A sickening crunch sounded and a wail of tortuous agony followed. The sharp blade of a spear was shoved forward, impaling the body in front of it. The metallic smell of blood mingled with sweat, body odor and the stench of death as it claimed the lives of many; bodies strewn carelessly. Pulling back his bow, he fired an arrow striking two men nearest him. Grabbing a cast aside spear, he grit his teeth and lifted the heavy weighted weapon just as a fiercely riding man came towards him, having drawn back an arrow. He fired just before he was impaled, blood gushing violently from his mouth. The arrow struck him in the shoulder making him fall on his back. 

    “Pyeha!” Grunting, he rolled on his side, reaching up to snap the arrow in half.   

    “Son of a bitch!” He snarled, puncturing the ankle of one above him. The man screamed, turning to glance down at his assailant. 

    “Pretty faced bastard! I’ll skin you alive!” The man retorted in a foreign tongue, his breathing haggard as he lifted his bow, an arrow starting to be pulled back. Quick on his feet, he shot up and tackled the man before he could finish drawing. Pain felt warm and wet like a pleasant summer rain, sharp and brutal like the prick of a thousand needles down his side. The man lifted a thick heavy fist, attempting to strike him but he blocked it, instead used the fingers of his free hand to dig into the nearest thing to him. His eye. Throwing his arm away from him, he grabbed hold of his face and dug his nails, dirty with dirt and blood into his eyes, forcing his thumbs deeper into the sockets. The man thrashed around, wailing as though he was a newborn. Blood coated his digits and the soft ruptured cushiness of his destroyed oculus deterred him not. 

    “Brother Sekhemrekhutawy! Behind you!” Letting go of the man’s head, he turned to face a blade, sharp and waiting to taste his flesh. His eyes were cold and beady, his sneer complemented by black rotting teeth. 

    “Stand up Prince of Goryeo.” He moved not, just lifted his gaze from the blade to the man’s face. At his insolence, the man jut the blade outward, piercing the thin tempting flesh of his neck and forced his head upward. Laughing, the man took in this prince. Weak he was not. Even in the face of death he showed no fear. He’d enjoy this kill. 

    “Stand up.” To his displeasure the man now with twin streams of blood trailing down his face spoke, voice gruff and full of agony. 

    “He says to stand pretty face bastard. He shall cut you into pieces before your King.”  Admitting shock to hear the tongue of Goryeo from his lips would never happen but it send a trickle through his belly. Slowly, he stood, gritting his teeth at the pain that saturated his entire side. He kept his face carefully stoic despite the hot and cold chills that now seemed to attack his body, the arrow that pierced him standing out from his body almost proudly as if to say ‘here I have claimed him, your prize’. Pleased in the life force still found in his comrade he grinned. 

    “You are as he says. It will not be easy to kill you. But I shall take my time and enjoy it.” In that moment, the strangest thing happened. Something he never before experienced. Time seemed to slow. It was as if his comrades and his enemies were fighting in slow motion, blood an unfortunate and welcome sacrifice unto the earth it spilled upon. Oft in the distance, he saw his friends engaged in battle, bloodied…tired…yet still pressing on. He felt pride swell in his heart as he caught a glimpse of his Kushite brothers repel the forces that advanced on them. Like majestic lions they moved swift and uniform, graceful like a cheetah of the wild but brutal and merciless all the same. Arrows, halberds and spears cut through the dark flesh of some and some fell claimed into Isis’s embrace. A cry of grief fell upon his woman as she too watched her countrymen fall; crowned warrior, ruler of his heart and of the very land she defended. She bared her teeth like the great cat goddess B’sst, roared like the mighty lioness and charged, retribution and vengeance singing through the arrows she fired. 

    “Come with me.” The man demanded, drawing his gaze away from the many scenes of battle before him. Throat tight and leaking his own sacrifice, his eyes hardened. 

    “If you wish to kill me then do it. Stop stalling like a fucking coward.” He hissed in return, taking a step towards the blade. 

    “He will wear your skin as a cloak pretty faced basta-” Turning, he lifted his foot and crushed his windpipe, silencing the annoying buzzing from the injured fly. The man he presumed was the commander lifted his eyes from the now slain soldier and grinned once more, the action twisted and even more demented than before. 

    “Perhaps you two have more similarities than thought. Perhaps I shall not slay you. Perhaps I will make you my slave and send you to kill for me.” 

