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The young king wandered into the forest.  Grief ripping his heart apart.  He had just placed himself upon the throne.  Finally coming forward after years in hiding.  But he was all alone now.  Not even his mother wanted to acknowledge him.  And a whole council opposed his ascent.

He had come to the forest to breathe.  And to think.  And to search his heart for answers that he was fairly certain were not in there.

But as he entered the heart of the forest, a gentle voice was suddenly carried to him on the wings of a soft breeze.  A voice with which – at first – he thought he was familiar.  The voice of his good friend.  The storyteller.  The woman to whom he had foolishly given his heart.  Foolishly because she loved another.  Seon Woo had stolen her breath.  She clearly adored the only man that the king had ever considered his friend.  Her lover was not a servant.  He was the king’s equal.  In more ways than one, it seemed.  For he too – as it turned out – was also an heir to the throne that Jin Heung was trying to claim.

And this man had claimed it first.  His hand forced when the girl they both loved had been threatened by a neighboring king.  At that time, Jin Heung had believed his friend had claimed kingship simply to save her from dying.  But some corner of the man’s heart must have recognized that he was royalty – and not the commoner he’d grown up believing he was – for he had stepped forward with alacrity and faced that formidable king with courage.  Fearlessly, in fact.  Challenging him to a private duel.  The outcome of which would determine the fates of them all.  And it had.  Though, not quite in the way he had believed it would.  They’d still had to break the girl out of prison and run for their lives.  Only to face that foreign king across a field.  But, thankfully, at the very last moment – when all had seemed lost – the hwarang had arrived to save them. 

Perhaps Jin Heung had more friends than he’d once believed possible.  He blew out a deep breath.  He just wasn’t sure.  For he knew that Seon Woo despised him.  Believing that the king had killed his best friend.  Only – it wasn’t true.  But Jin Heung had never denied it.  Maybe that was the problem.

But that voice – the one which he thought he had recognized – was floating on the air still, wrapping around him comfortingly but with a story that was all too familiar.  How did she know…?

“The noble king was beloved.  Of his subjects, at least.  And he adored his tiny son.  He would often dangle him upon his knees.  And rest the weight of his crown upon that wee head.  And receive his son’s affection in return.

“But late one night when the boy was still a small child, the council that despised his appa came for that life.  The king was found dead in his bed, his blood soaking the sheets, turning them crimson with angst.  Fearful, the boy’s mother called her most trusted guard and charged him with the care of the tiny boy. 

“‘Hide him away.  Where none shall find him.  You must keep him safe until he reaches his majority,’ she had insisted before sending the lad – without her kiss – off into the deep night. 

“She would not see him again for many years.  And if this pained her, she let none know.

“But eleven years later, a flower appeared in her room.  A bloom that did not grow within the capital of the country.  Someone – stealthy, invisibly so – had entered the royal chambers undetected but for the flower he’d left behind.  She knew that blossom.  And she was fairly certain she knew the man haunting her chambers now. 

“She approached them with trepidation.  But also, with some deeper emotion stirring in her breast….”

The girl’s voice paused, and Jin Heung was both relieved and disappointed.  For this girl had been accurately telling his own story, and his heart was exploding in his chest now.  How did she know the most intimate details of his life?  How could she possibly know about the flower?

He rounded a corner in the path and came to an abrupt stop as his eyes fell upon a girl sitting on the ground, her back pressed up against an ancient tree, her head tipped back, her eyes closed.  As he stopped, his foot snapped a twig on the path, and her eyes flew open.  Full of alarm.  But the sight of those eyes and of the long hair streaming past her waist gave him pause. 

More like, stole his breath.

She was ravishing.  And the most unusual creature he’d ever seen.

He’d heard of them.  But he had never seen one.

