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“Have you missed your precious Soo Yeon?” Soo Ho teased his friend as they rode towards the capital of Silla. 

Ban Ryu bent a haughty gaze on his friend.  “We are not going to talk about your sister.”

Soo Ho sighed.  “Maybe my father has softened since you last saw him.”

“Twelve weeks ago?  I doubt it.”

“But now he knows that the king chose you as a personal bodyguard for the princess….”

“And we both know that it won’t make one whit of difference.”

Soo Ho sighed.  “I am so sorry, my friend….”

Ban Ryu glanced off towards home.  “At least, we’re done traveling for a while.”

Soo Ho took a deep breath.  “Six whole weeks at home!  I cannot wait to see Jung Sook!”  He grinned suddenly.  “I wonder if Bo A has grown at all since we last saw her.”

Ban Ryu’s lips lifted in a faint smile.  “Three months?  At her age?”  he nodded.  “I bet she has.”

“Maybe she’s not such a tiny mite anymore!”

They spurred their horses onward as they prepared to greet their loved ones.  Or, at least, Soo Ho did.  Ban Ryu wouldn’t be going anywhere near his friend’s house. 

Soo Yeon would just have to come to him….

––

“Soo Ho?”  His sister glanced around as he came walking into the sitting room.  She jumped out of her chair.  “Where is Ban Ryu?”

“What?  No hug for your dear brother who hasn’t seen you in three months?” he teased her with a wide grin. 

Truthfully, it was wonderful to see her face.  He had missed her.  But not nearly as much as he’d missed Jung Sook.  He glanced around the room.  Looking for her.  But then he realized that she and Bo A must still be at school.

Soo Yeon stepped up to him, eagerly embracing him.  “I did miss you,” she whispered.  “And I’m very glad you’re home safe, but I…”

“…missed Ban Ryu more.  I am well aware.  But…he didn’t want to risk coming here.  He was afraid that he would run into Appa.”

She heaved a deep sigh as she drew away from her brother.  “Because Appa rejected his request.”

Soo Ho cocked his dark eyebrows as surprise rippled across his countenance.  “You know about that?”

She nodded.  “I overheard their conversation.”  She grimaced.  “I tried to talk to Appa after Ban Ryu left that day, but he…didn’t listen to me either.”

She was despairing.  It was obvious by the distress flooding her face.

“I want to see him, Soo Ho.”

He nodded.  “Come by the hwarang house.  After dinner.  I’ll make sure he meets you outside the gates.”

“Thank you, brother!” she gasped as she raised herself up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

“Are Jung Sook and Bo A still at school?” he asked suddenly.

She nodded.

“Then I have a bit of a walk to accomplish.”  He beamed down at her.  “But, first, where is Eomma?”