CHAPTER NINE

The next morning, many hours before the cock crowed, Baek-Hyun was woken up by Moon as Lady Bong Cha had instructed and she prepared her a hot bath scented with yummy smelling flowers. After bathing, she helped Baek-Hyun to dress in the amour that was given to her on the day before, her hair was tied into a ponytail. All the while, Baek-Hyun was quiet, she never stressed the girl or asked a single question. "you look beautiful my Lady". Moon said after Baek-Hyun was done dressing. "thank you, it's all thanks to you all". She said with a pretty smile. Then Moon escorted her to the training ground and they parted. Baek-Hyun began hitting the target. She wasn't doing it because Chi-Mae asked her to, she was doing it because there was no use of her being there if she wasn't going to do anything. After a long while, some soldiers arrived the field and then more and more till the field was filled with soldiers that could be compared to sand yet, that wasn't all of them. they all stared at Baek-Hyun as if she was some kind of a freak. They remembered her to be the Ji-Seok warrior who was asked to fight the Princess. Three soldiers walked to her and started troubling her. "hey weirdo, can't believe you actually had the guts to show up here are being beaten to stupor". A girl among the three soldiers said but Baek-Hyun never replied, she just kept attacking the handmade target. "haven't you heard her? You are not a Hak-Kun and you shouldn't be here". A man among the three soldiers said. "I knew she is a freak". The last soldier said and Baek-Hyun gave him a death stare. "I heard the Ji-Seok people are weak and a first timer in our army can kill their Commander". The female warrior said again and that one got Baek-Hyun. She turned to the girl sharply and she flipped her over and sent her crashing to the girl. Then she kicked the male soldier in the balls and she put a sword across the neck of the last soldier. "this is what a first timer in Ji-Seok can do to about twenty of your best soldiers". Baek-Hyun said angrily about to slit the soldier's neck. "Baek-Hyun". She heard Chi-Mae's voice call her and she looked up. She looked scary at that moment. "what are you doing?". Chi-Mae asked with anger. He was furious and his voice showed that. "your soldiers have no discipline". Baek-Hyun voiced out and everyone stared at her with accusing piercing eyes. They wondered what exactly made her think that she could talk to anyone anyhow. "let go of him immediately". Chi-Mae said and after a long hard stare, Baek-Hyun kicked the soldier from behind and made the soldier to hit his face hard on the ground. Chi-Mae signalled one of the soldiers behind Baek-Hyun and the soldier kicked Baek-Hyun's knee from behind and that made her fall on her knees. "no one is allowed to kill his fellow soldier, what makes you think you can?". Chi-Mae asked the bunked up Baek-Hyun. Furious was an understatement for what Baek-Hyun felt. A lump was formed in her throat, an anger lump was formed and hot tears of anger rushed to her eyes. She felt wronged. Chi-Mae was blaming her without finding out what happened and she was mostly pained because he himself was the one carrying out such an unfair judgement. But what exactly did she expect from a beast? That he would try to figure what brought about the commotion? Lady Bong Cha walked into the scene and she looked disappointed to know that Baek-Hyun was involved with Chi-Mae again. She stared at her without the usual affection in her eyes. "General, permit me to speak". Baek-Hyun heard a female voice say in the congregation of soldiers. She turned to see who it was and she was surprised to know it was the Princess, her rival. "go on Princess Aya". Chi-Mae said after staring at her, he wondered what she was going to say. "Baek-Hyun wasn't at fault General, the three on the ground are at fault. Baek-Hyun was practicing on her own when they attacked her and she defended". Aya said to the shock of Baek-Hyun. Chi-Mae was surprised too that it was Aya who stood up for Baek-Hyun. He stared from Baek-Hyun to the soldiers on the ground and then at Aya. "Dae, is that true?". Chi-Mae asked the female soldier that joined in bullying Baek-Hyun. "…I'm sorry General". The soldier replied shamefully and the other two soldiers stood up and knelt down beside Baek-Hyun. Chi-Mae walked to the soldiers on the ground. He drew his sword and place on the neck of one of them. the man shivered as the blade traced his skin. Baek-Hyun got alerted, she didn't want anyone to get killed, she just wanted them to learn to mind their business. But then suddenly, the blade was now on her neck. She stared at Chi-Mae with shock and he saw the tears on her face. "You still have no right to kill anyone. Now if anything of such happens again, you report to me or any of the lieutenants". Chi-Mae said and Baek-Hyun gave him a look filled with hatred. If eyes could kill, then Chi-Mae would have dropped dead that instant. She wondered what kind of General would ask his soldier to be such a weakling and only report to higher authority when she is bullied. More