It takes a little longer to have everyone ready to leave. I look around for my horse and see that the Prince is holding his reins while he is sat on his horse. I walk over "you will be riding with me" he tells me. I look at my horse and back at the Prince "it's so you don't fall off your horse when you fall asleep" he adds. I take his hand and climb up in front of him. I lean on him and he nudges the horse I put my head on his shoulder and lean into his neck. I fall asleep before we leave the camp. I'm warm and feel safe with the Prince's arms around me and mine around him. It is only when I hear a long whistle that I wake up and look around. "It's alright just Un letting me know he found the leader and everything is alright" I nod and yawn "sorry going to be using your shoulder" I fall asleep again before I finish the sentence. "Mummy you can sleep now, sleep really well" I hear the young voice tell me. I feel the darkness surround me and sleep.
"Come on love wake up you need to eat something?" I hear the Prince say I open my mouth and chew when something is put in it. I do this a few times before the darkness takes me under again. I feel water being put into my mouth and I swallow. I'm so warm and comfortable that I sleep deeply. I crack my eyes open with difficulty and shield them from the bright light. "Thank goodness your awake. I was about to have all the doctors behead" I move my head and see the Prince sitting on the side of the bed. I smile at him "water"I croak I hold my hand up to my throat, it is really dry and sore as though it hasn't been used in a while. The Prince helps me sit up and I take the cup from him and drink the honey water. "How long was I asleep for?" I ask "3 days, 3 very long days" I look at the Prince and see the shadows beneath his eyes. "I'm sorry, I really was tired" I tell him. "I'm sorry, I had you do to much. I was told you were just sleeping but you would never say anything just open your mouth when I told you to eat and I gave you water. The doctors say your about 2 months pregnant and healthy. They also said the baby seemed to be strong" I smile at that. "I told you we where making a good foundation for him" the Prince smiles at me too. "They've told me that I should not have you service me now until after the baby" "what do they know, if it was up to them no foundation would have been laid and all we'd have is a fertilised egg and very little else" I croak loudly. He pats my hand which I look at "you'd better not be thinking their right? I have needs too you know" I take another cup of water and drink it. "You can behead them all, there quacks" I spit. The Prince laughs out loud at that, "don't worry I will still be keeping you in my bed" he leans in and whispers "and filling all your needs" he kisses me and I relax. "I'm starved" I say. "Hun can you have some porridge brought in""yes your Majesty" Hun calls from behind the door. "How is everything?" I ask the Prince looks towards the door and then turns to me "the King passed sentence on your father?" I wait for him to carry on "it was found that your father helped fund for the private army as well as several other ministers and nobles. The King is having your father exiled, stripping him of his title and confiscating his assets. The King is not touching yours or your brother's wealth from your mother. He will be leaving tomorrow at noon if you want to see him before he leaves." " I don't need to see my father I knew that he would have to face the consequences of his actions. "Does my brother know?" I ask "Yes, I told him yesterday. He told me he didn't need to see him before he left" I nod "we talked and have each other" I tell the Prince. Hun brings in the porridge bows and bows again before he leaves. I eat the porridge all up, "I need to pee" I say before I can stop myself. I get stiffly from the bed and go into the joining room and use the commode wash and then go back to the bedroom. "Can I have a bath?" the Prince smiles "as long as you're not going to fall asleep in it?" I give him a crooked smile "very funny, I'll call Keon-hi and she can keep my company. I know you will have lots of work to catch-upon." I strip and put a robe on, the Prince walks to me and wraps his arms around me inside the robe. "I will look forward to seeing the clean shiny you" he kisses me then walks to the door. Keon-hi is waiting outside when the door opens "your majesty you're awake" she beams. The Prince waves as he walks down the hall, "Hun can you heat the bath please" "it's already done your Majesty" he tells me I grab Keon-hi's hand "you can tell me all that I've missed." We walk into the room and the door closes. We walk behind the screen "do you want to get in with me?" I ask she shakes her head "had one last night" I nod and climb up the steps before dropping my robe and stepping down into the big tub. I sink down and lean my head back on the side. Keon-hi sits on the top step "well you missed the Prince shouting at everyone when you wouldn't wake up. Your brother was also really worried about you. Four more ministers have been arrested and I lost count at how many nobles where arrested. The leader of the Private army will be beheaded tomorrow along with two of the main ministers involved. Two will be strung up outside the palace for the public to stone to death, the King said it was to ease their anger. The other nobles and ministers will be sentenced tomorrow. What else is new oh! The Princes mother came to congratulate him on your pregnancy but then got angry with him when he wouldn't let her see you. Un has been teaching the elite solders your moves, they also practice blending in with their surroundings. Your brother has come to see you everyday after his lessons and sits with the Prince. He is also happy he is going to become an Uncle, he told me the baby will think of me as an Aunt which I was very happy about. He has helped me with my writing and reading. Chang-wo was in a bad mood because he missed all the action as he put it, he is getting stronger and his lessons are going well" she looks around and then cups her hand to her mouth and whispers "I have had some blood on my under pants, it's more like spots." I move towards her "it means you will get your monthly bleeding soon. Carry the long pieces of cloth I'll give you inside your sleeve from now on then if you notice that it is a little more than spots you can use the cloth like I'll show you" I tell her. "Why must I have a monthly bleed and how long will it last?" she wonders "All women get monthly bleeds its so they can have children later on. It depends on you how long they last. It is normally between four and seven days, the first couple being heavier than the rest. You will get cramp like pains just before you start in your stomach, you might also feel heavier everywhere. Your breasts can ache and become very sensitive" I inform her. "How long do yours last?" she asks "I won't have any while I'm pregnant as the baby needs the blood to make a nice warm home for its self until he's ready to be born. I'm normally very heavy the first two days and then it becomes less and less over the next three days before it stops." Keon-hi taps her finger against her lip and I wait for the next question. "If my bleeding starts then stop's I'll be pregnant?" I look at her and realise she knows nothing about a woman, man relationship. "Have you seen animal's mate?" I ask her "I saw two dogs once. They seem to be locked together by their butts and crying out as if it really hurt" she answers. "That only happens to animals and only some times. Men and women have different sex organs. We women have ours on the inside. The men have theirs on the outside, men have penises and we have vagina's and babies grow in our uterus. We have a tunnel that is made for a man's penis to fit into, once a man and woman have been together where the man has put his penis into your vagina and filled you with his sperm that swim up into your uterus were your egg is hopefully waiting they meet and a baby begins to grow. That is the fundamentals anyway" I finish. I watch as this information sinks in, "do they put it in when it's small or big" she surprises me by asking. I take her hand before telling her more "when it's big, but they fit still. They may look big if we're lucky" I add before continuing "they can't go in when they are small. Think about it like a finger, if the finger is relaxed its bendable it would be hard to push it into something while it was relaxed, but if you hold your finger straight out and lock your joints it is a lot easier to push it through something" I watch to see if she understands her cheeks redden. "Un seems to be very big. I saw it one night when he came in late, the day of your wedding I could clearly see it through his pants" now it's time for my cheeks to redden thinking about Un watching as we made love under the moon. "You'll grow fully before you reach 16 most girls stop growing around then, boys can grow until they are 21 but most stop growing around 18 or 19. The Prince and Un can still be growing as they eat well that helps them grow bigger. As you are getting to eat a proper diet now your body will start to fill out and develop." Keon-hi thinks for a moment "how old are you?" she asks "I'm 16" "Wow!" she says she starts to count on her fingers "1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, what comes after 11" she asks I'm stirring at her because she didn't count 5 or 8 "when did you loose your mother?" I ask her instead "I was 4" I nod "and did you always count your birthday's?" She shakes her head no, "when Chang-wo came and started to take care of me. He asked when my birthday was, I told him I didn't know so he asked some of the other servants one told him the date and said he thought I was going to be 9 on my next birthday. Chang-wo always gave me some extra bread or a flower on my birthday." "How did you learn to count?" I ask next "when we would be paid the head would count our coins out" she tells me. "Well he cheated you out of your pay because he missed 5 and 8 out. I count slowly up to 20. Then do it again and get her to repeat it after me, "you could be older than we first thought, we will be more, sure when you've been eating a steady, healthy diet and when your first bleed comes most girls are between 13 to 16" I explain. Keon-hi suddenly jumps up and claps her hands, I smile because I know why she is suddenly happy. "Don't tell anyone until we can figure it out?" she asks. "I won't, we should know when my stomach is a bump that I find hard to hide" she sits down again. "Are you going to wash now?" I laugh and duck my head in the water then come up and wash myself properly. When we are back in the bedroom Keon-hi combs my hair, for me and we sit out in the sun when I'm dressed and I allow the sun to dry my hair. "In the summer I get burnt copper tones in my hair" I tell Keon-hi "you also go as dark as a blue berry" Jin-hyeok adds as he joins us. "Thank you for that" I pull out my tongue at him. "very mature for a mother to be" he chuckles. "Your going to be an, Uncle just before your 15th birthday and I would've not long turned 17. I can't be a mother I'm still a child myself what do I know about bring a child up. They'll hate me" I finish. "You'll be a great patent, you'll protect them, teach them how to protect themselves. You'll hold them when their scared and sing to them when they can't sleep" Jin-hyeok states. "You've taught me so much already. You gave me my voice back" Keon-hi adds. "Thank you, panic mode over" I pat my stomach "we'll learn together little bean." The next week goes by quickly and the day I have to go and visit Consort Suk comes. The Prince is coming with me and I'm very nervous. Last time I went to visit her, she didn't like me much and I was shot and poisoned by an arrow. The Prince and I are holding hands as we walk to her quarters, "I hope she focuses more on the fact that she will be a Grandmother soon" I say hopefully. The Prince smiles but doesn't say anything. We reach her courtyard doors I take a deep breath before following the Prince inside. Her lady in waiting announces us and we are told to go in, better than last time, when she made us stay in the courtyard, I think to myself. The Princes' mother is sitting on her day bed, I bow and the Prince inclines his head. "Welcome sit down" I straightened my head and look at the Prince, then wonder why he isn't sitting down or saying anything. "Please sit down, you shouldn't be on your feet for too long. It can hurt the baby" I realise she is talking to me so sit down on the daybed, looking at the Prince and then his mother. I don't know why she keeps trying to seduce my husband with young maids.
YOU ARE READING
Travel Through Time
Historical Fiction1st Book A Woman form the 21st Century travels back to Joseon dynasty 1726 Korea. There she meets the Royal Prince. Together they try and end the corruption within the royal court. They make some good friends along the way and fall in love.
