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“King Jin Heung,” Dan Se bowed to His Majesty.

“Dan Se, aren’t you supposed to be taking care of your bride right now?  Was that not our agreement?”

“Aye, Your Majesty, it was,” the older man nodded.  “But I’ve come to ask for a new favor, Your Highness.”

Jin Heung tossed up one elegant eyebrow.  “Oh?”

Dan Se cleared his throat.  “My wife finds my presence…makes her uncomfortable.  I was wondering if you would allow Yeo Wool to take my place.  If I take his.”

Now both of his royal eyebrows were thrown up in the air.  “You want Yeo Wool to be your wife’s husband?” he asked incredulously, wondering if Dan Se’s mind had suddenly cracked under the weight of his grief over his brother’s death.

“No!” the other man exclaimed.  “I meant if I return to the hwarang for the next month, will you let Yeo Wool be my wife’s bodyguard?  To protect her from further assault by her father?”

“Ah.”  Jin Heung frowned down at his friend.  “It seems to me that you are simply fleeing from your problems.  Instead of facing them head-on.”

Dan Se bent his head.  To study his feet.  “I do not know how to reach her.  I have tried.  Several times.  I protected her from her father.  I took care of her physical needs.  I even discovered her interests and bought her the supplies she needs to pursue them.  But every time I felt like we were finally connecting, she pulled away from me.  She kicked me out of her bed.  And then out of her room.  I don’t know what else to do.  She clearly has no wish to be with me.”

“She married you.”

“Yes.  To flee from her father.”

“Understandable.  But now she owes you her allegiance.”

“I don’t want her allegiance.”

Jin Heung studied him.  “I will grant you one week.”

“What?” Dan Se glanced up at him.

“You may trade places with Yeo Wool for one week.  During the day.  But at night, you must return home.  I will not have one of my men guarding the wife of another at night.  Not when man and wife are estranged.  That’s just asking for trouble.  Besides, Yeo Wool will need to sleep.  He can return to the hwarang house at sunset.  After you have returned to your wife.  What you do between sunset and sunrise is up to you and Seok Mi Sook.  But during waking hours, Yeo Wool will keep her safe.  The rest is up to you.”

“And in a week?”

“Yeo Wool will return to his duties at the hwarang house.  And you will return to yours at home.  Hopefully, you and your wife can make peace with each other over the next week.”

“And if we don’t?”

“It will no longer be my problem.”

Dan Se nodded.  “Thank you, Your Highness.”  He bowed and prepared to leave the royal presence.

“Dan Se,” Jin Heung caught his attention once more, “keep trying.  Your wife is worth your every effort.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A few moments later, Dan Se was walking through the doorway back out into the real world.  He felt trepidation rising in his heart.  No matter his intentions, he just kept hurting Mi Sook.  Did he really have what it took to be a good husband to her?  Or should he leave her to her own devices when he returned full-time to the hwarang house? 

He had never intended to stay with her this long.  They’d spent less than three days together, and already their relationship was a disaster.  Despite all his efforts.

And the truth was…his heart didn’t feel any more healed over the loss of Han Sung either.  Everything was still a mess.

He headed for the hwarang house to tell Yeo Wool the news.  Maybe switching places with his tenderhearted friend would give him some relief, at least.  During the day, Dan Se could lose himself in swordplay and martial arts.  Perhaps he would return home each night too exhausted to give Mi Sook much thought.  While he slept alone in his room.  And she, in hers.

–– 

An hour after she began to sketch flowers on a piece of parchment, a knock sounded on her door.  Assuming it was a maid, Mi Sook called out, “Come in!”

The door opened just a crack, and a soft, masculine voice could be heard uttering through that narrow space, “Ma’am, I will not disturb you.  I am Kim Yeo Wool, a fellow hwarang.  I just wanted to let you know that I will be standing in your hallway until your husband returns at sunset.”

Perplexed, Mi Sook crossed the room to open her door wider.  She stood staring up at the handsome young man.  “And why will you be standing in my hallway today?”

“I am here to protect you.  In your husband’s absence.”

She pulled her eyebrows down over her nose.  “And where is my husband?”

“He is with the other hwarang.  Completing training practices.”

The valley between her eyebrows grew deeper.  “I thought the king had given him the next month off.”

He cleared his throat and glanced at his feet.  “He had.  But they’ve come to a new understanding.  For the next week, Dan Se is to train with the others during the day while I remain with you.”

She could feel her agitation growing.  She did not know this young man, and she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of him roaming her hallway all day long.  Why had Dan Se not come to speak to her before he’d gone to see the king?

She closed her eyes and attempted to control her anger.  “My husband is at the hwarang house right now?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And what time will he be home?”

“Sunset, ma’am.”

“And you’re just going to stand here until he comes home?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And if nature calls during that time?”

He blanched as he gazed at her.  “Um.”

“I presume you’re allowed to answer it?”

“I guess, ma’am.”

“What is your purpose here, Kim Yeo Wool?”

“To protect you, ma’am.”

“From whom?”

Appearing pained, he simply looked at her.

“My father?” she queried.

He nodded his head.

She sighed.  Dan Se had refused to leave her vulnerable to her father.  “But what of the time my husband spent speaking to the king?  He left me alone then, did he not?  So why must you be here now?”

“I believe he made sure that his father would be home while he was gone, ma’am.”

She tossed her eyes heavenward as she grappled for some patience.

And Yeo Wool pitied Dan Se.  He had the feeling that the man was going to have a rude awakening when he arrived at home tonight.

“I will show you to a room where you can answer nature’s call should it arise while you are standing in my hallway then, sir.” 

A few moments later, a little wiser, he returned to his post, and she to her room.

She fumed for several grumbling moments as she sketched lilies on her parchment.  Then she flung herself off the bed and stomped over to the window.  She didn’t like Yeo Wool’s presence in her hallway.  She knew he was guarding her.  But she felt like a prisoner now.  In her own home.

No.  This wasn’t her home.  It was Dan Se’s father’s home.

Truthfully, Mi Sook had never had a home to call her own.  For a few fleeting moments this week, she had begun to dream of making her bedchamber here a home for her and Dan Se to share.  But then they had encountered several difficulties on their road to unity.  She was truly disappointed in him.  He hadn’t even cared enough to speak with her this morning.  He’d fled her presence, apparently sought out the king for help, and returned to work.  Leaving her here alone.  With his father.  And now with Yeo Wool. 

Would she always be at the mercy of a man?

She spent the remainder of the day sketching horrible drawings of flowers.  She was too upset to do them justice.  She wasted several pieces of parchment.  Crumpling them up and throwing them away.

By the time that Dan Se returned that night, she was in rare form.  Miserable from the bruises that had begun to ache again.  And itching for a fight with her husband.  She wanted to give him a piece of her mind.  Maybe more than one. 

Though, truly, what she longed for was a piece of his heart.  Or maybe, simply, the whole beautiful thing.