이무기의 복 (Mourning Bride)

11. The Stable Hand

Hongjoong jostled San awake in the morning when he left to attend to his duties. He apologised to his dragon spouse with a tender touch of his fingertips to San's antlers. While San slept in a moment longer, the palace returned to its familiar bustling. After another hour of sleep that San didn't deserve since Seonghwa would have wakened him by now, he emerged from the pillows with his hair a mess. Bored by his long sleep, he looked around as he got ready.

It seemed Seonghwa either had a day off or attended matters more pressing than watching San today. This meant that San had free rein to play wherever he wanted without getting reprimanded for not practising his calligraphy instead.

San smirked to himself when he crept out of the royal chambers. Yeosang and Yunho weren't here to watch him with their stern glances, so San could sneak away into the gardens unbothered. Perhaps spending the night with Hongjoong wasn't such a bad thing. San was in no pain today, and his heart was soft from the casual intimacy he and the king had during their night in the same bed. If things like this happened more often, San got the best from two worlds.

Though he didn't know about Hongjoong. It was natural that the human projected his sexual desires on his spouse; anything else would be inappropriate. San had to learn how to balance these desires, but otherwise, he felt himself falling deeper for Hongjoong every day the more their bond grew.

San took a stroll through the gardens in the morning. Dew clung to the twigs and stalks of the bushes and cast a golden shine over the plants. Birds hopped around in their pursuit of food and greeted San with respect as the larger creature caused intimidation. From the city, San picked up on the noise of wind chimes singing their haunting songs.

After a walk around the gardens and a brief rest in the pavilion, San made his way to the stables. The servants tending to them recognised him from last time and didn't mind him, as he came to pet every horse one by one. They were delighted to see him again and lost their suspicions from last time over being in the presence of a mighty dragon. They amused each other with their stories once more as San told them what the inside of the palace looked like and how the king - similar to them - spent most of his time seated in one place and watched what happened around him.

Around noon, San grew hungry, but he pushed out his eating duties for the moment Seonghwa inevitably would find him and drag him back to the palace. While the servants went for lunch and left him alone, San chewed on a carrot a kind horse offered him to take.

He still sat there giggling over the story of a soldier group who had steered the horses on a frozen lake hidden under snow by accident and causing the most harrowing slipping incident, when someone appeared on his side and startled him out of his private chuckles. The horses threw their manes back, indignant at the interruption, as they waited for San to resolve the matter.

When San glanced up, he expected to see Seonghwa with his face dark as a thunder sky, but instead, he found a stranger. In the soft woollen clothes in earthy tones that the lower-ranking servants wore, a man stood in front of San. Under his arm, he held a basket filled with apples, and a careful smile laid on his youthful features. His eyes seemed more honest than some others San had seen here.

"Hello," the stranger spoke. "I hadn't expected you to return here, your majesty."

Surprised, San looked at him.

"You know me?"

The stranger nodded and fed his apples to the horses. Thrilled, they crunched away on the treat.

"I've seen you last time. I was the one who fetched the court shaman when I found you in the hay, since I didn't want you to catch a cold. Are you talking to the horses again?"