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Eun Sook spent an hour pacing the floor of his bedchamber.  She wanted to confront him.  She was afraid to confront him.  She feared asking him for his real identity.  But why?

Because if she found out that he was the king, then she would have to face the truth that she could never be with him.  Not as anything other than his concubine.  If he were a normal man, he would suffer enough ridicule once word leaked that he was interested in an albino.  But the scrutiny a king fell under would make a relationship with her unbearable for him. 

No wonder he had hidden her away in his rooms.  He clearly didn’t want anyone to know about her.  He must be ashamed of her.  But he didn’t want to admit such a thing to her.

––

It was extremely late when he returned.  He found her asleep in his bed.  His heart sank in disappointment.  He’d wanted to see her tonight.  To talk to her.  To kiss her.  And hold her.

He climbed into bed and reached for her.  Sliding his arm under her head and tugging her close.

“I love you, Sookie.  I’m sorry I didn’t return sooner.  I tried.  I just couldn’t get away.  Today was such a mess with the men who breached the palace defenses.”  He heaved a deep sigh.  “Tomorrow should be better.”

But it wasn’t. 

He was gone when she arose, and he didn’t return until midnight.  Only to find her sound asleep again.  She didn’t hear him when he whispered more words of love to her.  She wasn’t even aware when he drew her close to his side.  And snuggled her all night long. 

When she awoke the next morning, she found his side of the bed empty.  Again.  She sighed in disappointment.  He hadn’t even spoken to her yesterday.

Further reinforcing her belief that he was embarrassed by her.

She lay in bed and indulged in a good cry before wiping her eyes and dragging herself from bed.  She glanced out the window at the gloriously shining sun.  And realized that he had broken his promise to her.  He’d never taken her outside yesterday.  Would he even remember to keep his word today?  Or would he not slip in until the moon was riding high in the sky tonight?

She glanced doubtfully at the bed.  Had he even returned last night?

She frowned.

Was he avoiding her on purpose?  Had she offended him by escaping to the courtyard the other day?  Was he punishing her for leaving his rooms without his permission?

She sighed.  She knew so little of men.  She didn’t understand them at all.  Her stories were the purest fiction. 

She’d dreamed up a hero that appealed to her own desires and needs.  But his resemblance to reality was definitely in question.  Except that…she had begun to believe he really was Jijin.  Oh, maybe not the part about him being king.  Though, even that was now a possibility.  But she’d been sure that Jijin was overflowing with the qualities of honor and kindness and justice that her fictional king possessed.  Only, Jijin had added another important characteristic that she had lacked the imagination to give her dream king….

Extreme tenderness.

Even now, she melted simply at the thought of Jijin’s caresses and his gentle kisses.  And the beautiful words that had flowed from his mouth.

So she determined that today she would concentrate on those wonderful parts of his character and his kind treatment of her and not think of his sudden desertion and all it could mean.

It was time to work on his story…

Her lips quirked.  She was pretty sure it really was his story.

––

He had broken his promise to her yesterday.  He had failed to escort her out into the sunshine for a few minutes.  A king was only as good as his word.  Today, he must make time for her.  Despite all the crazy demands that just kept popping up. 

How ironic that he had finally found a woman who adored him, yet he couldn’t find even five minutes to bask in her presence!

Mostly due to this mess with Baekje.  Jin Heung was going to have to find some way to broker a lasting peace with Goguryeo if he wanted to subdue the unruly crown prince of the western kingdom!  The man seemed bent on wreaking vengeance for the rescue of Silla’s people from the prison in Baekje.  A rescue Jin Heung and Seon Woo had orchestrated with the help of the hwarang. 

It seemed to him that the powerful northern kingdom of Goguryeo was the only one strong enough to control Wi Deok.  Silla was such a tiny land.  Jin Heung didn’t want to deplete his kingdom of its few soldiers.  He needed the help of a greater king.  Much as he was loath to admit it.

