Dream in the Sky [Arthdal Chronicles]

Chapter 2: The Ways of Arthdal

She didn't notice it before.

Benetbeots. Eunseom and Saya were identical twins, from the size of their hands to the shape of their ears to the curve of their lips. When she had first met Saya, and even many moons later, she had still seen Eunseom in Saya's face. At times, when she had looked into Saya's eyes, she hoped that he would suddenly laugh out loud and say, "Tanya, it's me, Eunseom. It was me all along. Sorry for making a fool of you." That was how much they looked alike.

Or so she had thought. Saya was gone and Eunseom was here now, lying in Saya's bed. He was wrapped in bandages, not even his hair visible underneath them. There would be no way to tell them apart. But she didn't see Saya. She saw only Eunseom.

How had she not noticed it before? How had she not noticed it the whole time she had been at his sickbed? There was a tiny mole next to Eunseom's right eye that Saya didn't have. Eunseom's skin tone was darker than Saya's, kissed by Iark's sun. He had a faded scar on the side of his face from when he had been stupid enough to pick up a fight with a wolf back in Iark. She knew that he had many other scars like that from tumbling around the hills and fields of their beloved home. But even more than those little details, it was his whole demeanor. The way she remembered how his eye twitched when he was annoyed, how he pouted his mouth and furrowed his brows when he was sad. He looked completely different from Saya, and if she noticed it, others would too.

Tagon would.

So when Tagon strode into the room, his eyes fixed on Eunseom's form in the bed, Tanya felt as powerless as she had on the day her life had fallen apart. For a fleeting moment she was that girl again, watching her brothers and sisters being slain and their home set aflame by the men who'd come from the Great Black Cliff. If Tagon found out that the man lying in the bed wasn't Saya but Eunseom, she didn't know what would happen, but it would probably end with Eunseom's death.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Eunseom was awake. He'd been fast asleep just a moment ago, but Tagon's entrance must have woken him. Maybe Tagon could be tricked into believing Eunseom was Saya when Eunseom was asleep, but not when he was awake.

Tanya watched, frozen. What should she do? Just what should she do?

Tagon sat down on a chair next to the bed, the wood creaking underneath him. Eunseom's expression was something between disbelief and horror, and in any other situation, Tanya would laugh at how funny it looked. Not now, though, and she hoped Tagon would chalk up Eunseom's behavior to Saya being in pain from his injuries.

"You've been through a lot," Tagon said to Eunseom. "How do you feel, son? What news do you bring?"

Eunseom's breathing was labored. His good hand clutched the blanket covering his legs in a painful-looking grip, as if he wanted to stop himself from strangling Tagon right here and now. His current state fortunately prohibited it anyway; when he'd been conscious yesterday, he could barely lift his arm.

Tanya knew that she couldn't rely on Eunseom to deal with Tagon on his own. He was probably missing crucial information. Did he even know that he had a benetbeot in Arthdal? And that his twin was Tagon's alleged son?

This was bad. Tanya had to take control of the situation now or things would go downhill very fast.

"Are you quite all right?" Tagon asked when Eunseom didn't answer.

Tanya swallowed her panic. Before Eunseom could answer and let something slip, she cleared her throat and sat down on the other side of the bed, trying to make Eunseom look at her instead of Tagon. "Listen, Saya," she told Eunseom, emphasizing Saya's name. "I know you don't remember, but this is King Tagon. He's your father." She felt sick saying it.