    “Pyeha!” Holding onto a halberd, Yoo-shik charged toward them on horse back and swung the weapon, cutting into the back of the man’s thigh. Hissing, he turned towards the attacker which gave him the time he needed. Balling up his fist, he delivered a hard punch to the brute’s jaw, freeing the weapon from his fingers. Grabbing the handle of the blade, he slashed his cheek, a thin merciful line marring rough dirty skin. 

    “Menre!”  To his surprise, Tiye advanced towards him on Dong-Il, having pushed him into a hard run. Holding on to the reins, she extended her hand outward. Grabbing hold of it, she pulled him up, breathing a sigh of relief as he roughly flopped into the saddle. Reaching under her arms, he took hold of the reins as she lifted out of the saddle, thighs tightly hugging Dong-Il’s sides as she drew back two arrows. Up ahead he eyed Yoo-shik who now fought bare handed with the commander he’d freed him from. 

    “Tiye!” She turned her head only slightly, focused on ahead. 

    “Strike to your left.” At once she obliged, releasing the weapons of death. Hitting their target hard and sure, the man hovering above Yoo-shik fell. 

    “Wangja-nim!” The scream of a woman followed and yet who seemed to rise out of the pile of men was Hae, fierce and hardened by grief, pain and disgust. Lifting a halberd, she tossed it towards him. Catching it, he thanked her with a brief nod. Relieving the strain on her thighs, Tiye resumed sitting. 

    “This day will not claim you will it?” He spoke against her ear roughly as they galloped and he could feel Dong-Il’s fatigue, the muscles underneath them growing tight. 

    “Should you desire to surrender then so will I. If not then no. It will not happen in this lifetime.” She replied, breathy and strong. He kissed her right underneath her ear in reply. Ahead, a line of solders drew arrows back seeming to await them. Her sharp inhale of breath gave him chills and he swallowed thickly. 

    “Cheol-su…” For the first time her voice carried worry but he only pressed the reins tighter into her hands, untangling their fingers. 

    “Don’t veer. Keep straight.” He demanded, lifting up onto his legs. Taking the lance, he aimed it and threw it just as two or three arrows came their way. One pierced Dong-Il in the leg, bringing forward an anguished scream from the beast. At once, he went down as yet another struck him in his side. The both of them went flying forward, she hitting the ground first. Then he a ways ahead. He hit his injured side, groaning sharply as the arrow slipped in deeper, fresh blood soaking his hanbok. 

    “NO!” The enraged cry from Tiye made him stiffen and hastily rise to his feet. She knelt over Dong-Il, the blades of swords, arrows and spears enclosed around them in a perfect circle. In her hand she held sabre, most likely stolen from a slain soldier. 

    “Do not touch him! Stay back!” The blood of his dearest closest friend painted the ground crimson and the sight of it, the sight of his labored pained breath infuriated him. Guilt burned his stomach and he charged forward, the hanbok clothing him rife with sweat yet light enough still. He began to cut and slice through them, the actions wild… incoherent…desperate almost. Eager to make distance from them and those he called his.         

    To his relief, some of his brothers flooded him on either side, determined to protect their sovereign. Falling to the ground they swiftly kicked feet from underneath themselves and took hold of weapons, helmets and throats, putting their lives at an end. Relief washed over Tiye and at once she relaxed the sabre and brought it to her side. Gently, stroking the beast’s neck, she assured him that he would be okay. Taking off her jeogori, she cut it into pieces, binding up the injured leg first, tight enough to ensure clotting. Pressing another large part against his side, she felt the stallion relax finally, laying his head against the ground. 

    “The King. Does he still remain in his chambers?” Hae asked, coming to stand next to her man, both for a moment taking in a breath as the fighting continued off aways from them. 

    “I don’t know.” He answered solemnly. 

    “We need to get him medical attention at once.”

    “But who is available?” 

    “We’ll have to figure it out as we go.” Accepting his answer, they all nodded. 

    “I’ll stay with him. Should you find Anat, please bring her to me. Tell her to bring herbs and fresh linen.” 

    “No.” He spoke firmly, taking her in. 

    “You will go with me.”

    “But I-”

    “Tiye.” Biting her lip, she turned her head aside stubbornly but she did not refute his order. 

    “We’ll stay here Tiye-ah. You are needed with Wangja-nim.”  Swallowing tightly, she gave a curt nod. Eying those of her kinsmen, she stood slowly. 

    “Stay with them and protect them.”

    “As you wish it so.” They replied, kneeling before her. Softly, with the touch that of a mother she laid her hand on their heads as if to bless them. Without a minute more spared, she left them, taking hold of her love’s hand. 