Around noon, Eun Sook sat at his desk, bent over her parchment, furiously penning her characters as quickly as her fingers and brain would work together.  Jijin’s story was flowing magnificently today!  She could barely write fast enough to keep up with the steady stream of ideas.  Just a few more strokes of her pen and this latest chapter would be finished.

At a quarter past twelve, as she was preparing to push back her chair and stretch her strained shoulders, she heard the outer door open.  She smiled, thinking that her lunch must have arrived. 

“Just leave it on the table,” she called out cheerfully to the hovering maid.

Eun Sook put the final stroke on her parchment and leaned forward to blow it dry.  When she straightened and sat, beaming down on her work with satisfaction, she felt something brush the crook of her neck.

“Good afternoon, beautiful,” Jijin murmured into her ear, making her jump.

She spun around, unable to prevent the joy that overtook her countenance at the sight of him.  And at the sound of his precious voice.

“Jijin!”  She jumped up and flung herself at him.

His laughter rang out, filling the air around her.  “I’ve missed you so much!  By the time I made it home the last two nights, you were sound asleep.”

“You did come back?” she asked uncertainly.

Hearing the odd tremor in her tone, he furrowed his brow.  “Of course!  I slept all night with you.  Holding you in my arms,” he flashed his beautiful grin at her.

A strange quaking overtook her countenance now.

“Sookie,” he whispered tenderly, tightening his hold on her waist and drawing her near, “what’s wrong?”

Embarrassed, she hid her eyes from him.  “I thought I angered you by leaving your rooms the other day.  I thought maybe you were punishing me.  Or you were ashamed of me.  Afraid that someone had seen that you were entertaining an albino.”

“What?” he stared at her in astonishment.  “No!”  His expression melted as he gazed down at her.  “Sookie,” he admonished her gently, “look at me.”

Ever so slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his.

“I love you.  I know I told you so several times already.  I love you,” he spoke with more emphasis. 

A sudden rut developed between his eyebrows as he pushed them towards his nose.  “I am not ashamed of you.  I am proud of you.”

His brow cleared, and he smiled at her.  “You are a beautiful, brilliant, sweet woman.  With an extraordinary gift.” 

He glanced down at her parchment before returning his gaze to her eyes.  “I want you by my side.  I’m just…trying to figure out how to make that happen.  And I…it took me a little while to get here.” 

He thought briefly of Ah Ro.  And marveled that the pain of her desertion no longer seemed to have any power to sting him.

Suddenly, he chuckled.  “I can’t believe we’ve known each other for only two weeks!  It seems like you’ve been part of my life for months, at least.”  He smiled down at her.  “I adore you, Sookie.”

He bent his head and brushed his lips softly across hers.  She instantly melted into his embrace, and the two of them spent several blissful moments basking in each other’s presence.  Finally, he drew his mouth away from hers and glanced down at her parchment again.  The corners of his lips quirked upwards.

“Dare I hope that’s more of my story?”

As his eyes met hers again, he noted the odd quiver that darted across her face.

“Sookie?  What is it?”

She brushed aside his question and chose to smile at him instead.  Her eyes were dancing with excitement now.  “I finished a whole chapter!” she exclaimed with joy vibrating her voice.  “And I have so many more ideas swirling through my head!  I’ll be working all afternoon to put them all down on parchment!”

He beamed at her.  “Excellent!  I can’t wait to hear the rest.  But,” his lips twitched, “can you spare a few minutes to take a walk outside with me right now?  In the sunshine?”

Her face instantly brightened.  “You remembered!”

“Of course, I did.  I’m so sorry I broke my promise to you yesterday, Sookie.  I was unaccountably detained.  Can you…can you ever forgive me?”

She bobbed her head.  “Right now.  Done.  Forgiven.”  She peeked up at him with a tiny smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.  Then her arm followed suit, tugging on his.  “Let’s go!  Right now!  I want to see this sun you speak of and feel its warmth on my face.”

He could just picture her with her face tilted towards the heat of that bright star, her eyes closed in ecstasy.  He would have a very hard time not kissing those upraised lips as she basked in the rays of her cheerful sun.

“Come along.  We will go.  Right now.”  This time, he pulled on her hand, leading her towards the door.

