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“Miss?  Lady Bit Na sent me to fetch you home,” the servant gasped as he stood before the young teacher.  He was out of breath from running the entire distance between the house and the school.

Jung Sook felt an immediate sense of alarm.  “What’s wrong?  Lady Bit Na has never called me home from school before.”

“Kim Soo Ho is headed home.”

“What?!”  Alarmed now, she turned towards her students and quickly dismissed class for the remainder of the day.

“Bo A, grab those scrolls!” Jung Sook barked out the order before heading out the door.  She held it open for her students to pass through.  Once the building was empty, she locked it up and, along with Bo A, followed the servant home.  

Bo A could feel her mentor’s tension.  

“Why is Soo Ho coming home?” Jung Sook queried worriedly.

“I do not know, miss.  Lady Bit Na walked into the room and barked out an order for me to fetch you.”  He sniffed.  “She was in rare form.  I’ve never heard her that tense before.”

Panic crossed Jung Sook’s usually calm face, and she began to jog towards home.  Her heart was beating so hard now.  Soo Ho had been simply escorting the princess back to her new home.  He was supposed to be gone for, at most, four days.  But he’d left only yesterday.  If he was returning this morning, then something was clearly wrong.  Had they been attacked?  Was he injured?  Or was he…?

She cut off that line of thinking and ran faster, the already winded servant following close at her heels.  Bo A struggled to keep up, but then she dropped a scroll and, as she stopped to retrieve it, cried out, “Unnie Jung Sook!”

The woman glanced back and came to an abrupt halt, upsetting the servant, who suddenly crashed into the back of her.  He reached out to steady her.

“I beg your pardon, ma’am!”  Red-faced, he allowed his hands to drop to his sides as he realized that she wasn’t going to fall down.

She ignored his distress and rushed back to help Bo A.  Then they hurried on, arriving at home a few minutes later. 

“Lady Bit Na?” Jung Sook called as she entered the front sitting room.

“She is with Soo Yeon preparing Soo Ho’s room,” came a masculine voice.

Jung Sook glanced up in surprise as Lord Seub entered the room.  

“Come.  I shall take you to his room.  You can await his arrival there.”  He was speaking softly.

“Is he…is he…?” She felt suddenly faint and reached out to grab the back of a chair.

Instantly realizing her concern, Lord Seub stepped forth to comfort her.  “He is all right, my dear.  He was cut by a sword.  His arm,” he was quick to add as she glanced up in fear.  “He has a cut on his arm, but the king assured me that he is all right.  I imagine the surgeon will give him some stitches and wrap his arm.  After he’s attended to Park Ban Ryu.”

“Ban Ryu?” Her eyes collided with his.  “What’s wrong with Ban Ryu?”

She cringed as she saw him wince.

“Now that young gentleman is in far worse shape,” he murmured.

And her eyes flew wide.  As did Bo A’s.

The little girl stepped forward.  “What’s wrong with Oppa Ban Ryu?”

Lord Seub cleared his throat.  “Apparently, my son got himself in a bit of a bind during an attack on the princess.  And Park Ban Ryu stopped the sword that was headed for Soo Ho.”

Jung Sook froze.  “How did he stop it?”

“With his thigh.”

She flinched.  “Is he going to…?”

“The doctor is attending to him as we speak.  Rushing out to meet him.  They should arrive soon.”  

He took a deep breath.  “Come.  I will take you to Soo Ho’s room.”  

He glanced down at Bo A.  “Sweetheart, why don’t you head to the kitchen to grab a rice cake?”

He smiled prettily down at the child.  He hadn’t told anyone, but Bo A reminded him of his darling Soo Yeon when she was little.  He also instinctively knew that the little girl needed to experience kindness from men.  He watched as she blinked up at him.

“Thank you, Lord Kim Seub,” she pouted in worry, “but I couldn’t eat anything right now!”  She reached up to rub her tiny belly as though she were already fighting indigestion.

Taking pity on her, he reached out to slide his arm around her shoulders.  She cringed away from his movement instinctively, and his heart sank as his hand stilled.

“Bo A, you know that I would never raise my hand to you, right?” he whispered.  “I didn’t even physically discipline my son when he was growing up.”  His lips twitched as a twinkle entered his eye, and he squatted down next to her as he continued, “And Soo Ho was a mischievous, little thing.  As I’m sure you can well imagine.”

She giggled nervously and nodded.

He reached out and offered her his hand.  She glanced down at it before meeting his gaze again.  She gave him a small smile before setting her tiny hand in his much larger one.  Then, together, the three of them set off for Soo Ho’s room.  Lord Seub bending low to reassure her.

“Darling, my son is going to be just fine.”

“And Oppa Ban Ryu?” the child queried, tense again.

Lord Kim Seub’s eyes collided with Jung Sook’s momentarily, and she correctly read the concern in his gaze.

“Pray for him, Bo A.  I have the feeling he needs your prayers,” he murmured quietly.

And the tenderness in his tone made the little girl wonder why she had ever, for even one moment, feared this gentle man.