tears rolled down her reddened face but Chi-Mae didn't seem to care. He turned to the defaulters "you will apologize to Baek-Hyun immediately and you three shall take over her punishment. You shall practice from dawn till dusk tomorrow". Chi-Mae said and the soldiers nodded and apologized to Baek-Hyun. She didn't reply, she just stared at them in a way that could have drain life out of them. "Baek-Hyun get up". Chi-Mae said staring at her face but not her eyes. He hated to see the tears because they made him weak. Then he looked around to the soldiers around and when he spotted the person he was searching for, he called "U-Jin, I hope you train your soldiers to be better otherwise the next time this happens, you will face the penalty". He said and left with training ground. The soldiers where now staring at Baek-Hyun with dagger eyes. They hated her because they realised her presence was what kept attracting the General to attend their warm up. Baek-Hyun stood up and started walking out of the training field. Aya smiled, she liked what she saw hoped Baek-Hyun would come around soon to thank her for saving her. Maybe it would be easy to win her over after all. "That girl is bad luck". Seong-Hyun said and U-Jin agreed. Lady Bong Cha threw them a 'not pleased' look and she walked to the stable. She was teaching the female freshers how to ride a horse that day.

Baek-Hyun walked dejectedly past the market. The traders were all calling to her to come and buy their wares but she almost couldn't hear them. the passers hit her there and here but she was numb. She was thinking about how soon she could wrap up and return to Gi. She thought of everything that had befallen her in her stay in Hak-Kun. It almost seemed as if even the oxygen was angry that she was breathing it. And there she was thinking Gi was terrible. She had passed the market and all there were no more houses, taverns or inns where she was. there were tall trees and the place was deserted. It was cold and almost damp and the sun was rising. She had walk for a very long time yet she couldn't feel her legs burning like they always did when she walked to give her brother food in the training ground back in Ji-Seok. She stopped and looked back to where she had come from but she couldn't see anything except grasses. She was in the middle of nowhere but she saw a building revealing itself in bits. She wanted to know what building was isolated from others so she walked on until she reached it. It was a temple. She could tell that the temple was no more in use because of the cobwebs, the chill that came from the stone that was used in making to building. She loved the place already and she made up her mind to go there at least once a week. It would be her private hideout when things got clumpy with Chi-Mae as long as she stayed in Hak-Hyun. She walked inside the temple and called into the space but her voice echoed back to her. Chi-Mae was seated behind the temple and he was staring at the dancing veils because it helped him picture what Baek-Hyun looked like. He wondered why such thing would make him remember Baek-Hyun. Guess it was because the veil was dancing care freely and that was exactly how Baek-Hyun was. always driving him crazy and always getting on his nerves. Suddenly, he heard a voice in the temple. He listened again and there was another. It was a female voice and Chi-Mae knew that the female must be out of her mind to wander that far. He made up his mind to waste whoever he found in there because she had disrupted his peace. He drew his saber and he positioned it all ready to attack. Baek-Hyun had wandered the temple but there wasn't a single soul there so she decided to use to back door to see where it led. But just as she was about to go out the door, she burst into Chi-Mae and she hit her head on his armoured chest. She moaned and stared at him expecting him to apologize but instead, he stretched his sword to her and pointed it to her face, and then her neck. Somehow, Baek-Hyun did not freak because she knew he wouldn't strike. "What are you doing here?". Chi-Mae's cold voice froze her heart and her response stuck. She took a close look of his sword. The hilt of the sword was made of real gold and she could tell it was of a great workmanship and the blade was clear silver, a very fine one. The sun shined on it and the silver glittered so she looked away. Chi-Mae was tired of waiting for an answer so he pulled her waist closer to himself so that the blade was fully on her neck. "Stop… stop it". Her voice trembled and her breath became unsteady. She felt breathless standing so close to him but he didn't care. His eyes were dimmed and dark circles were around them. Baek-Hyun could tell he needed a lot of rest. "you haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?". But Baek-Hyun couldn't reply because she didn't know what she was doing there. "Let me go". She yelled and shook herself and Chi-Mae smirked. He loved how hard she always tried. "You!". he said and pressed the sword harder to her neck that it would have sliced her body apart but it didn't. he was using