The Foreigner 외국인

Chapter 11

11.

The royal physician hurried inside the chamber, followed by a panicked eunuch and a confused Officer Yang.

"What is going on?" the royal guard asked, before opening his eyes wide as he saw the king lying on the floor, unconscious. He carried Yi Jin to his bed, where the physician checked his pulse and examined the wound.

"Eunuch Dal, why didn't you tell me that the king was hurt? We could have avoided this by caring for the wound early on," the physician looked at the servant severely.

"I... I didn't know! His majesty insisted on getting dressed by himself, how could I-" Eunuch Dal had never regretted following a royal order this much in his life.

"I can't believe... are you trying to kill yourself?" Lee Ara asked the king bitterly, knowing very well that he couldn't respond.

"How disrespectful-"

The Jurchen woman turned toward the eunuch with a murderous look on her face.

"I will drain the wound and clean it with alcohol, however I believe the infection has already spread through his majesty's blood," said the royal physician, who didn't look very optimistic. He told Lee Ara and Officer Yang, "Please leave the room now. I will do my best."

Lee Ara looked like she was about to kill someone. "I am not going anywhere," she spat. "I'm the one who helped heal those." She pointed at the two large scars on the king's body that she and Doctor Han had stitched up.

Eun Yang grabbed her shoulders before dragging her out. "Officer Lee," he said softly, "let's get some fresh air."

"What are you doing?" she asked once they were outside and pushed his hands away.

"Go home, get some rest."

Lee Ara felt the urge to twist someone's neck. Should it be Officer Yang's? Eunuch Dal's? The royal physician's? She wished she could kill the king's aunt and her son once more.

"I mean it," Eun Yang insisted. "Please come back once you are rested. The king needs you by his side; however he doesn't need you to kill any of his servants."

Lee Ara didn't go back to the gisaeng house, instead she went to shoot some arrows at the training grounds. As she hit bull's-eyes, she wondered what Yi Jin's intentions had been; was it simple negligence or did he really intend to let the wound get worse until he collapsed? Was he tempting fate, seeing how tight a grip destiny held over his life? She sighed and sat on the ground, looking at the painted target crippled with arrows.

She didn't realize that she had fallen asleep, and woke up to Eun Yang clearing his throat, hovering over her. She was still sitting on the ground at the training grounds, leaning against the table holding the bows and arrows. Lee Ara looked up at the officer and asked, "How long was I asleep?"

"I don't know. A while. I went to the gisaeng house first, but you weren't there, so I came here next." He offered his hand to help her up, but she pushed it away and stood up on her own. The sun was setting- had she been sleeping all day?

"How is the king?" she asked, suddenly recalling why she was at the training grounds in the first place.

"He is still unconscious," Officer Yang responded, before adding, "you can go there now."

Lee Ara raised an eyebrow. "I don't need your permission."

Eun Yang took a deep breath. "You need the queen's, however." The Jurchen woman suddenly slowed down. Right, she thought, the queen.