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Eun Sook took her soon-to-be sister-in-law’s advice to heart.  And decided to fight for what she wanted.  Which, of course, was Jijin.

So she prepared for her wedding zealously.  Soaking in her tub while allowing herself to relax and focus on Jijin’s adoration of her.  She blocked out everyone else’s opinion.  And simply basked in the memories of Jijin’s sweet embrace and tender kisses.  And all the words of love which he’d uttered into her waiting ears.

Sook Myeong returned to her chamber an hour later to oversee her preparations.  Eun Sook was draped in beautiful royal robes and her hair was dried and fixed in a style befitting a queen.  The final result was stunning.

“You are completely captivating,” the princess breathed as she took in the mesmerizing form of the older girl.

The front half of her snowy hair had been coiled and piled up on the top of her head.  The remainder flowed down her back in white waves of glory.  She was wearing a white robe close to her body.  It had been covered by a brilliant indigo over robe that brought out the beauty of her deep violet-blue eyes.  Her pale skin was flooded with nervous color right now, two blooming roses burning in her cheeks, just slightly brighter than the rest of her countenance.

“He’s going to be absolutely entranced,” Sook Myeong uttered charitably.  “You will definitely not disappointment my brother.  Now…hold your head high.  And smile.  It completely transforms your face,” she admitted grudgingly.  Wondering if her own smile would ever captivate a man as she knew Eun Sook’s had entrapped Jin Heung.

Was Jong Su as enraptured by her own smile? 

Sook Myeong doubted it greatly. 

The Goguryeon princess’s allure lay mostly in her open countenance that did little to conceal her matching heart.  There was an easy friendliness to her personality that seemed to welcome everyone into her inner circle.  Sook Myeong could not understand it.  The girl had been cast out by her own father, had been ostracized by her people, and had fled to a foreign land to escape their cruelty, yet her heart still sought out the affection of others.  And freely lavished it on those around her.  She was simply resilient.

Hadn’t her wounds taught her to hide from others?  How had she clung to this simple trust in the kindness of people?  A belief that had opened her mouth to spill her secrets to a simple servant girl.  Hadn’t the rejection of her own father taught her how cruel life was?  How unforgiving and prejudicial people could be?

Had she no need of self-preservation?  Or had the love of the king somehow unlatched a heart that had previously been closed off?

Sook Myeong had no idea.  She hadn’t met the Goguryeon princess until a few days ago.

But underneath her frigid demeanor beat a heart that had to admit to a grudging respect for the sweet girl.  The princess found that she rather liked Jin Heung’s choice of bride.  Quite a lot, actually. 

She was privately cheering for the girl to come into her own.  That the royal blood in her veins would rise to the occasion to color more than just her skin with life and passion.  Sook Myeong hoped that Eun Sook lived long as queen.  And exercised the gifts of her heart to rule well alongside Jin Heung.  Together, they could shape a kingdom bent towards equality, prosperity, and compassion.

Compassion?

What was happening to Sook Myeong?  Was the prince rubbing off on her?  She was considering the merits of a kingdom in which charity ruled the day?  Instead of oppression and intrigue?  Could such a land really exist?

She didn’t believe so. 

Not in its entirety anyway.  She wasn’t naïve enough to believe that everyone could change.  Or that everyone would change.  Some men chose evil because it got them what they wanted.  There would always be men who sought power through the subjugation of others. 

But with a just man like her brother at the helm, the nation could be steered into kinder waters.  With the help of his hwarang, he could force the men who naturally bent the wrong way to toe the line.  Minister Park was an example of what would happen to those who crossed the king’s iron will.  Jin Heung was a man full of integrity and compassion, but he would not allow treachery among his ranks.  He understood that a kind ruler in pursuit of justice must enforce it, ruling over those who had no respect for it. 

Sook Myeong was fairly certain that he had chosen a good partner for himself in Eun Sook.  The question was…would she be a good queen?  Could she adopt some of her beloved’s unbending sternness with those who would travel off the path of righteousness without its powerful influence?

The princess was not certain.  But then she remembered Jong Su’s words.

“What you are is terribly young.  You can change who you are.”

