Masters of the Sea

015

Well, well, what have we here? Jang Hoya is alive? That fellow must have nine lives, managing to slip through the hands of the Black Knights.

Go Ryu smirked to himself as he skimmed through the letter that had just arrived by carrier falcon. It was lucky, or perhaps unlucky, that Hoya's letter had ended up in his hands. The first person he had obviously thought to inform of his being alive had been Sunghyun, but unbeknownst to him, the Sunghyun in Baekje right now wasn't Sunghyun at all. Go Ryu reached over and held the parchment over the candle flame, watching it burn slowly until it was reduced to nothing but a pile of ash.

"What's that you've got there?" a female voice echoed from behind him.

Surprised at the sound of an intruder, Go Ryu quickly whirled around, only to find the girl he had seen the other day at the falconry standing at the entrance.

"Nothing," he quickly replied, trying his best to look unsuspicious. "What brings you here. princess?"

The girl walked into the room, sitting down across from him. "You're behaving very strangely these days, Sunghyun."

Go Ryu frowned. There was something about the girl's eyes that he didn't like. They seemed to see right through him, and the sensation unsettled him somewhat. Does she know something? Could it be that she's realised I'm not Sunghyun?

"What do you mean?" he replied calmly, pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Nothing." She averted her gaze, turning her attentions to the package that she had brought in with her and set down on the table. She undid the silk cloth that was wrapped around it to reveal a neatly packaged box of cakes. "Mother sent me to bring these to you. They're freshly made by the palace kitchen. She thought you would like it."

"Send my thanks to her," Go Ryu replied.

"Aren't you going to try some?" she looked up and stared at him with a steely gaze.

Go Ryu hesitated for a second, thinking about whether or not it would be wise to take a bite out of the delicate-looking cakes. He was a cautious man by nature and years of treading carefully within the Goguryeo palace had made him even more so. She's only a girl who's been brought up within the confines of a palace, what's the worst she could do to me? If it had been anyone else, perhaps he would have found an excuse not to eat, but the person in front of him was simply a weak girl he could easily take down with one hand. He decided it was best not to offend anyone.

With a reluctant sigh, he picked up a tiny piece of the cake and popped it into his mouth. The taste of the sweetest honey immediately caught his attention as it flowed out from within the rather innocuous looking piece of cake.

"This is not bad," he remarked. "Please send my thanks to your mother for her graciousness."

"It is, isn't it?" the girl said with a crooked smile, picking up a piece of cake herself and taking a small bite. "Honey, from the palace's own apiary..."

Go Ryu didn't like the triumphant look that had appeared on her face.

"...which you are allergic to, are you not?" she finished her sentence slowly, ensuring that Go Ryu heard every single word loud and clear.

The silence in the room was deafening.

"Are you now going to tell me who you are?" she leaned forward, looking at him curiously. "Who exactly are you, if not Kwon Sunghyun?"

Go Ryu didn't bother waiting. Within a split second, the knife was out of his breeches and at her throat. Standing behind the girl, he hissed into her ear, "What do you want?"