이무기의 복 (Mourning Bride)

22. Preparing for the Ritual

The air between Seonghwa and San was frigid. It mismatched the golden hues of autumn as it coloured the leaves in fiery shades of orange and red and sent them tumbling to the ground as if the trees spit fire in their youthful dreams to become dragons. Hanyang's people had restored their sense of security now that San was back, and their prior apprehension bled into glee over the festivities.

San watched the progress from the palace grounds every day. The townsfolk prepared their traditional foods of sticky rice cakes, chestnuts, and sweet bean paste; they cleared the extensive market area to celebrate the festival with music and dance; and they brushed up their prettiest outfits to wear for the big day.

Since it was everyone's first dragon Hangawi, extra preparations were in place, even in the city where San wouldn't go during the festivities. He saw children playing with kites reminiscent of dragons, saw illustrations of his kin on the flags and drawings they put up. The celebrations usually held in red, white and dark blue got gold as its additional colour to hail the prosperity they received from him.

San enjoyed listening to the songs the children sang about the blessings of the dragon and the many versions of tales about prior dragon rituals going around. None of them was as accurate as the historical records in the palace, but San enjoyed the creativity that made the celebration so much more appealing in his eyes.

Since he was so caught up with the human aspects of the ceremony and worked together with their people, San forgot he also gained from this. The reminder that he would be a mature dragon in less than a week barely caught up with him. Whenever he thought about it at night, his heart beat faster.

He felt detached, an outsider in a festival that was common to the humans and that had its deep traditions he wasn't part of. While he was the centrepiece of the occasion, he felt the distance between those hailing him and himself was larger than ever. He had become the much-appreciated dragon he wanted to be, and people conveyed their awe and respect for him.

San became the dragon seated above any of them.

The moon was nearly round and San and Seonghwa prepared the last touches for the ritual that would last three days and bring them all to the edge of their patience. Seonghwa glanced at San warily from time to time, as if unsure whether the dragon would run off and deny the humans their miracle after all. When San stubbornly remained seated in place in his usual spot in the classroom, Seonghwa lost some of his tension.

They barely talked. From time to time, Seonghwa gave pointers on how San should write his speech on the large piece of paper they would hang up at the pavilion, but he fell quiet again as soon as the words had left his mouth. San wondered if Hongjoong had scolded him about his manners.

In the time of San's absence, Seonghwa had finished the dragon book. It laid next to San, the ink still drying after he had finished writing his oaths and promises down in there. His pale blue scales shone among the many others. The light colours that covered the leather in their pastel hues reminded of many other youthful dragons that hadn't reached maturity yet.

San wondered how his scales would look in a couple of days. Would he lose his golden shine? He quite liked it.

Hongjoong drowned in work while Seonghwa and San prepared among themselves. Just like the kitchens worked day and night and every servant in the palace hustled around the courtyard to clean it and strung up the flags and banners, the king was caught up in duties he needed to finish until the start of San's big day. Every so often, he dropped by to check on their progress and disguised his affections for Seonghwa by asking if they got along well. San saw him just as little as he saw Wooyoung, but that was fine. Seonghwa and he had settled into an unspoken treaty that involved not ripping each other's throats out once they were alone.