If there were any truth to his words, then there was hope for Eun Sook.  As well as for herself.  Could Sook Myeong become a woman worthy of the kind and compassionate prince?

She found that, like Eun Sook, she didn’t possess as much confidence in herself as her beloved did.

––

He was captivated.  From the moment he first saw her.

Eun Sook was every inch a queen.  She stood with her head held regally high.  Her snowy locks piled up on top of that elegant head; her remaining tresses flowing in a milky curtain down her back.  But those royal robes were the pièce de résistance.  For they drew his gaze to her magnificent, indigo eyes.  And Jin Heung found himself falling in love with her all over again.

With eagerness, he greeted his bride and made her his wife.  By speaking solemn vows that he meant with all of his sweet heart.  He gazed upon her with such tenderness that she felt herself melting long before the ceremony had been completed.

–– 

Jong Su lay in his bed, watching as his baby sister married a good man.  He thought of his mother and all she’d lost because she’d been forced into a marriage with a man who had eventually spurned her for another.  At least, Jong Su didn’t believe that he needed to fear a similar fate concerning his sister.  Jin Heung seemed cut of very different fabric than the prince’s own father had been.  Jong Su did, in fact, feel a kinship with the young king. 

The prince truly hoped that his brother would establish a lasting peace with Jin Heung and Silla.  He hoped that the two kings would succeed in bringing serenity to the whole region and uniting all the surrounding kingdoms.  It was a tall order.  But Jong Su believed that Jin Heung, backed by his powerful hwarang, might just have a chance to accomplish such a feat.  If Yang Won cooperated.

But that was a big if. 

His older brother did enjoy power.  Sometimes, a little too much.

Jong Su sighed, still thankful that the responsibility of an entire kingdom did not rest on his own shoulders.  Yet cognizant that if it had, he might have been able to establish that lasting peace himself.  Instead of relying on the vagaries of his brother to be put to rest long enough to bring stability to Goguryeo and its neighboring kingdoms.

––

Sook Myeong glanced down at Jong Su.  Wondering if the prince was dreaming of a similar wedding for himself.  And her.  Was he really desiring her hand in marriage?  Or did he simply like to tease her?

Was pleasing his brother his number one priority?  Or did he want to woo her for himself?

She could no longer question whether Jong Su was a man of honor.  He had proven himself yesterday.  When he had taken an arrow for her brother.  Not even for his own king.  In fact, Jin Heung was a man of whom he knew little.  Yet the prince had shown an uncustomary allegiance to her brother.  One which the young king hadn’t even inspired in the royal council. 

Why had Jong Su done it?  For her?  Or for Jin Heung?

The prince had risked his life to protect the king of a neighboring land.  He could just as easily have taken that arrow in his heart.  Like the perpetrator had swallowed hers.  And she could have lost Jong Su.  Forever.  Such knowledge chilled her.  And had prevented sleep from stalking her last night.

She hadn’t left his bedside.  Instead, she had kept eternal vigil over him as he had slept the night away.  Periodically moaning from the pain.  More than once, she had caught him trapped in a bitter dream.  She’d roused him lightly, adjusted his covers, and coaxed him back to sleep with her gentle voice. 

Only as the sun began to peek through his window had she risen from her chair to leave him with the doctor.  And to keep her promise to her brother.  To aid his bride in her preparations for today.  Sook Myeong had dismissed the weary maid who had drifted off to sleep sitting up in her chair as she kept an eagle eye on the prince and the princess.  The tired lass had made a feeble chaperone. 

But no one need have worried.  The last thing on the princess’s mind was getting herself into trouble with Jong Su.  She had simply wanted to make certain that the man did not die during the night.  But the doctor’s assurances this morning had set her mind at ease long enough for her to leave him in the man’s capable hands while she assisted her brother’s bride.

But now as she stared down at Jong Su, her fears of that long night returned.

What would she have done if she had lost so tender a touch as his?  If that kind smile had slipped from her life without warning?  And those strong arms had succumbed to eternal weakness?  The light of his warm eyes dying away with him?

She felt oddly vulnerable now.  And she didn’t like it.  She craved control.  But she had never really possessed it.  Least of all, now.