𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 - 𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐨𝐧

(twenty)

"I can walk myself, thank you." I try to wrench my arm away from Joohyun's tight grip, but she sinks her nails into my skin and tells me she doesn't trust me not to run away.

The doors of the throne room loom menacingly over me, making me feel even smaller. I've only ever been in here once before, when the Queen asked me to attend the wedding with the Princess. Things are different now. Then, she was asking me to help her, to represent the kingdom. Now, I'm being dragged inside to be shamed by the Queen herself for a crime I never even committed.

Joohyun shoves me forward and I stumble, trying desperately to keep myself covered with the towel as I crash to the floor. My eyes blur with tears as I look up at the Queen. This is how I'll die: naked and humiliated and sobbing like a child. I'd be lucky to be flogged. If the Queen is not so merciful, she'll bring my family to the palace to watch my public execution. She scowls at me before speaking.

"I knew something was strange," she says, "My daughter never would've brought a commoner to a royal dinner. Are you aware that having an affair with a member of the royal family is grounds for execution? What if she were betrothed to a Prince? You'd have tainted her and made her an unfit bride. She'd bring scorn upon our family and it would all be your fault."

I hear Princess Siyeon shouting my name from down the hall. Her footsteps and yelling grow louder until she reaches the throne room, where she falls completely silent. I can't bear to turn around and see the disappointment on her face.

This is all my fault. She's going to be punished, and I'm going to be killed. If only I weren't such a coward, I could've faced her after last night and had a normal day. But I'm not courageous, and I've signed my own death certificate with that.

"Mother, why is Kim Bora here?" The Princess asks. "She's done nothing wrong. I swear on my life, nothing happened!"

The Queen's eyes switch between me and her daughter. A smile tugs at her lips and I almost think she's going to let me go.

Wishful thinking once again.

She shouts, "Guards! Take Ms. Kim to the cellar. Give her... a warning."

I hear shoes scuffing the floor and turn to see several guards holding Princess Siyeon back as two more drag me out. Whatever they're about to do to me can't hurt as much as seeing the Princess cry because of me. Even down the hall, I can hear her wailing, "Bora, come back! Bora!" I close my eyes and surrender myself to death.

My head hits each stair on the way down to the cellar. The air is thick with the stench of blood and rot. Yet I feel nothing except guilt. That is, until I see the chains in the corner. Alarm bells ring in my head the closer I get to them. They're going to restrain me before they kill me. They're going to let me die terrified.

I thrash around as violently as I can, but the guards' grip is too strong. One of them grabs a handful of my hair and lifts my head up only to slam it into the ground again. "Don't fight," he growls, "You'll make this worse for yourself."

They tie the chains around my wrists and bolt them to the walls, keeping my hands trapped. I kneel, facing the wall, and try not to let myself cry. I don't want them to think they've won. The first lash of a cane hits right on my spine. I press my forehead against the wall and try to stifle a scream. I hear both guards chuckling to themselves.

I hear the whip before I feel it – the loud sound of thin leather straps and then the feeling of each of them striking and slicing my skin. The guards laugh as they alternately beat me with the cane and the whip. Why haven't they just killed me yet? One final swing of the cane, straight against my ribs, and the guards seem to have grown bored. They untie my hands, and I collapse to the ground in a heap. One of them kicks me in the side of the head, and I can barely make out his words over the ringing in my ears: "Put her in the closet."