When she first heard that Yo was sending So to Khitan, Soo did not know what to feel. Yo stared her down, arms folded over his chest, eyes impassive – entirely unapologetic, as always. "I don't trust the Wolf-Dog at all. The fortress in my future capital is almost entirely finished – my uncle can take care of it." His mouth twisted. "Will you be upset with me, Hae Soo?"

Soo's lips thinned. If he didn't put it in such a contrary way, maybe she could have, over time, learned to tolerate his decision. But as it stood, she was, in fact, angry. "And you did not see fit to tell me until today, Your Majesty? A month later? I knew of this before hand – yet I thought you would tell me yourself. It took you this long, Your Majesty?"

"Would you have snuck into the convoy?" Yo asked, smirking bitterly. "You threw yourself in front of Wook, once. I would not put it past you."

"And I would do it again. This is not one of those instances," Soo threw back. "I have confidence that His Highness the fourth prince is perfectly capable of taking care of himself."

"Oh, you have confidence?" Yo sneered. "I see. I was a fool to think otherwise."

Soo's eyes widened with anger, but through a force of effort she held her voice evenly. "What truly rankles is that you did not see fit to trust me. To tell me this." 'I swore I would not choose sides, but that is foolhardiness now, I see. And now, just when I have chosen a side on which I thought I could be happy, he accuses me of-'

Yo's dark eyes narrowed in answer. "I trust you more than anyone, and you know it."

"You did not trust me enough to tell me." Soo's gaze did not waver.

"I told you about Yeon Hwa, I told you-" He caught his breath and turned back to snap at her. "I have told you more than I should have! You are my queen! Do not get above yourself!"

"Above myself?!" Soo almost choked. Her hands tightened into fists, but she pasted on a polite, slow, careful court lady's smile, an expression she had not had to make for what seemed like such a long time. 'I expected better of you, Your Majesty.' She folded her hands in front of herself and bowed low, from the waist. "Very well, Your Majesty," she said. "This unworthy one apologizes for her conduct. If Your Majesty finds it within your magnanimous heart to forgive me, this unfortunate one would not deserve it." Each word of hers was subservient, yet laced with a poison.

Yo's expression was stony. "Hae Soo."

"If Your Majesty has nothing more to say to this unworthy one, I will take my leave," Soo said, bowing low again and backing out of the room with small steps that, underneath her skirts, made it look as if she was gliding.

"Hae Soo!" growled Yo.

Soo did not stop moving, head down.

He grabbed her arm, backing her up against the wall. "Hae Soo, I forbid you from leaving."

That was really the wrong thing to say. She kept her eyes down, making no effort to break out of his hold. "Then this unfortunate one will have no choice but to stay, Your Majesty."

The gritting of his teeth was audible. "What do you want to hear? I will never keep anything from you again? I do not make empty promises."

Soo could not keep it in any longer. "I have changed, your Majesty – I am no longer what I was ten or five years ago. If you wish me to stay by your side as something more than an ornament or a hostage to ensure your brothers' good behavior, then will you not treat me as your equal? You have been involving me more in matters of state, training my aim – you once told me you cared for me."

Yo's brow was furrowed, and his gaze turned inward, away from her as if he was pensively deep in thought.

"You told me I was a queen," Soo said – and those words meant so much more to her now than they ever had before.

Yo looked down at her with surprise in his eyes, then something more piercing, as if he was seeing her anew – for the first time. Then he drew back, a slow smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Very well…Your Grace," he said, and it was a promise.

/

When Yeon Hwa held her son in her arms for the first time, the snow had almost entirely melted away and the sun was high in the sky. Her body had felt as if it was splitting in half, yet she refused to scream, and when they had given her the child to hold, and she looked down at his red, scrunched face she felt both disappointment at how small and red he was, and elation that he would grow into a beautiful prince, her son – the heir to Houses Yoo and Hwangbo – the heir to the throne of Goryeo. Objectively, he was ugly. Yet he was beautiful in the sense that he was hers, and he was Yo's (besides having two beautiful parents, he was hers). The wisps of black hair upon his head had already begun to form wavy shapes – just like Yo's hair.

She saw herself reflected in his large, dark eyes, and she wanted his first memory to be of his mother, of her. Yeon Hwa knew that she had never loved anything or anyone more in that moment. She smiled and held him to her breast. He did not cry, he had not cried – he only made small creaking sounds and stared up with round eyes. He was bigger than most newborns were, heavier.

"I wish to name him," Yeon Hwa said aloud as her son began to suckle. She was exhausted, but she would not sleep yet.

The midwife and the physicians all turned to her. "Oh no, no, lady – that's awful bad luck – he may have been born in the spring, but until he lives through at least one winter-"

Yeon Hwa shook her head, still smiling. "He is my son – so he is a survivor. And he is my husband's son – so he is vicious. A name…"

A few hours later, and she still could not think of a name.

"Yeon Hwa. Dearest sister – have I become an uncle?" Won asked when he came in that evening. He smiled, sitting down on the edge of the bed, looking down at the sleepy child in Yeon Hwa's arms.

"No, I just stole a child from the city," Yeon Hwa said dryly. "Of course you have. I have become a mother. Tell the king. Tell him I bore him a son."

Won smiled, but his eyes were tired. "This makes things a little difficult…" he says, sighing. "I heard you wished to name him?"

Yeon Hwa smiled. "Yes. A powerful name. I want to give him a name that means greatness."