But before they could arrive at its opening, the double doors burst open, and a man popped into the outer room.  “Your majesty, Wi Deok has been routed.  Temporarily, at least.  We’ve pushed his men back from the border.  But I’m not sure how long we can put him off.  I’ve come to receive your orders.  What is our next assignment?”  He bowed respectfully to his king.

And Eun Sook gaped up at Jijin.  He was the king!

His dark eyes slid her way, and she saw an aching vulnerability flood his face with regret before he turned back towards the man.

“Assemble all the generals.  I’ll meet you in the war room in ten minutes.”

The man nodded, bowed again, and left as abruptly as he had arrived.

Jijin turned towards Eun Sook, an apology in his eyes.  “I’m Jin Heung, Sookie.  I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner.  I just…didn’t know how to admit it.”

She gasped.  “You were crowned a week ago!”  Her eyes widened until they seemed to eclipse her face.  “You must be overwhelmed with responsibilities now.  How have you made any time for me at all?” she asked in astonishment.

His eyes caressed hers.  “I love you, Sookie.  Of course, I would make time for you.”  He sighed.  “Even if it’s not as much as I would like.”

His eyes searched hers.  “Can you forgive me for hiding my true identity from you?”

When she remained silent, he admitted, “Last week, a lot of things were up in the air.  The council opposed me.  One of the ministers was actively plotting to steal my throne from me.  And the outcome all hinged on the faithfulness of my friends.  Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure if I’d be crowned king.  And since I was, things have just continued to pile up.  In the midst of all that, I fell in love with you.  And had to figure out how to…”

“…be with me?”

He gazed down at her.  And nodded his head dumbly.

Her face fell suddenly.

“What?” His heart seemed to shoot out of his chest in dismay.

“You can’t possibly be with me now,” she whispered.  “A king and…an albino?  You’d be the laughingstock of your kingdom.”

“They weren’t just words, you know.”

“What?” Confused, she glanced back up to meet his eyes again.

“Getting rid of the bone rank system.  It’s one of my goals.  I meant it.  I don’t think people should be judged by their birth.  Or their appearance,” he added firmly.  Then his gaze slid across her face and down her long, snowy locks.  “Although, anyone with eyes can see that you’re a beauty queen.”  His eyes met those gorgeous indigo orbs again.

Her lips tipped upward, belying the sorrow in her eyes.  “You might think so.  I still think it’s absolutely extraordinary that you do…but you’re the only one who sees me that way.”

“Then I will just have to lend the world my eyes.”  He tugged on her hand.  “Come.  We’re missing out on basking in the sunshine together.”

But she didn’t move. 

He stopped and glanced down at her.  “What is it?”

“I don’t want to make you late for that meeting.  It sounded very important.  I can wait to feel the sunshine on my face.”

His brow furrowed suddenly.  “I can spare five minutes.”

“No.”  She shook her head firmly.  “Go.”  She looked away from him and cleared her throat.  “We can finish our conversation later.  It will wait.”

He sighed.  “Are you sure?”  He was very worried that he’d erred.  And that something was now terribly wrong between them.

“Yes.”

“Promise me you won’t leave,” he insisted suddenly.

Her eyes slowly lifted to meet his again.  “I promise.”

“All right.”  He frowned.  “But I really wanted to stand in the sun with you!”

“Another time,” she murmured with a twist of her lips.

He glanced down at her parchment.  “Is the story still flowing?”

Her eyes traveled to that piece of ivory fabric.  And she was surprised to discover that it was.  The words of her tale were still swirling around in her head. 

He hadn’t stolen her gift with his admission.  Really, all he’d done was confirm her suspicions.  She nodded her head.

“Good,” he smiled.  “I look forward to hearing the rest of it.”  He bent to kiss her.  “Tonight,” he murmured against her lips. 

“Take a nap.  Expect me late.  I want you to be awake when I arrive.”  His lips brushed hers again more firmly this time.  “I love you, Sookie.  Never doubt that.”

Then he was gone, striding from the room.  Back into a world of intense responsibility.