He stared in awe at the waterfall of white hair spilling down to the ground as it billowed out around her waist.  He would have believed her to be an old woman had he seen only the pale hair.  But her face was that of a child.  Though, as his eyes slid down her form, he had to recognize what her voice had already declared: she was a woman.  A young one.  But definitely fully grown.  Her skin was nearly the same shade as her hair.  But it was her eyes that captivated him the most.  They were a clear, crystal violet.  This girl was an albino.

They remained, staring at each other silently for several long seconds.  Finally, he spoke. 

“How did you come to know this story?”

“Pardon?” she queried abruptly, gaping at him.

“The story – about the king!  Who told you that he left a flower in the palace?”

“No one told me.  I told myself.  You were listening to a story I wrote.” 

Suddenly, her forehead crumpled. “Wait a minute.  How did you know that the king left the flower?  I didn’t get to that part of the story yet.”

He studied her for a moment as he furrowed his brow.  “It was obvious,” he murmured faintly after a few moments.

“It was?” she asked, clearly disappointed.

He continued to stare at her.  Without flinching.

Had this girl truly invented this tale?  Or had someone in the palace leaked the story to the outside world? 

“You know someone in the palace, don’t you?  A servant girl?  She told you about the flower?”

She blinked.  “No.  I told you.  I made up the story.  Of course, I didn’t make up the part about the king dying, and his little boy going into exile, hidden away from the council.  That part of the story is well-known.  But as I thought about that boy’s sad existence, I thought he must miss his mother terribly. 

“And I think it’s terribly romantic to make him the hero, don’t you?  To make him talented and athletic.”  She sighed, obviously very pleased with the character she had created.  “Stealthy like a ninja and with the courageous heart of a king, of course.  A gifted swordsman.  And terribly clever.  Undoubtedly, he is also,” her eyes slid over his countenance as she paused her explanation for a moment, “incredibly handsome.  A more beautiful face I’ve never seen,” she murmured absently as she continued to stare at him.  Her face suddenly a wide blank. 

He cleared his throat self-consciously.  “I think that you have an especial love for the word terribly.”

She nodded her head, but he wasn’t certain she’d even heard his words.

––

She was lost in a dream.  The boy king whom she’d dreamt up had suddenly materialized before her in the middle of the forest.  She must be creating another story right now.  One in which she met her characters.  And became part of their script.

“I dreamt you up, didn’t I?” she muttered suddenly as she stumbled to her feet and began to walk towards him.

“What?”  His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her.

When she came to a stop in front of him, she shocked him, first, by sticking her face up as close to his as she could get and, second, by reaching up and touching his cheek with the fingers of her right hand.  “You’re every bit as beautiful as I always knew you’d be,” she breathed. 

At her unexpected touch, his heart began to hammer against the wall of his chest.  He found her fascinating.  A haunting beauty in her own right.  Extremely unusual.  Like a being from another world.  But it was the vagaries of her expressive countenance which intrigued him most.  That, and he’d thought her voice was soothing.  Despite its uncanny ability to discern his secrets. 

Suddenly, his hand flew up, and he grabbed her wrist.  Her gasp flowed into his waiting ears.  As the shock rippling over her face stunned him.

“Are – are you really real?” she wheezed.

He nodded his head as he continued to trap her wrist within his grasp.  He could feel her pulse pounding away under the pad of his thumb.  Her breathing was uneven too.  She was clearly afraid of him.  But she didn’t try to tug herself free.  She simply stared up at him with wide eyes.  Those odd eyes.  So light a shade of indigo that they were nearly clear. 

“I – I thought I’d dreamt you up.  That you were the boy king from my story.  Come to life in my imagination.”  She cleared her throat as she grasped for her courage.  “Who are you?”

“A better question, my dear,” he retorted in a chilly voice, “is who are you?”

She swallowed as she closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself.  A strange man was accosting her in the depths of the forest.  None would come to save her.  Not even if she screamed.  So she found such theatrics pointless.  She would need her wits about her to escape this man’s grasp.  Then, suddenly, the answer came to her.