the blunt side of the sword but Baek-Hyun didn't know. He had always used the blunt side of the sword on her. She got scared and shifted her neck away from the blade. "you don't have any right to be here". He said and she stared at him like he was crazy. "I was just taking a walk". She finally replied. "Can you let me go now?". She wanted to take the sword from him and slash off his head. Chi-Mae's hands weakened but he couldn't just let her go so he pushed her to the ground and he turned and started walking away. He walked as if he was drunk. He walked slow and his head was bent low and his eyes were dull. Baek-Hyun exploded. She was scared of confronting him before but she could not hold it back. He hurt her so much, every time. She stood up and stared at him. "I don't have any right to be here and you do? you can just restrict anyone's movement why because you the General? Who told you that you can do that to me? I am not one of your citizens that will just shut up and have you oppress them. I have right to life, everyone does and you always want to take it away. Why? Because I am not from Hak-Kun? Because you are the General and we are commoners? You would be nothing without that position and you would be as helpless as anybody. You live like a god and your own people cannot even say anything good about their General then what kind of General are you? and you think I will succumb to your oppression? That would never happen and you know what? If you want me to succumb, you will have to kill me first". Baek-Hyun could no more see clearly because she was blinded by tears and her eyes swelled. Chi-Mae didn't stop walking, he heard all she said but he wouldn't act like he would. if he wanted to kill her, he would have killed her that night in his chamber. "if you went through something horrible, then you have no idea the horrible things that others have gone through and yet I don't put the blame on anyone but you make everyone suffer because you lost your family? You do not know what others loosed to the war so why are acting like you are the only one affected?" that made Chi-Mae stop. The words sank deep into him but he shook them off and began walking again. "Everyone has the right to live. And I have the right to go wherever I want". Those were Baek-Hyun's last words and Chi-Mae heard them but she wasn't yelling like she was yelling the rest, they were almost in whispers. He mounted on his horse and "Ha!". The horse galloped away after the order came. Baek-Hyun fell to her knees and she remained that way. She was crying bitterly. She wished she was still a child and her mom would always comfort her but that didn't happen. She woke to the reality that she was grown and she had to face the world. She cried so much until it was mid-day and she had no tears to cry again so she crawled to the wall and she sat there and hugged her knees till it was sunset. She was thinking about how she would ever be able to take Chi-Mae's head. He always made her weak to her bones and she wasn't sure she could do it.

Back in the palace, Lady Bong had sent out some soldiers to go in search of Baek-Hyun when she was declared missing. Moon was almost crying and Lady Bong Cha was tensed but she wouldn't reveal it. She stood outside their house and waited for the soldiers to return but when they did at sundown, they said they couldn't find her. Moon burst out crying and her fellow maids comforted her. Everyone stood outside their house and waited for Baek-Hyun to return but she was not coming. One by one the soldiers left and the maids too leaving Behind Lady Bong Cha, Moon, Song-Yang, Lady Bong Cha's favourite female warrior and U-Jin. Aya heard of the development and she immediately went in search of Chi-Mae and found him in his study. She was happy and she returned without telling him about Baek-Hyun's disappearance. Lady Bong Cha had no other option than to inform Chi-Mae about Baek-Hyun's disappearance. She sent Moon to go and tell him but she refused saying she wanted to live and see Baek-Hyun again. Lady Bong had to go by herself. She was told that he was in his study and she went there. "General, Baek-Hyun is missing". She said with worry that bothered Chi-Mae. He looked up at her from the scroll he was sorting. Then he stared at empty space. "what about U-Jin?". He asked without a tinge of emotion in his voice or eye. "he already sent some men out to search for her since mid-day but they just returned without her or information of where she could be". Lady Bong Cha said, she felt like tearing up because she thought Chi-Mae would not help her. "so why are you telling me about it?". He asked and Lady Bong Cha swallowed hard. "she isn't a kid and she has the right to go wherever she wants so she will return when she feels". He said and looked back at the scroll before him. "Chi-Mae please". The woman said but he smirked and stared at her "what do you want me to do? should I send the whole army to go search for one girl?" he asked with chills in his voice. "Chi-Mae please, I know you don't like her very much and she isn't helping either but please, she