Masters of the Sea

023

Sol opened her eyes to find Go Yeon standing in front of her, his body acting as a shield against the whiplashes that had been raining down on her broken body. Shocked to see him there, yet grateful for his presence, a mix of complex emotions welled up within her, crystallising in the form of a single tear that trickled down her left cheek.

"Stop!" the king immediately called out. Several creases appeared along his forehead as he analysed the current situation. Addressing his son, he said, "What do you think you're doing? Get away from there immediately. We are in the middle of an interrogation for a crime of treason and this is no time for you to be acting like a child." There was a reason why he hadn't wanted to involve Go Yeon in the interrogation, because he didn't know how his son would react in this circumstance. Although the whispers going round the palace were that the crown prince had not even visited his bride a single time since their royal wedding, the king had always been a cautious man. The events of the past few minutes had proven that he had been right.

Go Yeon turned to face his father, a look of steely determination etched in his eyes. "What do you think you're doing? Are you trying to force a confession? What worth is a confession that is gotten this way?"

"Your Highness, the king only means to get things done as fast as we possibly can. The longer we delay, the lower the chance of recovering the Oracle," the king's advisor answered with a grimace. The crown prince was well known for being cold and relentless, perhaps more so than the king himself, and he was now shuddering to think how this scene was to end.

Your... Highness?

Sol was confused. Two minutes ago, when she first saw Jongin standing there, her immediate thought was to fear for his life. For a lowly palace guard to stand up against the king was like smashing an egg against a rock, and while he could protect her momentarily, he had inadvertently placed his own life at risk. Minutes later, she had witnessed him speaking up against the king, a crime that was likely also punishable by death, yet thus far none of the surrounding guards had made a move against him. Now, she wondered if she had been mistaken with thinking that she had just heard the king's advisor address Jongin as "Your Highness".

"I promise that we will find the Oracle and bring her back. But if you must continue with this sort of torture, then I'll take the rest of it on her behalf," was Go Yeon's reply. Watching from behind, Hyuk and Rei, the only two knights who were present at the scene, feared that this stand-off would escalate into something worse. Exchanging worried looks, they could only stay rooted to their spot, having no better ideas as to how to diffuse the situation.

Enraged by the crown prince's open defiance, the king shouted, "Is this what I've trained you for? For you to make foolish decisions because of a girl? Fine, if that's what you want, then so be it! Continue with the lashing!"

The guard looked slightly hesitant, but the king's orders were final and there was nothing he could do even if he didn't wish this upon the prince. Raising the whip, he brought it down heavily against Go Yeon's back. Again and again, the sound of the whip landing harshly on his back made everyone present hold their breaths in trepidation. Hyuk and Rei immediately went down on their knees, along with all the other officials present at the scene.

"Your Majesty, please forgive the crown prince!" they pleaded in unison.

The crown prince?

Sol wasn't sure whether or not she should believe what she was seeing and hearing, but there was no other explanation. The man whom she had befriended by a stroke of pure coincidence, the one that fate had somehow drawn her towards as the only friend she had within these foreign palace walls, was none other than the man she had married but never seen—Go Yeon, the crown prince of Goguryeo.