She took a deep breath before allowing her entire body to go limp.  Instantly.  She kept her eyes tightly sealed shut.  And began to breathe deeply.  And evenly.  As though unconscious.

Jin Heung felt her body going slack through his grasp upon her wrist first.  Reflexively, he pulled that wrist closer to himself as she began to crumple to the ground. 

Hauling her up against his chest, he murmured in wonder, “Has she fainted?  Or was she so scared of me that she gave up the ghost?”

As he held her warm body close to his own, he discerned the sound of her deep breathing and determined that she was, at least, still alive.  Possibly asleep.  Was this her response to danger?  To suddenly withdraw into her cocoon?  Hoping that every threat would simply disappear as she entered a deep sleep?

If she expected him to simply leave her alone, unconscious, in the middle of the king’s forest, she had another think coming.  He would never treat a vulnerable woman so irresponsibly.  He adjusted his hold on her and bent to sweep her up in his arms.  Groaning as he began to carry her towards the palace.  And silently ridiculing her for her weak constitution.

––

Eun Sook was beginning to fear.  She’d expected him to catch her.  She had not anticipated that he would pick her up in his arms and carry her off somewhere.  Still, she continued to play dead.  If only she could stop breathing for a few minutes.  Just for a few minutes.  Then, he’d think she was dead and leave her alone. 

But, instead, he was hauling her off somewhere.  After a few minutes, she could no longer tolerate the suspense.  She cracked one eyelid fractionally.  And nearly recoiled in shock.  He was approaching the palace! 

She forced herself to remain limp.  Even as that one eye frantically peered through that tiny slit, watching the guard’s blurry reaction as the man carrying her passed by him.  Without any interference.  But with a bow of his head.  Level with his waist before he straightened again.  Her eye widened as the other one flew open.  Thankfully, no one was looking at her.  So she had time to close her eyes before anyone knew she was conscious.

The footfalls of her captor were echoing hollowly down the corridor as he continued to carry her off…somewhere.  Within the palace! 

Who was this mystery man?  That he could walk so freely within the confines of this royal roost.

She was having trouble breathing now.  Or controlling her breathing anyway.  Was she hyperventilating?  Or was her heart simply splitting in half from terror?  She couldn’t catch her breath.  She inhaled sharply in an attempt to still her racing heart.  But nothing seemed to be helping.

Suddenly, a voice sounded in her ear as his warm breath slid across her skin.  “You can stop panicking.  I’m not going to hurt you.”

Her eyes flew open, and she found herself face to face with the man from the forest. 

He studied those odd, pale lashes of hers for a moment.  His lips quirked upward in a humorless smile as he murmured, “Can you walk where I’m leading you?  Or do you need me to continue carrying you?”

She wasn’t entirely certain that she still had the use of her legs.  They felt like they’d melted a moment before.  Simply turned into water at the sound of that abrupt voice.  So she simply blinked up at him.  He read the fear on her face correctly.

“What kind of a girl wanders alone through the king’s forest?” he murmured as he continued to carry her towards his bedroom.

“An independent one,” she muttered, irked. 

Just who exactly did this man think he was to be hauling her off somewhere without her permission?  Even her fear couldn’t stop her irritation from showing on her countenance.  He caught sight of it and was surprised by it.

“You’re upset with me?” he asked incredulously.  “You’re the one who fainted.  I caught you, saving you from smacking your head on the ground.  Then I refused to leave you alone in the forest to be eaten by wild animals.  I brought you back to the safety of my home.  And you’re angry with me?”

She blinked up at him as his disbelief flowed over her in a continuous stream for several seconds. 

He walked past some more guards who instantly opened a set of double doors.  The man strode through the doorway, and those doors closed behind him as he commanded, “Leave us alone.”

Then she swallowed as she realized that she was trapped with him.  Alone.  In his private chambers.  He continued to stride through them until he entered the final room.  A bedroom.

Just what exactly had she gotten herself into?