into the forest or to the ocean. He had promised Soon Deok to keep first watch, then he would wake her and she would keep second watch. But he let her sleep all through the night.

She had done most of the work in caring for the six children, the least he could do was to find them food, shelter, and to let her rest. 

He had been sitting with his knees to his chest, looking out at the tide, and how the moon was reflected in the water below. It was such a clear night, and the ocean brought back memories of a story Ji Mong had once told him and his brothers back when they all still got along.

It was the legend of the moon. 

The moon saw a gypsy boy calling out to her each night, asking her for someone to love once he became a man because he was lonely and didn't have a family. She watched him grow up into a handsome man who was well liked by all. She loved him so much and she wanted to grant her magic for him so that they could be together. So she went to the sun and begged him to let her be with the man she loved because for her magic to work, both the sun and the moon had to come together in agreement. And during an eclipse, she fell into the ocean water below, in human form. Pale skin, hair dark and sleek as the night, with silver eyes that matched the moon. She was absolutely beautiful and young, and she hoped her lover would think so too. She went to go find her lover, only to discover he had perished.

She wept for him and prayed to the skies for him to come back. But the sun laughed at her and said that in exchange for her to be human, she would have to give up what she loved most, and that was him. 

Hit with despair, she wanted to find him. But she didn't know how. Then she remembered she had fallen from the sky into the ocean. And she walked straight into the sea, hoping to find her love.

When he was a little boy, he and his brothers thought the story was dumb. But now as he thought about it, he knew it must have been hard to have made all that sacrifice, only to lose the one person she loved. Han was still thinking about the story when he heard someone stir nearby.

It was his nephew Jinki, who wiped at his little eyes sleepily. 

Han smiled at him. "Go back to sleep, Ki. Its still dark out."

But the little boy climbed out from under the makeshift coconut leaf covers and went to sit by his uncle's side. He was silent for a few minutes, until he finally had a question for Han. "Will eomma and appa be joining us soon?" He had to tilt his head up to look at Han.

Han bit down on his lip hard. He knew they would have to know eventually. But they were just so young. Jinki was only three, the twins were only five, and Eunji was months old. He didn't have the heart to tell them that they would never be seeing their children again. And yet, he knew he had to tell them. He just couldn't bring himself to do so.

He heaved a sigh. "Go back to sleep, son. We'll talk about it in the morning."

-

this update ended up kind of long. but now im going to just lay in my bed and rest for about an hour because i have the night shift at work tonight. 

i really don't want to go but i have to.

thank you all loads for reading and supporting. have a wonderful night or day, depending on where you are or when you're reading this. just about nine more updates before this story ends forever. 

-clary