***

    Footsteps echoed as they entered the room and the giddy joy of the hunt was immediately cut short. The throne room, in all of its splendor and glory was empty. 

    “Pyeha… he’s escaped.” 

    “Good observation you stupid insect.” He hissed, forcing the little mouse of a man to draw silent. Anger burned bright like fire inside of his chest. He had hoped that he would still be here. He was looking forward to the moment he turned to see his very own son enter, surrounded by Mongolian soldiers. He could taste the betrayal and fear and wanted more than anything to wrap his hands around his throat and squeeze the ailing old life out of him. Put him out of his misery. Surrender him up to the Gods and take his place…carry the torch in his place and build a paradise on earth. Those desires and wants were now ripped from him. His father had fled indeed, perhaps out of cowardice, perhaps out of fear. 

    “He is not here as you said.” The commander sneered at him. 

    “What are we to do now prince of Goryeo?” 

    “I’ll think of something. Fear and worry not.” 

    “And this insidious plot of yours? If it doesn’t succeed?”

    “Now now commander, have you so little faith in me? Here I’ve given you Goryeo on a silver platter and you still worry. It is not my word you need doubt. I will succeed.” Chuckling darkly, he climbed the steps and turned to see the small sea of soldiers below him all looking up at him. The rush he got was one akin to arousal. Delicious indeed. Slowly, he sat, the seat beneath him still warm. 

    “You mind your soldiers and your camp. And allow me to handle mine.” The small impish man only spit, the glob of it splattering across the intricately designed floors. 

*** 

    Her feet had grown tired but she kept running, hand tightly clutched by Young-ho. He swallowed tightly and looked around, the path ahead of them empty, bodies already slain. 

    “We have to hide. They are sure to come back.” He said, voice strong and solid…whereas that of his brother had been quiet, soft and almost lilting. Her head still spun around and all of it was making her dizzy. 

    “Gongju-nim…we must go this way.” Pulling her, he began to run towards an empty abandoned quarters, that of her mother. Pushing her inside, he closed the door and proceeded to go about finding a weapon he could have of his own. Settling on a bow, arrow and geom from one of the intruders, he felt better equipped. Taking a short breath, he licked his lips and soon came behind the door, closing it shut. She trembled not because she was cold as he drew nearer, her eyes wide. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but instead closed it. Silence between them was awkward and painful and it was so quiet you could hear their breathing, the trickle of saliva as it went down the throat. Neither moved. Neither looked at the other. Neither talked. Until, 

    “What happened to my hyung-nim?” The question dug into her like salt on a fresh wound and it stung brutally. Her eyes grew teary and she didn’t answer quiet yet. 

    “You said you knew him right? I want to know what happened. He stopped sending money to my brother and I and because of it we both were put out. We stopped seeing him during the permitted holiday break. He just vanished.” No, he was murdered. But she would dare not tell him that. Her thoughts jumbled together like puzzle pieces and she didn’t know where to start. 

    “He…He went away…”

    “Away?” Finally, eyes looked up to hers and they were identical. 

    “He was many things while he served here at the palace. Master of the stables. Blacksmith. Even a tailor.” 

    “Yes my hyung-nim was a man of many talents.” Her face grew pinched as she nodded. She was well aware. 

    “Yes well…he went away.” The man looked at her and for the longest time stared at her, the longest he’d glanced at her yet. No longer was he looking at her with apprehension and timidity… no longer did he look like a scared little kitten eager to get away from the big bad wolf. His expression was firm and serious, his eyes belying his distrust. 

    “I don’t believe you.” Her eyes flashed and she quirked up her mouth in a incredulous smirk. 

    “How dare you.” 

    “He would never leave my brother and I. He was everything to us. He would never have abandoned us.” The nerve. Something his brother would never have done was challenge her. No, he was a submissive delight, one who knelt under her authority and one that she enjoyed caring for and tending to. Between them had never been an abuse of power. He willingly gave her her due right and she repaid him by being sensitive to his needs… his wants… his every such desire.  

    “So I am a liar. This you have nerve to say to me?” She questioned but even still….her spirit wept. Her desire to have him was so strong that she would give a limb but to steal him for a second. Fate was cruel. To be blessed with the sight of the same man twice and yet she could do nothing. 

    “Not for one second can you convince me otherwise.” 

    “Bold of you. Were we in any other circumstance but this I might have your tongue for offending me.”

