The Mercenary

He’d lost her.  Again.How did this keep happening?He’d reached out to her.  Over and over again.  In kindness.  Out of his good nature.  In an attempt to touch her soul. …

“Your highness, I have your bow.”  The voice of a servant girl interrupted their encounter.Still, Sook Myeong couldn’t tear her eyes from his.  “Leave it.  On the bench,” she called.The…

“Give me another chance,” he implored her.  “I shall return to a romantic poem.  To the one I first composed.  What was it?”  He crumpled his brow in the most…

His heart bent in sadness as he considered her.  A young girl who had no idea how to receive love.  Such a creature should never have existed.  She’d been born…

Her heart was crying out for him.Stop it, unruly heart!  How fickle you are!  Loving one man a week ago yet drawn to this man tonight.  Foolish, foolish heart!Suddenly, she…

She approached the garden with unease the next evening.  Certain he would be waiting for her.  She wasn’t even sure why she had come, knowing she’d have to face him…

She did lay awake for a couple of hours.  Stewing.  The man ruffled her feathers.  She wasn’t sure why.  But somehow, he had crawled under her skin.  Or maybe, just…

“The moon is full tonight,” he murmured after several silent minutes passed as she studied his countenance. “What do you want from me?” she asked abruptly. He turned his head…

He was there.  On her bench.  The next evening.  When she arrived to watch the sunset. He stood up and bowed to her.  “Good evening, princess.” She inclined her head…

But she couldn’t trust him.  She couldn’t trust anyone.  Except…possibly…Jin Heung.  He had stood up to their mother when she’d insisted that they marry.  He had protected both Sook Myeong…