Page 80 of King Foretold
“Silence,” the king hisses, his voice cold and sharp as a scalpel. The eunuch immediately scuttles back, dipping his head low like a turtle hiding inside its shell. “Inspector, I hope for your sake that you brought me the right physician.”
“Thank you for your benevolent consideration, Your Majesty.” Ethan bows obsequiously, but a muscle tics in his jaw. I feel his magic jerk against the surface. I bend my elbow until it brushes against his arm.Please Ethan.“Your humble servant has indeed brought Your Majesty the right physician.”
“Leave us,” the king says with a dismissive wave. I’m not sure who he’s ordering to leave.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The jimil sanggung backs away toward the doors.
The eunuch comes out of his shell to whine loudly, “But Your Majesty—”
“Utter another word”—the king sounds almost bored as he glances at his fingernails—“and I will have your tongue for supper, sliced and grilled.”
Pressing his lips tightly together, the eunuch scrambles out of the room with one last resentful glare at Ethan and Jihun. He doesn’t condescend to give me, a lowly female, even a dirty look. I am so devastated by the slight. How ever will I recover?
So I guess the tyrant wanted the sanggung and his eunuch out ...
“Wait.” The king doesn’t raise his voice, but every one of us freezes in place. I don’t dare breathe, and I focus on keeping my magic locked down. Has the king found us out? Did something give us away? “Jang Sanggung, show the inspector out. I have no more need of him.”
Ethan and Jihun stiffen on either side of me, and it takes all my willpower to keep my eyes trained to the floor. If the king is as paranoid as our spy said, he wouldn’t miss a single out-of-place glance.
“This lowly one is honored to have stayed in your presence for this long. Thank you for your boundless forbearance, Your Majesty,”Ethan says smoothly, his arm brushing against my elbow in a wisp of reassurance. “Your humble servant will take your leave now.”
This isn’t a disaster. Jihun and I can handle the first part of the plan without Ethan. I’ll administer acupuncture on the king and paralyze him before he suspects anything. If the paralysis part goes awry ... it might be better for Ethan not to be here.
Jang Sanggung and Ethan back out of the king’s chambers, bowing from their waists the entire time. I don’t dare glance behind me, but I hear the sanggung quietly urge the court ladies to close the doors. I feel Ethan’s gaze on me until they slide shut.
“Do you know why you have been summoned, physician?” The tyrant arches an eyebrow at Jihun, who keeps his eyes unfocused.
“This lowly one has not been told the specifics of Your Majesty’s condition,” Jihun answers in a weedy, intimidated voice.
“I thought someone of your renown can take one look at me ...” The king cackles, slapping his hand on his desk. “Pardon my ... slip. You obviously cannot see me.”
“No, Your Majesty.” Jihun dips his head. “I beg your pardon, Your Majesty.”
“You will have to do much more than beg my pardon if your blindness inconveniences me any further,” the king roars in a sudden change of mood. “Why are you not examining me? You dare waste the king’s time?”
Bowing our heads repeatedly, I help Jihun stumble over to the king, and we kneel in front of his low desk. The king’s eyes focus on my face with narrowed intensity, and I duck my head as though I’m terrified, while suppressing my magic even deeper inside me.Just a little bit longer.
“Your Majesty.” Jihun extends shaking hands across the desk. “May this lowly one examine your pulse?”
“If you value your life, do not keep your filthy fingers on my wrist for one second longer than necessary,” the king snaps but offers his wrist to Jihun, exposing a long thin scar on his palm.
I nearly whimper with relief. Our plan would never work if Shim Duna’s deranged rant about the king’s scar had been a lie. If the king still had the power of invincibility, my acupuncture needles wouldn’t so much as prick his skin.
But cold sweat beads on my forehead as I realize a flaw to our plan. Every subject in the Kingdom of Mountains must know that their kings have the power of invincibility. The physician and his assistant are not supposed to know that the tyrant’s skin can be pierced. If we offer him acupuncture, he will suspect us right away.
“This l ... lowly one would not d ... dare,” Jihun stutters in feigned fear as he places the tips of his fingers on the king’s pulse point. I try to catch his eyes, but he has his head angled away from me.
“Tell me, physician,” the king drawls, even though there’s desperation in his eyes. “What is it that ails me?”
The king already knows he isn’t ill. He knows his power of invincibility is gone, but he doesn’t want to accept it. So he will kill Jihun and me—or rather the physician and his assistant—for being unable to cure him, just to have someone to blame and punish for his loss. The tyrant is killing his own subjects to vent his fear and frustration. He is as cruel as he is cowardly.
My hands fist beneath my apron. I can’t let him get away with it. I have to figure out a way to paralyze him without raising his suspicions. I won’t give up without trying. For Ethan. For the people of the Kingdom of Mountains.
“Your life force is weary, Your Majesty. You have given too much of yourself to the service of your people,” Jihun says in a simpering tone. He and I decided beforehand to tell the king that his gi needs strengthening. That generic yet popular diagnosis had always appeased the hypochondriacs in my old village. “We are humbled and grateful for your sacrifice, but this lowly one implores you to think of your health.”
The king harrumphs, even though he is obviously pleased by the flattery.
“My assistant—” Jihun continues, and I burst into tears, clapping a hand over my mouth to quiet my sobs.
