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As she fingered those gorgeous robes, Eun Sook pondered her prince.  Her prince.  He must be a prince.  There was no better explanation for his presence here in the palace.  And the authority which he clearly carried.  And the influence that he openly wielded.

Her heart sank.  He really was beyond her reach.  A prince of the realm would never wish to marry such a pitiful creature as she was.

––

He’d let her go yesterday.  Ah Ro.  To his cousin and best friend.  Seon Woo.

The king had released her to fly from the palace.  Straight into the arms of her lover.  A man Jin Heung had never managed to rival for her affections.

It still stung. 

He hadn’t even faced her.  He’d sent her a letter releasing her from his custody.  A custody that had been purely protective.  To prevent her from being used as a hostage against Seon Woo and Jin Heung by Minister Park.  And the king’s plan had worked.  He and Seon Woo had outwitted that cruel, old man.  Together.  And kept the woman whom they both loved safe from harm.

But now, free to go, she had flown to her lover.  And left Jin Heung alone.

Except…he had Eun Sook.  And he found that he wanted her.  But he was fairly certain that she didn’t want him.  She saw him as, at most, a friend.  How could she see him as more? 

She didn’t even know who he was.  He’d insisted that the servants keep mum around her.  He’d isolated her in his rooms so that she’d stay in the dark.  He relished the idea of having a true friend.  One who didn’t know who he was.  As Seon Woo had befriended him when he’d still believed him to be a simple hwarang.

Jin Heung wanted this girl, a friend who also didn’t know what he could do for her.  Outside of silver, and garments, and all the supplies she’d needed to pen her stories on parchment.  Really, she’d asked for so little.  Had she known he was a king, would she have asked for more?  Would she have proven that her friendship too was fickle?

He still wasn’t sure.  So he wasn’t telling her anything about himself.

But he had come to realize that he really did want more from her than mere friendship.  However, he had no desire to dishonor her.  Many would look upon the position of the king’s concubine with honor.  But, instinctively, he knew that Eun Sook would not.  Coupled with the oddity of her hair and eye color – and that of her extremely pale skin – she would feel freakishly displayed before the whole kingdom were he to establish her in his bed that way.  His heart sank.

Why did every way forward seem so impossible?

He had so many challenges before him.  Why couldn’t his path to true love be simple?

–– 

“Where did I leave off last time?” she asked as she sat on his bed and leaned back against the wall.

“You were about to tell me when the king runs into the councilman’s daughter again.”

Her face broke forth into a wide smile.  “Oh, I was, was I?”  She twinkled at him.  “Who’s writing this story?  You or me?” she continued teasingly.

“Oh, come on.  Surely, he runs into her again.”

“You think so?  Hmm.  I’m not sure.  I don’t think he does today anyway.  What reason would the councilman’s daughter have to visit the training center of the hwarang?”

His brow furrowed.  Then it flooded with light as the solution came to him.  “She’s come to visit her brother on some errand from her powerful father.”

Eun Sook sighed.  “Perhaps.”

Jijin chuckled.  “Come now, don’t leave me in suspense a moment longer!”

A reluctant smile tugged her lips upwards as she peered up at him.  He was leaning over her now, gazing intently down into her face, and she felt her heart racing at his nearness.  Was he flirting with her? 

She’d never had a man flirt with her.  But it seemed to her wild imagination that he was.  And it warmed her heart.  Even as it scared her enough to make that organ beat crazily.

“All right,” she sighed.  “Our hero made his way to the head of the hwarang.”

“Hwa Gong.”

Surprised, her eyebrows flew north.  “How did you know?”

Again, he laughed.  “Because he really is the head of the hwarang.”

She sighed in disappointment at the obvious answer.  “Ah, yes.” 

Then she continued, “The king came to stand before Hwa Gong, seeking admittance into the hwarang.  He was granted the privilege and accepted as the man’s own nephew.  To fool all the children of the royal council.  For the leader of the hwarang was seeking his own position of eminence and had his own motives for controlling the hwarang.”

This girl was perceptive.  Jin Heung had to give her that.

“And so did the king, of course.  He told Hwa Gong that he was willing to help him bring down the queen dowager.”

It was a good thing that Jin Heung hadn’t been drinking anything.  Because he would have choked on it then.  “How can you possibly know that?” he burst out.

“What?”

“That the king told him he wanted to defeat his mother!”

She blinked.  “I…uh…I don’t know.  I just thought it would make a good story.”

He searched her face.  But he knew for certain that no one had overheard his conversation with Hwa Gong.  There was no way that she could know that this scenario had actually happened.  Yet, somehow, she had discerned it.  He marveled at her.

With an imperious nod of his head, he commanded, “Continue.”

Her odd indigo eyes collided with his momentarily as she paused to take note of the authority ringing in his voice.  Was it purely the result of being raised in a male-dominated society, or was it the evidence of something more?  A royal upbringing, perchance?  Who exactly was Jijin?

She cleared her throat to cover her perplexity.  Then she dropped her eyes as she picked up the thread of her story.  “So it was that the king was among the ranks of the young hwarang the first time they convened.  He didn’t miss a single challenge set before them.  He excelled at every level.  Except for one thing…”

When she stopped, Jin Heung’s interest piqued, he jumped on her.  “What?” he exclaimed.

Surprised at his vehemence, she glanced at him again curiously.  “He challenged the established order,” she murmured quietly.

And the king froze.  Then he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.  What was going on here? 

“Why would he challenge the established order?” he asked suddenly.

She blinked.  Then in a very quiet voice, she responded with an earnest expression illuminating her countenance, “Because he’s not like other men.”

She had just effectively shut him down.  He couldn’t argue with her.  In her wildly romantic imagination, her hero was terribly clever.  And apparently conscientious.

“In what ways did he challenge the established order?” he queried quietly.

“He believed in equality.”

“Equality?” he questioned incredulously.

She nodded.  Then she glanced down at her white hair as she picked up a lock of it and allow it to pool in the palm of her other hand.  “The king doesn’t believe in discriminating against people just because they’re…different.  Or of a lower rank.”

“Rank?”  His eyebrows smacked the ceiling overhead.  “Are you saying that he wanted to do away with the bone rank system?”

Her eyes lifted slowly to encounter his again.  Then she nodded.  And held her breath.

This was just a story.  So why did it seem so important to him?