    “You could take it but not without a fight. And a proper truthful explanation.” He countered, tightening his grip on the strange looking sword.  Eyes left the defiant man in favor of the door and they both drew silent as sounds of steps drew nearer. She took in hand her eunjangdo and he took hold of the geom with both hands, turning to face the door head on. Just as he was about to charge, the door slid open. Two familiar faces blinked at them and they at them. 

    “S-Sunbae-nim?” Tiye gave no answer, instead disarming her bow and throwing herself at him, knocking him down in an overjoyed hug of elation. 

    “Thank the Gods you’re alright.” She breathed against him, bringing his once chilled cheeks to a boil. He wasn’t sure what to do… if he should hug her back…so he just laid there quietly, face blinded by her braids. 

    “Mishil….what are you doing here?” The Crown Prince asked, coming to take her too in a tight hug. 

    “I awaited my palanquin but no one came. When I went to see what was taking so long, I discovered everyone dead. So I hid.” He nodded against her hair and pressed small kisses against her crown. 

    “Thank the Gods you’re safe.”

    “Where is Seo Jun oppa-nim?” 

    “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him. Father dispatched him at the East and South gates.”

    “And have you seen Father?”

    “No.” She exhaled, letting a quiet sigh escape her lips. 

    “You are…related?” The question came from Young-ho who Tiye had finally let up, cheek still rosy. 

    “Yes. She is my sister. The Princess of Goryeo. You’ve become acquainted?” 

    “Not exactly.” The two of them answered in unison and it brought a curious eyebrow from the older man upward. 

    “Hm.” Glancing at his sister, he cleared his throat. 

    “Young-ho-ah, I want you to come with me.”

    “Where are we going?”

    “Somewhere safe. I wish to return you to your brother Do-won.” 

    “And you all? What will become of you?”

    “We’ll be fine. It is your safety that is of concern.” Tiye spoke next with a friendly nod. 

    “Alright then.”

    “I’ll stay with the princess. If I can get her to Deoksugung I will.”

    “Mm. Young-ho, let’s go. We don’t have time to waste.” 

    “Ah, right.” Taking the younger, the two left the women once again in quiet. For the longest time neither said anything, Tiye having decided to move towards the door, bow and arrow ready to be drawn. The younger woman observed her for the longest time, so many things on her tongue to say and yet the courage to say them had perished. 

    “I’m…I’m sorry.” Taking her eyes off of the door, she turned confused eyes onto the royal. 

    “Sorry? For?” Mishil licked her lips and she squeezed her eyes shut as if the words were painful to get out. 

    “What happened…what I did to you.” Realization of what she referred to flickered across her features. The memory of that day would forever be immortalized in her skin, now thin small scars. She didn’t say anything but she gave a nod of acknowledgement. The young woman opened her eyes and blinked a few times, once again taking in the sight of her face, turned to the side. 

    “I realize now how much of a fool I was then. Young, spoiled and ignorant I did not understand anything. I reveled in my power, given to me at birth and I enjoyed using it to destroy things and people I didn’t know anything about.” The woman ahead of her, her brother’s star of light, of hope, of the future blazed bright and true, fingers tensing and relaxing on the bow she held. 

    “I was so much like him then. I never imagined that the tables would turn and everything would shift. The moment I…the moment reality crashed into me…it all changed.” 

    “Who were you like my lady?” The honorific was spoken quietly and yet she felt as if it was she who needed to show reverence and respect. 

    “Seo-jun oppa-nim.” The very name cast a cloud above the woman and her entire body grew stiff. A reaction she both expected and understood. 

    “I see.” She answered, voice careful and apprehensive. 

    “I suppose now that we are both adults we can be frank about it. Let us be open about everything hm?” She took her eyes from the door and turned them onto her. She had her undivided attention now. 

    “My eldest brother has obsessed over you for a very long time. That obsession has driven him into madness, a case unlike anything we’ve ever witnessed before.” Tiye was silent, listening as the young woman went on. 

    “You belonged to Cheol-su oppa-nim and because of that he wanted you even more. Not for any other reason but to say that he had taken claim to you, had you for himself, defiled and ruined what Cheol-su oppa wanted most. It was never quite about you in actuality Tiye-ah. From the time Cheol-su oppa was born Seo jun oppa hated him. Hated the threat he posed to his life. Hated that he was robbed of that which he felt most belonged to him. So, the hatred turned into envy. Jealousy. Destruction. It’s always been that way between them and it will never change as long as they both live.” 

    “You are telling me this why?” 

    “I want you to understand that we both have been made victims of his cruelty, brutality and inhumanity.” 

    “Is that right?”

