Black Dragon

The Pretend War

A week later we were still in Chishin. Soo-won manged to convince Geun-tea to hold a festival at the capital, and there they would participate in a "pretend war". And during this pretend war I was to sit in the stands and watch. Could you actually believe that? I, one of the strongest warriors in our kingdom was to sit and watch a war. Soo-won could easily win this game if be had chosen me, but instead he decided to have several other men fight along side him. All he needed was me. I could have won in minutes- seconds even, if he had decided to allow Judo fight.

"You seem to be in a foul mood Your Majesty." Yun-ho says to me.

"I don't get it." I mumble.

"Don't get what?"

"I'm probably the strongest warrior in our kingdom and he tells me to sit and watch! He's the one who should be sitting, this is right up my alley. He's not a fighter, I am." I yell. It had been long since I've fought. I've healed enough, I see no point in why I should have to sit out. Then an idea hit me.

"Excuse me Yun-ho." I say as I get up.

I march over to Geun-tea and grab him by his robes. "Let me play, General." I demand.

"Your Majesty, you should be watching. This isn't a woman's game." He argues.

"It's no secret that I am more than capable of fighting. I am the daughter of General Yu-hon, and while I may be queen now, I will always have the heart of a warrior. Now I will not say it again, let me fight."

His eyes widen at my words. "Fine. But once your plate is broken, you're out and you will be replaced."

I smile a winning smile. "I see you already doubt my abilities, General. I have never lost, and I do not intend to today."

"We will see."

Moments later we were walking out unto the arena. I was given the rank of a commoner which meant I couldn't break Judo's plate, but I could break Soo-won's. I planned to stay near Geun-tea during this battle. He could break Judo's plate where I couldn't. And I could protect him from fellow commoners that would be going after him. All the while I was sure both of us would go for Soo-won. Whichever one of us broke his playe would be the one worthy of it, and that was fair.

When the battle began things quickly turned out the opposite of what I expected. Soo-won challenged the general then ran away. But eventually Geun-tea found Judo and they began to fight. I suppose I was okay with that. Judo was really my only threat and he was occupied. I looked around the field and when my eyes locked onto Soo-won, my heart dropped. He was surrounded by commoners. I ran over to him and managed to get there in time to block their attacks and push them away, without breaking their plates.

"Meissa?"

"What are you doing?" I yell. "You're not even trying!"

"Why are you here?" He asks.

"I wanted to fight, and I was given the perfect opportunity to fight, and even better- fight you. But I can't fight you if you're not even willing to try and fight!"

Suddenly I felt the plate on my head break. My heart stopped, my stomach dropped. I lost.

Soo-won takes the opportunity and starts running into Red team territory to break his troops out of jail.

"No! I won't let you!" Geun-tea yells out as he runs to Soo-won. Someone shouts a warning to him and he knocks their sword out of their hand sending it flying at Geun-tea. My eyes widen at that. Soo-won was pretending to be defenseless.

"I'm sorry General Geun-tea! Are you alright?" Soo-won calls out. He then releases members of the white team.

And suddenly a sandstorm hits. Red team members were being taken out drastically. Two commoners were even able to sneak up in the general but he blocked their blows before they could attack.

Geun-tea runs after Soo-won ready to attack. He swings his sword at Soo-won  and Soo-won deflects his hits until another plate is broken and Geun-tea is the last member of the red team left. He is soon surrounded by commoners.

Soo-won proposes a do-over but Geun-tea declines and proudly holds up His sword ready to fight to the death.

Him and Soo-won charge at each other and begin to battle. I had doubted my husband. I should have known. Soo-won has many secrets. And besides, he is my father's son.

"Go, Soo-won!" I yell as I began to cheer him on.

Then Soo-won slips on his robe and falls and Geun-tea had broken his plate. I stared at the two in shock. Everyone seemed shocked. Then the crowd erupted in cheers.

The battle was still going, and eventually Geun-tea's plate was broken.  But despite being wiped out, the red team one; having the higher amount of points. The victory was celebrated all night long .

The next morning we sat with general drinking tea.

"What exactly did you come her for Your Majesty? All you did was walk around the Chishin Castle, drink tea wth my wife, and have fun at the festival."

"General Geun-tea, you're starting to sound like Judo." Soo-won points out with a small laugh.

"Don't lump me in with him!" Judo yells.

Then Yun-ho comes in calling for her husband.

"What?" He asks her.

"Khai Empire merchants want to buy my tea! They said floral teas are very popular in the Khai Empire! But what should I do? My tea garden is too small to do business with them."

"It'll be fine." Soo-won says. " You can gradually expand." This grabs everyone's attention. "Don't sell a lot for less. If you sell it as Chishin's local luxury tea, you can attract people to this area. The harder it is to acquire something the more people desire it."

Then an old man appears explaining a situation about the Udo Mine. Soo-won puts his cup down. "General Judo, shall we go now?"

And with that we were off. Soo-won helped me onto our horse. To be honest he and I hadn't spoke much since the pretend war so I was nervous about the ride to wherever we were going, but he was the first to strike up conversation.

"You know I love you, Meissa."

I blush at that but nod my head. "I love you too. I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I should have respected your wishes and not have doubted you."

"I knew you were going to do that."

"Huh?"

"That's why I left you out. I didn't want you on my team because I was trying to test the general, and you would protect me the whole time, but I knew you would become angry and join his team." He explains.

"So you wanted me to join his team?" I ask.

He nods his head. "That way I could test the general, and prove to you that I don't need to be protected."

"That's not going to prove any point, I will always protect you."

"We are married now, instead of fighting for me, why don't you fight with me?" He suggests. "Let's protect each other."

I nod my head. "I'll give it a shot." I lean against his chest. "Soo-won, I've been thinking."

"About?"

"Children. Let's wait a bit before having them. This kingdom needs us, when we're done fixing it, then we'll provide it with an heir." I suggest.

"You know, I kind of like that idea."