NEFARIOUS

PROLOGUE

  The air in Soo Jung's jail cell was damp, filling her lungs with its grubby smell of rat droppings and urine. She'd been holding the urge to vomit, but the fear of death still cloaked her whole skin, hissing in her ears.

  The bruise that span across her cheek still sparked pain, though only slightly, and could not be compared to the disgusted face of her king that continuously projected into her mind. She had never been punched before. Even by her own parents.

  Soo Jung looked down at her bare feet, cloaked by debris and wet soil. A few strands of her hair fell as she did so. Faint smell of spring flowers still managed to warm her nose. Perhaps it was the last thing she would want to remember before her death at dawn.

  She sensed it- and the whole hair across her body thrilled with dread and fright- Jeoseung Saja would meet her eyes on the morrow to slash her soul. No one would help her. No one would dip their heads before her. She would die as a peasant and a killer. Not the Queen she once had been.

  Soo Jung had been wondering what he looked like- was he an old man, with crinkles under his darkened eyes? Thousand stories about him became whispers to tell across the kingdom, and Soo Jung was about to see him with her own eyes.

  She curled a weakened fist into her chima, its vibrant red dimmed in the darkest of night. Save for the moonlight shining through the small ventilation near the ceiling.

  Her hanbok was crumpled in a way that someone wanted to shred it off badly, and the jeogori on her upper body- supposedly as clear as the clouds in the day- covered with debris and dried tears.

  Had been a mirror here, she would not, even a glance, want to look at her figure. For she knew, deep inside her chest, a fallen Queen of Joseon would gaze back at her. With dark circles under her swollen eyes and the lack of food in her body.

  A silent, faint knock at her jail door startled her from her own endless thoughts. At this unbearable hour, who would visit her? A few moments passed, everything went silent and still. She slowly made her steps toward the door, and opened the rectangular rail to see the anonymous visitor.

  It was not clear whether it was a she or a he. Their face shadowed under the black cloak, Soo Jung could barely see anything but their dried lips and pale skin- paler than anyone she had ever seen in the entire kingdom. For the briefest moment, she thought it was Jeoseung Saja himself. But what could make her die? There was no poison or dagger in her hands. When she recalled again, he should have been wearing a gat, or was it only in stories?

  "My Queen," the mysterious figure murmured, their voice dimmed even in the silent corridor.

  Without a single movement, the door cracked open, but only slightly. Soo Jung glanced at the handle with confusion clouding her mind. When her gaze flicked back at the shadowy figure, they started to turn their back on her.

  "Wait!" her voice came, croaked and unfamiliar, even to her own ears.

  The figure stopped, their head dipped to the side, waiting for another response from her.

  A thousand questions crept in her mind. Shouting and begging to be asked. She knew there would be no time for her to ask, and she expected no truth from their faint words. But deep within her chest, she needed to know. At least she had to inquire.

  "Why?" Soo Jung asked, almost like a shout. It felt like a dream. It felt like a nightmare. She couldn't possibly think the figure ahead her was real or even the door had been opened. It surely only happened in her mind, but the air felt cold and her senses were on watch. "Why are you doing this?"

  The figure remained still as statue. Their features shadowed, but Soo Jung felt as if their gaze piercing through hers, reading her naked mind. "You will soon find out."

  Then the figure disappeared, swallowed by the darkness and left the glimmering lamps throughout the corridor brightened all alone.