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He wasn’t able to stay with her for the rest of the afternoon.  After spending just a few minutes with her, he begged her forgiveness before leaving his bedchamber.  And he made a request of her too.

“Promise me you won’t leave my rooms today.”  His voice was oddly firm.  Serious.  The same intensity in it which she’d recognized when he’d first caught her sneaking back into his chamber.

She heard a hint of steel in it, but she also detected his obvious concern for her.

She nodded.  “I promise.  It’s just…I miss the sunshine on my face, Jijin.”

His countenance clouded over.  “I’m sorry.  I should have…taken better care of you over the last few days.”  His eyes searched hers intently.  “I just…had so much going on.  I promise I’ll take you outside every day from now on.  Just…please don’t go alone.  I don’t want you…hurt.”

She furrowed her brow as she gazed, uncomprehending, up at him.  “Why would I be hurt?” she queried, confused.

“I can’t explain now.  I must return to…my responsibilities.  Stay here.  I’ll return to you as soon as possible.”

“All right,” she mumbled, feeling completely out of her depth.  But not really sure why.

Who was Jijin?  And why did he have to leave now?  And why had he been so upset when she’d first returned to him earlier?

He bent to brush his lips across hers before turning and striding confidently and…almost regally…out the door.  And shutting it firmly behind him. 

She missed him already.  She let out a discontented sigh.  She longed to lie in his arms again.  And to kiss his soft lips.

She wandered towards his bedchamber.  And lay down across his bed.  On the side on which he slept.  She buried her face in his pillow and inhaled his scent.  He always smelled amazing.  Like crisp apples and sunshine. 

She closed her eyes as she began to relive all the best moments of the last twenty-four hours. 

His pet name for her. 

Sookie.

His soft kisses. 

And his softer words. 

“Don’t you know that you’re the purest thing I’ve ever encountered?  Pure kindness.  Pure sweetness.  Pure joy…Pure beauty.”

“You are beautiful.  And precious.  And the first person who has ever made me feel like I could find peace in this life.”

His declarations of love. 

“I love you…I love you, Sookie.”

He’d given her those precious words.  Again.  And again.

Along with his exquisite kisses. 

And the comfort of his strong arms.

But…eventually her thoughts turned towards the inevitable.

Something Jijin had said a few days ago kept revolving around her mind.  His words kept coming back to her.  He’d spoken of his mother.

“She’s been drinking poison for years.”

No one would poison herself on purpose.  Someone had had it out for his mother.  But the question was…who…and why?

The answer seemed obvious.  Because she held a position of power.  And someone else wanted to steal it.  Without being detected.  And was willing to bide their time.

But what position of power could a woman wield?

Eun Sook considered this.  Then her own story, based on true events, bubbled up.  A boy king banished by his mother’s desire to protect him from those who sought his life.  So she took his throne for herself.

Eun Sook’s eyes widened in disbelief.  And she gasped. 

But all the pieces fit.

Jijin had come across her in the king’s forest.  A forest he had once referred to as his own.

Jijin had reacted violently to her story about the king.  Almost as though he owned that story.

“How did you come to know this story?”

“Pardon?”

“The story – about the king!  Who told you that he left a flower in the palace?”

Then Jijin had carried her to that very palace, striding through its doors unimpeded.  Its guards bowing to him.

Jijin had brought her into his own rooms and asked not to be disturbed.  In front of her, his servants never referred to him as anything other than he.  He had clearly hidden his identity from her.  But he had implied that he held a lofty perch.

“I’ve already made myse too vulnerable to you.  A foolish act for a man in my position.”

“A man in your position?  What does that mean?  What is your position?”

“You still do not know?  You haven’t figured it out yet?”

“Figured out what?”

“I think I’ll leave you in the dark a little while longer.  I relish the idea of someone being not indifferent to the real me.” 

Then, as she had continued to tell him more of the king’s story, he had questioned her again.   Several times.  As though its details already belonged to him.  When she had informed him that the king in her story had told Hwa Gong that he was willing to help him bring down the queen dowager, Jijin had practically jumped on her.  As though she had stumbled upon some hidden truth of his own.

“How can you possibly know that?”

He had even been so bold as to call her story his own.

“I want you to tell me more of my story.”

“Oh, ho.  Your story, eh?  You think I created the king’s story just for you?  Just as he created his woods for you too?”

“Absolutely.”

And then he had seemed particularly interested in her response to her own character, the king of her own imagining.  Peculiarly so.

“And if you met such a man in real life – a king who wanted to end the bone rank system, a king who rose to every challenge while maintaining his own standards – would you think him to be the hero of all heroes?”

“Why is my answer so important to you?”

“Because it will reveal your character to me….  And your heart.”

 “I would.  Such a man would gain my instant admiration.”

“And your love?”

“My love?  Upon first sight?  I doubt it very much.”

“Hmm…but given the right set of circumstances, do you think you could come to love such a man?”

His responses had been most curious.  But they weren’t the only reason she was becoming suspicious….

Today, Jijin’s personal guards – the ones lurking outside his rooms – had been concerned with protecting the king.  So much so that they had forgotten to lock her in her chamber.  And had left her unguarded.  Which, for some reason, had completely freaked Jijin out.  As had her disappearance. 

He had remarked that he didn’t want her to get hurt if she ventured outside his chamber alone.  But…wasn’t that most unusual?  How could she be hurt simply by wandering out into the courtyard?

But…his mother had been poisoned.  What if she hadn’t been the main target of that cruel plan?  What if his mother had been his shield from enemies seeking to kill him?  Did he think they might come after Eun Sook?  Was he afraid that his own enemies would attack her?

She had too many questions.  These were just suppositions.

Still, she had more evidence that he was a man of high standing.

Jijin had provided her with the finest of robes.  Ones she recognized as being reserved for royalty…and their honored ones.

Jijin had thrown a bag full of silver at her, telling her that her stories were worth it. 

Jijin had supplied her with everything she’d asked for to occupy herself all day long because he left on such important business that he often didn’t return until close to midnight. 

He was clearly an important man.  A powerful man. 

The question was…just how powerful?

Was…was Jijin…the king?