is one of us now and we can't let her waste. She may be lost or something worse could have befallen her". Lady Bong Cha pleaded but Chi-Mae didn't look moved. "so what if she is missing? Or has been abducted? What do I care and why should I help? She is capable of going anywhere and besides, she has the right. If the soldiers U-Jin sent couldn't find her, then why do you think she would be found at all? And I do hope you do not expect me to go in search of her by myself?". He asked and Lady Bong Cha shook her head. "Of course not General". She said and she turned to go. "Lady Bong Cha, it's just sun down, it's not yet night and Baek-Hyun has all the time in the world to return back home". He said to reduce the harm his words may have caused. Lady Bong Cha was a mother figure to him and Young-Jae after they loosed the parents and she lost her husband. Her children were already married out so they had become her sons, besides, she had just one son who had been killed in the war as well. But he was worried about Baek-Hyun. He was sure she was still in the temple or on her way back but what if she wasn't? he stared at the scrolls in the basket, he had done just half of it and he had to finish it the next day. He piled them up and put them back in the basket then he walked out of the study. He bumped into Aya who nearly got a heart attack. "Where are you hurrying off to?". She asked with suspicious eyes. "I have to take care of something". He said and made to leave but Aya blocked him. "You are going after Baek-Hyun". She said accusingly like she was reading it from his forehead. "you will have to go through me". She said and put her hands on her hips to block Chi-Mae fully but he held her hands and then he pushed her out of his way. Aya fell to the ground and she remained that way shocked by what just happened. She frowned and stood up and stormed to her brother's chamber. When she got there, the soldiers at the door denied her entrance. But she pushed them out of her way knowing fully well that they won't be able to fight back. She pushed the door open and there was her brother reading scrolls. It was the same thing she had seen Chi-Mae doing a while ago. "Aya, how did you…". Young-Jae stopped when he saw his sister's face. "What is wrong?". He asked and he stood up from his writing table. "It's Chi-Mae, you won't believe he laid his hands on me because of that foreign slut you accepted into this kingdom". Aya complained bitterly and fake tears rushed down her face. "You would have seen the manner in which he pushed me down, I don't know if I have broken a bone". Aya cried to her brother. If only he didn't know her better, then he would have believed her but he knew she was exaggerating but he had to play along to avoid more tears. "Are you hurt?". He asked and she shook her head. "Where is Chi-Mae now?". He asked and she suddenly looked hateful. He suspected she was going to talk about Baek-Hyun and he was right. "He has gone off to search for Baek-Hyun". She replied and he nodded. "Why? Is Baek-Hyun missing?". He asked and she nodded. "And you tried to stop him right?". He asked again and she nodded still. "Aya, Chi-Mae isn't the same like he was before. he doesn't care if you are the queen of this kingdom and I thought that by now you would have learned that. Avoid him and don't obstruct him or he will send you crashing to hell". Young-Jae said and Aya got furious. "What? Are you saying he should keep treating me anyhow he wants? What about Baek-Hyun? He cherishes her". Aya yelled and Young-Jae sighed. "Stop acting childishly Aya, it is spreading like wild fire how Chi-Mae treats Baek-Hyun and I have also heard that you mistreat her". He said but Aya remained distraught. "Are you saying I am to blame for what just happened?". She asked again and Young-Jae walked to her and held her shoulders. "Aya, I cannot say that to you. try your best to avoid Chi-Mae, he is unhealthy for you. meanwhile, I will talk to him, he can't treat you that way, especially when you are my sister". Young-Jae said to appease his sister. "But what about the fact that I am a Princess?". She asked and Young-Jae sighed. "Aya this is why I asked you not to the army but you joined because Chi-Mae was there. Now he is the General and as long as you are one of his soldiers, princess or no princess, you are under him. Even I have to obey him sometimes, it's what leaders do". he knew his sister would never understand that part so he gave up saying more on it. "You are his soldier and you are under him so you respect him. He is your General but I promise I'll make him understand that he has to respect you too. Okay?". Young-Jae said and Aya exhaled. "You'd better". She said and left. Young-Jae sighed. He wondered why the immortals punished him that much by making Aya his sister. But he still loved her all the same and he would do what it takes to satisfy her. He walked to his window and stared outside. It was raining heavily and it was dark. He stared at the beauty of his kingdom at night time. Each house had their lambs and candles on and the city glowed beautifully.