Ballad of the Mountain Fox

제 24 장: Major Questions and Something Sharp

"What are you?"

Nara winced as the servant rounded on her.  He kept a cautious distance, but his exasperation was clear.

"What is he—she?" Won Soo demanded, turning to his master instead.  "A thief?  A witch?  A ghost?  A man?  A woman?"

"Her name is Kim Nara," Young Min supplied, since Nara herself was too busy trying to pretend that she didn't exist.  Her sudden burst of energy from earlier had left her physically and emotionally drained.  It had been a mistake to show up at the performance—in doing so, she had only drawn attention to herself.  Now it would only be a matter of time before the news of her appearance reached her village back home.

But the servant and the nobleman didn't seem to be concerned with her situation at present, as Won Soo had now come upon a new revelation.

"You knew?" Won Soo asked incredulously.  "You knew she was a—a she?  And you didn't tell me?"  The blood drained from his face as he thought back on the past few days.  "You two—you shared a horse!"  He made it sound as though Young Min and Nara had spat upon every one of their ancestors and then dumped a bucket of slop on the king.

But Won Soo wasn't quite finished.  "And what exactly," the servant growled at his master, "were you thinking back there when you stood up in the middle of that song?  Surely Minister Park raised his son with a sense of self-preservation!"

Nara might have laughed at the servant's indignation had she not been so worried about her own situation.  Her silence did not go unnoticed for long, as Young Min's gaze left Won Soo and fell upon her instead.  Nara's breath stuck in her throat and she shuffled farther up against the rough boulder behind her.  Her hands pressed against the cold, uneven surface, unconsciously seeking an escape as Young Min approached.

"Would you like to tell us what happened back there?" Young Min asked.  Surprisingly, his tone was soft, with no hint of anger—though Nara wasn't sure if she would have preferred yelling.  With the nobleman so near, looking at her without a hint of the malice she was used to facing, she was tempted to share her secret.  But she couldn't!  It could mean succumbing to her old fate, and she would not go back.

But he seems kind, she debated, and he might side with you after all...

And if she was wrong in her judgment?  It was a chance she could not afford to take.

"Kim Nara?"

It was only Young Min's hand on her shoulder that broke her from her whirlwind of thoughts, and Nara realized that at some point she had forgotten to breathe.  She made up for it then, in a large, gasping breath, and then collapsed to the forest floor in a shaky heap.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nara could see Young Min crouch down beside her, watching her carefully.  He said nothing, but waited patiently until she could reply.

"I'm sorry," Nara whispered.  "You seem like a nice person, but you...I..."  Tears blurred her vision, and she hid her face in the crook of her elbow.  A moment passed, and she felt Young Min's light touch on her shoulder again.

"It's all right," Young Min assured her.  "But those men recognized you.  And they seemed to be under the impression that you were quite dead."

"Is she?" Won Soo asked, a bit timidly, standing apart from them a safe distance.  Both Nara and Young Min sent him a glare.

"No!" Young Min replied, exasperated.

"Oh."  Won Soo covered his embarrassment by suddenly finding a very stubborn speck of dirt on his sleeve.  "Well, good."