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Lord Kim Seub could not get the young gentleman out of his mind.  Ban Ryu’s words kept echoing in his head.  Making it impossible to sleep.

The young man had confronted him yesterday morning.  After a crazy evening spent reporting the justified homicide that Lord Kim Seub’s own son, Soo Ho, had committed in defense of his beloved, the young teacher, Gwan Jung Sook.  Just a few hours after father and son had returned home from breaking the news to the perpetrator’s widow and sons, Ban Ryu had been announced.  Seeking an audience with Soo Yeon’s father.

Of course, Ban Ryu hadn’t revealed the true aim of his request.  Only that he was seeking the favor of this most honored member of the royal council.  He had asked Lord Kim Seub to take him under his wing.  To mentor him.  Basically, he’d requested that Lord Kim Seub take on Minister Park’s old role in his life.  To become his adopted appa of sorts.  It was an inflammatory plea.  Simply outrageous.

So why couldn’t the lord sleep?  Why did the lad’s words continue to revolve around his mind?

Ban Ryu hadn’t denied his wrongdoing.  Or that of his father.  He had sought no ready excuse.

“…I agree with you.  I support our king.  My father should be disgraced.  I should be disgraced.”

It was the words that had come next that kept haunting Kim Seub.

“But…can a man not change?  Can he not learn from his mistakes and start afresh?  Not even when he is young and has learned the error of his ways?” 

It had been the sorrow in the young man’s gaze that had been his private undoing.  The image of those anguished eyes just kept bubbling up.  And Kim Seub wondered if he had ever felt as trapped as Ban Ryu must have.  For someone else’s words kept reverberating in his heart too.  Those of his own daughter, heated in ready defense of the boy.

“Appa, why don’t you give the boy a chance?  He is clearly repentant.

“Appa, can you not use your imagination just a little?  How hard must it have been for the boy to be raised by that man?  And to have Minister Park as an adopted father?  The man was cruel beyond measure!  What must he have done to that boy?”

She had shuddered as she’d asked those questions.  And now, as her father was forced to contemplate their answers, he too shuddered.  He pitied the boy.  But what more could he do for him?  Risk his own position of authority to help the son of his enemy?

How ridiculous!

But Lord Kim Seub continued to toss and turn all night long. 

––

Soo Ho was brimming with joy as he returned to the hwarang house.  He couldn’t wait to speak with Ban Ryu.  To share his wonderful news with his best friend.

As he walked into their room, he was surprised to find his friend still in bed.

“Up, lazy bones!  We’re due out on the training field in ten minutes!” he greeted Ban Ryu, who groaned and rolled away from him.

“Leave me alone,” the young man grumbled.

“What’s eating you, my friend?  Get up!  I have marvelous news!”

Ban Ryu cracked one eye and rolled towards him as his heart began to pick up speed.  Had Lord Kim Seub changed his mind?

“Jung Sook has agreed to marry me!”

Both of his friend’s eyes were now open.  Ban Ryu sat up.  “Your father agreed to your marriage with the widow?”

“With the wealthy widow,” Soo Ho winked at him.  “Wealthy being the operative word here.  Her gold bought my appa’s approval.”  He sighed.  “But she knows that it was her wide heart that won me over.”

“I hope so,” Ban Ryu mumbled.

Would that he could suddenly inherit a vast fortune!  Perhaps then he could win Soo Ho’s father over too.  But a heavenly windfall was unlikely.

He sighed.

“What’s the matter with you?” Soo Ho asked as he sat down next to his friend.  “You’re brooding again.”

“I did something stupid yesterday.”

“What?” Soo Ho quirked his lovely eyebrows.

“I asked your appa to adopt me.”

“You WHAT?!”

Ban Ryu cocked one dark eyebrow as his eyes slid towards his astounded friend.  “I admit that it was foolish.  And unorthodox.  But it seemed my only hope to win Soo Yeon.”  He sighed deeply.  “But he openly rejected me.  I think I only angered him.”  He hung his head.

And Soo Ho frowned.  His heart breaking for his best friend.  And for his sister.  “Does Soo Yeon know?”

Ban Ryu shook his head.  “No.  She doesn’t even know I was there.  And now I think I shouldn’t risk seeing her.  Not for a while, at least.”

“That’s not going to be a problem,” Hwa Gong interposed from the doorway.  “It seems you two are going on a journey.”

“What?” Both young men glanced sharply up at their friend, the master of the hwarang.

“You are to accompany the princess and her new husband to Goguryeo.”

Ban Ryu sat up straight as Soo Ho jumped up. 

“What?” he asked, alarmed.  “For how long?”

Hwa Gong shrugged.  “How should I know?  You’re expected at the palace directly.  The king wishes to speak with you.”

Soo Ho groaned.  “How can Jin Heung do this to me?  I just won the heart of my lady fair, and now I have to leave her?  For an undisclosed period of time?”

“Oh, stop being so dramatic!  You are a hwarang, after all!” Ban Ryu grumbled. 

Perhaps this was just the distraction that he needed from his own pain.  And he wouldn’t have to manufacture an excuse to avoid Soo Yeon.

––

“You will escort Sook Myeong as her personal bodyguards.  While she is in Goguryeo, you are both to follow her everywhere.  I am sending four of my best men.  The prince does, of course, have his own men set to guard her,” the king pointed out.  “But I will not leave her without Silla’s best. 

“I have already spoken with Dan Se.  And Seon Woo will meet you on the road.  He is returning today from another errand.  You will work in twelve-hour shifts, two at a time, to watch over her.  Around the clock.”

“For how long?” Soo Ho queried.

Jin Heung glanced at him.  “I do not know.  Most likely, several months.”  He watched his friend’s face fall.  “What is it?” he asked sharply.

“Nothing, Your Highness,” Soo Ho responded in uncustomary quietness.

So Jin Heung looked to Ban Ryu for an explanation. 

The austere hwarang responded, “He’s just asked a young lady to marry him.”

The king’s face lit up.  “Gwan Jung Sook?”

“Aye, Your Highness,” Soo Ho answered.

Jin Heung frowned.  “I am so sorry to whisk you away from your beloved, Soo Ho.  But I really need my best men to travel with my sister.  This is her first trek into Goguryeo.  We have no idea how she is going to be received by her brother-in-law.  He is reported to be, sometimes, unpredictable.  I want to be vigilant to protect her from all harm.”

Soo Ho sighed.  “I understand.”  He stood tall and straight.  “I will do my best, Your Highness.”

“We both will,” Ban Ryu added.

“I know,” Jin Heung smiled.  “Why do you think I chose the two of you?”

Ban Ryu glanced at Soo Ho, and they both grimaced.

Protecting the princess was an honor.  But they would each be leaving behind another precious woman.  With absolutely no idea when – or even if – they would ever be reunited.