    “I know what he did to you. In the horse stalls that day. I know that he violated you, took of your body without so much as an askance and vowed to do it again should he wish.”  The woman shivered, an involuntary confession to the pain, betrayal and anger conjured up from that fateful day. 

    “I’ve watched him do unspeakable things to the servants…to the gisaeng. I’ve watched him enact his sick twisted fantasies with women who neither asked for it or wanted it.” Her voice grew quiet as a sound of walking cut through the space. Drawing her arrow, she positioned herself right at the opening of the room and paced the steps. To their relief, the steps began to travel away from them, causing her to relax her weapon. 

    “I’ve bared witness to poor defenseless women being tied up like a lamb to slaughter, poked and prodded with unimaginable objects, violated from every orifice and penetrated, only to be rewarded with death.” Tiye swallowed thickly. 

    “Each and every time it was your name he called out in his moment of release, your name he cursed and spat and worshipped the same.” 

    “Monster.” She hissed, eyes filled with disgust. 

    “His hands drip with the blood of the innocent, the defenseless and the weak. Even now he is a bloodthirsty beast who awaits in the shadows, ready to devour any such soul he can gain.” 

    “In what way has he wronged you? Surely, he wouldn’t harm his one and only sister, fellow royal and of shared birthright.” A mirthless laugh escaped the woman’s mouth and Tiye narrowed her eyes, distrust and curiosity swimming in them. 

    “It doesn’t matter if you are blood to him or not. Seo jun oppa does not care who you are or what station you hold in this wretched cursed life. If he desires your end it is your end he will deliver.” Shiny teary eyes glanced down at the eunjangdo resting in her palm. 

    “I fell in love with a cheonmin man, one believed by the Gods to be but dust in the eye and dirt beneath ones shoe. However, he was none of those things.” Tiye watched as the poor girl became the living embodiment of grief, big fat anguished tears escaping through full long lashes. 

    “He used to tend to the horse stables. I’m sure you remember him.” Shock danced across the woman’s beautiful yet exotic features. 

    “Byung-ho-ah?” 

    “It was he that stole my heart.” The realization of that weighed heavy on her and again she gave a simple nod. 

    “I had given him my heart and my body one preciously forbidden night. I attempted to keep our affair a secret. But he found out and determined to destroy my happiness. When it was revealed to him that I had become with child, carrying seed not of royal or affluent origin, he framed him.”

    “Framed him how?” The question hurt to ask as memories of the quiet shy soft spoken boy flickered through her mind. He was such a gentle soul.  

    “He accused him of stealing a hairpin of mine and had him tortured and beaten.” 

    “Animal….” 

    “He had Byung-ho tied to horses and ripped to pieces. In front of everyone.” Eyes teary she paused for a moment, reliving each and every moment of it she was sure. 

    “Later after his heinous murder, he claimed the like of my unborn child, strangling the life from it with an abortive medicine he had slipped into my tea.” Placing the bow and arrow down for a second, the woman scooted closer and for the first time to the shock of them both wrapped arms around her. Her body stiffened at first, unsure how to react. But soon, the princess relaxed, folding up further into the arms of the spicy sweet scent of her brother’s affection. Weeping, she welcomed the gentle pet of her hair and reassuring rubs on her back. 

    “Sweet child, you have endured so much at the hands of evil. For that I am most sorry.” Mishil sniffled and lifted away from the soft umber neck and wiped her tears. 

    “I regret everything I’ve said or done to you Tiye eonnie. I believe you share a royal bloodline the same as I and my brother would cross hell and earth for you. It is only right I show some inkling of respect to you now in atonement.”The sisterly title rocked her but she smiled. 

    “We both have been wronged by him. We both hate him and I know we both desire to see to his end.” Mishil distanced herself but a hair’s length, looking into the woman’s eyes once more. 

    “I fear I cannot do much as I am given my title. But… But I believe you can.” Taking hold of the woman’s hands, she knelt before her, face pressed against the cold wet wood. 

    “Please help me Tiye-eonnie. Help me avenge Byung-ho. Help me avenge the countless number of women he’s slain. Allow me to help you avenge yourself. I desire to take him down together.” 

    “How would you request I help you my lady?” 

    “Help me by killing him. Exact your revenge by slaughtering him like the pig he is.”  Never in a million years had she ever sen this coming… the day Mishil would be begging her for anything. But, here it was and the sting was bittersweet. Giving a firm squeeze to the young woman’s hands, she spoke with finality, certainty and gentleness. 

    “Alright. I will help you.”