Sam Sook had just gotten her older girl settled in bed when her mother approached her.
“Sweetheart, I’d like to introduce you to Nan Moon Won.”
She followed her mother out to the front parlor. She saw a tall, slender man standing gazing out the window. He turned at the sound of their footfalls. And faced Sam Sook. His eyes contacting hers.
His piercing gaze unsettled her. It reminded her of his father. So did his features. He was the man’s spitting image.
Echoes started clanging in her mind’s eye. Memories she had tried so hard to suppress. She’d spent years pointedly ignoring them. They had all crashed in upon her nearly four years ago in one agonizing moment.
She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. The waves were crashing over her now. Threatening to drown her once again. But she must hold it all together in front of her mother. And this man.
She opened her eyes and summoned a pinched smile. If he noticed that it did not reach her eyes, he gave no hint of it. Neither did Lady Yang. She watched her daughter cordially greeting the man before giving a polite excuse to remove herself from their company.
Sam Sook fled regally towards her bedchamber.
Why did the young man make her so uneasy? Was it just because he was his father’s son?
She shuddered. She certainly hoped he was not. She would have to guard her daughters with her life now.
––
“Eomma,” she addressed her mother later that evening, “where does Nan Moon Won sleep at night?”
“Oh, I’ve given him the little house out back.”
Sam Sook breathed a sigh of relief. “So, he’s not guarding your house from within at night?”
“No, dear. He oversees several men. Most nights they take turns guarding my property. But they usually remain outside. All of his men share the house east of the garden. They sleep and eat there.”
Sam Sook nodded. And felt herself relaxing a bit.
When she’d been a child, his father had occupied her house. She’d found it impossible to avoid him. But it seemed that the son would not be haunting the halls of her home as his father once had. Which meant that her girls would be safe.
––
A few days later, she decided to head to the market. She opted to take her daughters with her. Even though she knew that this would make her trip more difficult. She was determined to protect her little sweethearts. So with her ten-year-old walking by her side, and her three-year-old in tow, she went to peruse the wares of the open air market nearest her mother’s neighborhood. It was just a short walk down the road. Still, she wasn’t used to taking her children – at least, not her tiny one – with her on these sorts of excursions. And she found herself a little exhausted by the time that they’d been investigating stalls for a half hour. She set her toddler down on the ground next to Se Ri as she haggled good-naturedly with a booth owner.
She had taken her eyes off of her children for only a moment, but apparently that was all it took for the two girls to squabble. Se Yeon released the cry of a banshee, and Se Ri scolded her. Quickly, Sam Sook gently took them both to task. Then, she reached down to grab her bitty one’s hand before moving off down the road. Unaware that familiar eyes were watching them from a few yards away.
