A Tryst Beyond Destiny

Star Gazing

(964 AD, 15th year of Gwangjong's reign)

"And that constellation over there, the one that looks like a kite is Pesosu" finished So pointing towards the night sky as he sat by the Damiwon lake feeling happy for the first time in a long time. [So had pronounced 'Pegasus' wrong when Soo pointed it out to him years ago.] "Are you sure? That's not what I was taught", asked the little girl sitting comfortably on his lap. Her eyebrows were raised and her up-turned face had an expression of disbelief. "Of course, I'm sure. You were taught wrong", said So as he rapped her gently on her forehead. As he wrapped the blanket more securely around her tiny shoulders and settled down to relate more stories about the stars, he smiled thinking back to a very similar conversation he had years ago with Hae Soo, under the same night sky.

In the past 3 years, ever since he found out about his daughter's existence, it had become routine for him to summon Jung to the capital city on some pretext or the other, every 3 to 4 months. He didn't dare to do it more often for fear of tipping off those at the palace especially Queen Yeon Hwa. The last thing he wanted to do was to undo all the trouble Hae Soo went to just to keep her daughter away from the political intrigue and dangers surrounding palace life. The first few times, he had specifically asked Jung to bring the little girl along. He remembered how Jung had brought her unwillingly the first time and hovered around them while So spent time with her. Eventually, they had settled into a routine where Jung would leave him alone with his daughter for a few hours while he tended to business. This time, So managed to send Jung away on a mission leaving his little girl with him for a whole 2 days.

Getting no response to his story, So looked down to see his daughter sleeping snugly, her head nestling in the nook between his arm and his chest. He gently carried the child back inside and put her to bed. As he gently stroked the hair off her face, she turned towards his hand and rested her cheek against the palm of his hand, smiling in her sleep. A tear rolled down So's cheeks. If only he had held on to Soo a little longer, if only he had known, if only.......

He looked up to see Soo smiling back at him. His mind was playing tricks on him again. But that was okay. He smiled as he reminded her, "I told you, didn't I, that you wouldn't be bored in the future?" He looked down with pride at the sleeping child and sighed, "She's a handful, isn't she? She takes after you. Did you know that she loves the prayer towers you built? She insists on adding more stones to the pile every chance she gets. And she refuses to believe when I tell her about the constellations." His smile faltered as he continued, "You should've been the one to tell her about the stars..... and the 1000 bed time stories you promised." The tears were coming in torrents now. So quickly shook his head and dried the tears. No, he cannot afford to return to reality. He gets very little time with Soo as such. He looked up to see the image of Soo as she sat there smiling at him while patting the sleeping child. The image was fading. He smiled as he said, "I think I'll take our little girl on a boat ride tomorrow. You can come, if you want. You will come, won't you?"