Page 51 of King Foretold
“Her hands feel like ice.” Hailey clasps both my hands in hers.
“We need to get her to her room.” Captain Seo’s concerned expression hardens when Jihun picks me up in his arms. “You, Captain Song, have much to do. Minju, Hailey, and I can take care of Sunny. Remember your duty to the prince comes first.”
“And the prince bid me to take care of her,” he responds in an implacable voice, then turns to Jaeseok. “Lieutenant Cha, I need you to work with Draco on the protective armor for the prince. I trust you don’t need a reminder of the urgency.”
“No, Captain. We’re on it,” Jaeseok says with rare solemnity, then drapes an arm across Draco’s shoulders. “Come on, kid.”
“Wait.” The teenager shrugs off the dokkaebi’s arm and peers closely at my face. “Sunny? You’re going to be okay, right?”
I don’t know how I manage to speak through my chattering teeth, but I whisper, “Yes.”
“G ... good. That’s good.” Draco’s voice breaks. “You better not be lying.”
“Take care, Sunny.” Jaeseok lightly ruffles the top of my head and leads the kid away from the Sunset Pavilion.
“Minju, please examine the hunter’s body again.” Jihun shifts me in his arms, drawing me closer. I shiver and burrow into him. “I know you’re thorough, but there might be clues to the spy’s identity you missed the first time around. It might be something unexpected.”
“Of course, Captain.” Minju lays a cool hand on my forehead. “It’s okay to be scared, but you’re the strongest person I know, Sunny.”
“Lieutenant Gim.” Jihun moves toward the sliding doors to the inner hallway. “I need you to—”
“I got it, Captain,” Hailey assures him. “Go. She needs to lie down and get warm.”
“You’ll pull through this, Cadet Cho.” Captain Seo’s no-nonsense voice fades as Jihun carries me back to my room with long, urgent strides.
Miok is there, waiting to open the door for us. She turns down the covers, and he lowers me onto my bedding.
“We need to raise her legs,” he says in a lost voice I’ve never heard him use before.
“She will be all right.” Miok places a rolled-up blanket under my legs before tucking the duvet tightly around me. “So will you. Courage, my lord.”
“She’s our only hope against Daeseong, and she’s ... afraid.” He takes a shuddering breath.Oh Jihun.“It’s too great a burden for one person to bear, Bomo.”
Miok was Jihun’s nursemaid? No wonder he trusts her. She helped raise him.
“But you cannot bear it for her.” Miok’s voice is warm and steady. “You have your own burden.”
Burden?He does have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
“The prince, Sunny ... and everyone on the queen’s list,” he says haltingly. “Why does it have to be us?”
“We will know in time, my lord.” Miok kneels near my head and pours something into a small teacup. “This is honey tea. It will help warm her up.”
“Here, let me.” Jihun raises me partway up, with my head cradled against his chest, and takes the tea from Miok. “Drink, Sunny.”
I sip obediently, and the warm liquid chases away a bit of the cold. I take another sip. The honey tastes fragrant, like chrysanthemums. Suddenly desperate for air, I suck in a heaving breath and immediately start coughing up my lungs.
“Easy there,” Jihun croons, rubbing my back and holding me tighter against him.
“I will leave you then,” Miok says quietly and gets to her feet. “Please let me know if you need anything.”
“Thank you, Bomo,” he murmurs.
“Of course, my lord.” She slips out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“C . . . cold,” I stutter. “So . . . cold.”
“I know. It’s the shock.” Jihun lowers me onto the sleeping mat again and wraps the comforter around me. “You’ll warm up soon.”
