When the seonnyeo finished her bath and turned to come ashore, the prince stood at the edge of the water with her clothesgripped in his hands. With a horrified gasp, the seonnyeo sank deeper into the water, shielding her body with her hands and arms.
She wept and pleaded with the prince to return her clothes, but he refused again and again. The seonnyeo nearly lost all hope as she crouched, cold and shivering, in the lake, but at long last, the prince revealed his true intent.
“I will return your clothes and turn my back to allow you to dress. Your honor will remain unsullied ... if you agree to marry me,” he said.
“But are you not a being of Mountains?” She shook her head in confusion. How could he wed a being of Sky?
“I am the Prince of Mountains,” he replied, a cold smile curling his lips.
In that moment, the seonnyeo understood the prince’s dark nature—saw his cruel, brittle heart. But he held the honor of her family in his greedy hands, because of her foolish choices. Her beloved father would bend his knee to the prince to protect his only daughter.
“I will marry you,” the seonnyeo said in an unwavering voice. She might have dishonored herself, but she would not be quelled by the prince.
She wanted to cry. She wanted to laugh. Her impulsive sojourn to the Kingdom of Mountains—her small act of rebellion, her little adventure—bound her to a bleak future she’d never dreamt possible.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I walk on my own two feet, my hands free at my sides. After Jihun’s invisible binds and the soldiers’ silvery net, it’s a luxury I don’t take for granted. I glance at Jihun for the tenth time, but he stares straight ahead as he walks beside me, his expression stoic. I want to shake him until his eyeballs rattle, but the general rides only a few yards ahead of us, looking back every few minutes. I don’t want to risk being pinned down by the silvery net again.
Where am I? And when did I apply to become a suhoshin? Because I would remember if I made such a dumbass move. But I bite my tongue because Jihun’s lie got me out of the net. He obviously did it to get me amnesty, but I have a feeling I won’t like whatever it is I’m going to have to do. And there’s no way in hell I’m joining the Order of the Suhoshin, so he better have a plan B.
Anxiety claws at my chest. Ethan is out there somewhere with a deadly assassin. I don’t have time for this bullshit. I shoot another angry glare at Jihun, but chilling realization halts my thoughts. I hear Ethan’s voice, hard with determination.Where is the dark mudang?I was too busy feeling betrayed and hurt to grasp his intent. He wanted the assassin to take him to Daeseong.
Whoever he is—whatever his powers may be—Ethan can’t fight the dark mudang on his own. The sacred ashes are our only chance atstopping Daeseong. My hands tighten around the straps of my backpack. I’m still pissed at him, but I want him safe above all else. But he’ll get himself killed if I don’t find him in time. Ihaveto figure out how to use the sacred ashes and save Ethan.
I throw Jihun a panicked glance, and he raises an eyebrow. He can help me figure out how to use the sacred ashes against the dark mudang. We have to go back. We have to save Ethan. But I can’t say any of that in front of all these strangers. I give him a curt shake of my head.Not now.
Later—when I get the suhoshin alone—he’ll tell me everything I need to know. I’ll beat the answers out of him if I have to. Or maybe even if I don’thaveto. I blow out a long, frustrated breath. What if Yellow already took Ethan to Daeseong? No, I don’t believe that. The yellow assassin is a nasty piece of work. He won’t take Ethan to his master so easily. There’s still time.
I try to distract myself by taking in my surroundings. The clouds beneath my feet shift and swirl but are somehow solid as I walk on them. I hope I don’t fall through and go splat on the mountaintop—ifwe’re still above the mountain we flew over. I can’t be sure. I can’t be sure about a damned thing.
As we march on, surrounded by the general’s soldiers, a gleaming city of pearlescent buildings with gold-tiled roofs rises in the horizon along with the sun. The soldiers’ armors shift with the sky, becoming clear blue with tufts of white cloud. No matter how beautiful the sight, I want to pretend I’m dreaming and that all of this will be gone when I wake up. It’s all so overwhelming—the fear of the unknown warring with the hunger to knowmore.
Is this how the humans feel when confronted with glimpses of the Shingae? Is this how Ethan felt? Or did he already know everything? Anger and concern war inside me. I miss him. I want to kick his ass. If I let myself dwell on it, my insides will burn into cinders. I clench my hands into fists at my sides. I have to focus on the now.
Drums beat in the distance, deliberate and precise.Da-dum ... boom. Da-dum ... boom.My walk of shame—whether I’m shackled ornot, this definitely feels like one—takes longer than I expect, the city farther away than it first appeared. As we approach its fortified walls, the towering golden gates open without delay. The drums must’ve been announcing our arrival.
I recognize the architectural style of the city. It’s filled with the kind of hanok buildings I saw growing up in Korea but on a much grander scale. I imagine the wealthy and the powerful lived this way even in the late 1800s, except for the part where the walls glow like moonlight and the roofs shine golden as the sun.
Seonnams and seonnyeos, male and female seraphim, walk the streets in silk hanbok in every shade of the sky, dazzling in their unearthly beauty. No, it’s not just that they’re beautiful. These angelic beings are literallyshining—luminous as the moon. I sigh, too exhausted to be stunned. Whatever this place is, I wish I had my shades.
“Is everyone here seraphim?” I whisper out of the corner of my mouth. Jihun, a seonnam himself, graces me with a barely perceptible nod. I grit my teeth. “Then why aren’t you lit up like them?”
His expression turns even more shuttered than usual. “I’ve been away for too long.”
I don’t know if he’s talking to himself or answering my question. “What does being away have to do with anything?”
Jihun proceeds to ignore me again. I’m so annoyed I want to knock his teeth out, but I take comfort in the familiar emotion. I used to daydream regularly about punching the casino patrons in the face. I never thought I would miss my job as the tobacco wench.
The general dismounts at the gates of a grand estate and hands over the reins to one of his soldiers. As I stare wide eyed at the sprawling hanok, he says, “Captain, you cannot present her to the council in this state.”
I glance down at my topless hanbok. He makes a fair point. I’m not presentable to anyone, much less the ...Wait.
“What council?” I blurt out in English, then cringe and switch to Korean. “Why do I have to be presented to anyone?”
“She will have a chance to wash away her journey before I request an audience with the council.” Jihun addresses the general, ignoring me yet again. I surreptitiously dig my elbow into his side, but he doesn’t so much as wince.
“I presume you will petition to be her sponsor.” The older male purses his lips. “Do you need a reminder as to what that entails?”
