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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 found her breath had flown.  She tried to find it.  She inhaled sharply.  Longingly.  Desperate for air.  But though her heart was pounding, no sweet oxygen seemed to fill her lungs.  Her eyes grew wide, and she jumped to her feet.  Ready to flee.

“It’s all right, princess,” a soft voice sounded in her ears as the man still kneeling at her feet reached up to slip his hand into hers.

And that gentle contact suddenly righted her world.  She found that her lungs were working again.  She glanced down at him.  As his warmth wrapped around her.

Everything about Jong Su was warm.  His hand.  Enveloping her own.  His voice.  Flowing over her with calm.  His smile.  Coaxing her to join him in finding some joy despite this cruel world.  His eyes.  Caressing her with kindness.

“I’ll cease to tease you,” he murmured affectionately.  “It simply means that I like you, you know.”

She was trapped in his gaze.  She couldn’t look away.

“I won’t inflict any more of my poetry upon you.  Nor will I force my presence on you anymore.  I will leave you.”

He released her hand, and she felt suddenly bereft.  He stood to his feet.  “Have a lovely evening.  Enjoy that glorious sunset.”

He turned away from her, his heart sinking.  He didn’t have the will to force himself on her.  If his presence truly distressed her, then he would leave her.  And he would tell Jin Heung that he was free to marry Eun Sook but that he was no longer seeking Sook Myeong’s hand in marriage.

“The peace!  Between our kingdoms!  Our brothers are counting on us to make a match!” she gasped in haste.

He turned towards her.  And shrugged.  “They shall have to make do with one marriage alliance between our kingdoms.  I’m sure I can pacify my brother with Jin Heung’s marriage to Eun Sook.”

“Are you leaving me then?”  She stood frozen, staring at him.  She could feel that something had shifted between them.  “Have you grown tired of me already?” her soft voice rose higher this time.  “I warned you.  It is impossible to truly love a woman like me.”

She turned her head abruptly away from him in an attempt to hide the quaver that had suddenly rocked her voice as she’d said that last.  Embarrassment flooded her cheeks.  She hated that she wanted to be loved.  She knew that it made her weak.  Vulnerable to some man.  She despised being defenseless.  But she honestly had no idea how to arm herself against this man.

He seemed to find a way in – under, over, or through – every single wall which she’d tossed up to keep him out.  She was already fascinated by him.  This truth terrified her.  But the scariest thing of all was the possibility that he might suddenly tire of her and leave her.  Alone.  Again.

“It is not impossible.  But I’m beginning to wonder if it is impossible to convince you to receive love.”  His voice was but a wisp of a whisper.  It floated sadly on the breeze into her waiting ears.  She heard the sorrow lacing it.  And her heart was moved.

“How am I to receive love?” she asked suddenly.  “I know not how.”  No one in her life had ever really loved her, had they?

His eyes caressed hers then as they touched suddenly.  “Would you let me teach you?”

He held his breath.  Realizing just how much her answer meant to him.