"You could always name him after me," Won joked.

Yeon Hwa gave him a flat look. "Where are your great deeds, oh brother of mine?"

Won's slow smile sent a shiver down her spine. "Ah, well," he said lightly, "That would be telling, wouldn't it?" He shrugged laughing a little. "Hm, what of Tae? You could name him after the older brother of our king – and the name truly does mean 'greatness'."

"I heard Wang Tae was a disappointment to House Yoo and House Wang. Besides the fact that he died of some illness when he was barely eighteen," Yeon Hwa said. "The connotations of such a name…"

"My dearest second brother has been all but forgotten. Give the name a new connotation," Won said. "Tae is a good name for the future ruler of Goryeo." He reached out to cup Yeon Hwa's cheek. "And that is what your son will be, Yeon Hwa."

Yeon Hwa refused to let his words affect her, yet she was unable to suppress the jump of her heart when he said those words. "These words have been said to me before," she said, lips thinning. "I don't trust you, brother. I never have, and I will not make the mistake of trusting anyone ever again."

Was it her imagination, or did Won look a little sad? He smiled, shrugging lightly. "Then until I lead you up the steps to that golden throne, Yeon Hwa," he said, "It will be so."

/

Laying together, surrounded by candlelight and silk, Yo wound his arms more tightly around Soo's middle, feeling the soft tickle of her breath against his collarbone and her floral-scented hair against his chin. "There was something is had entertained once, as a notion…" he began, tone light, but voice quiet. "At the time it was a stupid idea – it would have made enemies of my enemies that much quicker."

"And now?" Soo asked.

"Now, there is a storm brewing. The court is fracturing. I can feel it in my bones, Soo, even if there is no outward sign yet." Yo remembered the woman who had bitten off her tongue, Won's crafty smirk, a leather pouch, Yeon Hwa's barely curving belly, and then a blood-covered Jung, a shivering Soo, and rage at his mother.

Soo reached up, smoothing the furrow between Yo's brows with a cool finger. She did not say anything, but she did not have to, Yo couldn't help smiling at her anyway. 'I am a fool. An utter fool for her,' he cursed at himself. 'And yet, fool as I am, I would have it no other way.'

Hae Soo's patience, intelligence, and determination alone would make her a good queen. And yet she was willing to study, spent hours speaking to him of matters of state, and knew the inner workings of the palace like no other. She already was a good queen – holding the title of third queen, a glorified consort, really – that did not suit her.

Yo thought of his first and second queens, silent daughters of House Park, bartered off to a young prince whose mother made all his decisions for him. And now he had a son, and Park Sul Hui, damn the man, was his father-in law. It was so ironic Yo could laugh. But he did not. Both Lady Parks were a hindrance to him and his plans – and while he winced at doing it – he would soon have to remove them. As soon as Park Sul Hui appeared within this web of intrigue, the name 'Park' would be cut from the royal lineage.

Yeon Hwa's craftiness and experience would make her a good queen also – she was born to rule, and yet the whole world had been set against her from the first. Yo had admired her once. But here was where he drew the line. 'I am the king. Perhaps Yeon Hwa's rank was higher once, but no longer.

Yo wanted power, he wanted strength. He wanted a future bright with gold and his queen by his side.

"Until I have concrete proof of Park Sul Hui's moving against me, I cannot do this, but soon, Hae Soo, you will be my first queen," Yo said. "We will rule Goryeo side-by-side." Even at the sound of those words coming from his own mouth, Yo could not suppress a happily triumphant grin.

Soo said nothing for a while.

Yo felt his heart sink slightly, and his jaw tighten.

"Even a year ago," Soo said finally, "I would have refused. But now… I know that if I want something done, if I want a bright future for the people of Goryeo, or even the people I care about – I will have to do it myself."

Yo ran his fingers through her silky hair, marveling at how beautifully the candlelight in her eyes set the world afire. Soon, that candlelight would be the fire of a raging inferno – and she would be the best queen Goryeo had ever seen. Yo believed in her – and that alone, within his arrogant mind, was enough.

/

So's mask felt heavy on Baek Ah's face.

Baek Ah took in a deep, heavy breath as the procession neared, thirty men on horseback riding through the stony steppes on the other side of the mountains. On the rocky outcropping that Baek Ah's party had stopped at, the snow was still falling. Spring had come, and yet here, in the mountainous North, winter still would not release the land. Flakes of snow landed in the fur of his cloak and melted on his hands as he gripped the reins of his horse. He kept his back straight and his eyes ahead, eyes still on the train of man on horseback approaching.

His own men were silent. 'So, oh, So, brother dearest – I really do hope you know what you're doing,' Baek Ah could not help thinking. He would do anything for So, just as he knew So would do the same for him – and this wasn't just for So – it was for the whole of Goryeo.

When he had told Woo Hee, she had not seemed surprised, only sad. "It will be dangerous," she had promised. She had tried to dissuade him, but he had begged her to forgive him for not being dissuaded – and she had given him advice on

To spend less than a year in Khitan under his brother's name while So raised an army from the people – Baek Ah knew exactly what he had agreed to. All his life, he had stayed away from the royal family's machinations, preferring to sit and paint at the king's behest rather than even retain governorship of a city like Eun. And now… A breathless laugh bubbled up inside his chest. He was throwing himself in headfirst.

He took yet another deep breath in, and when he breathed slowly out, his breath misted in front of him. 'Is this what Soo felt like on the day of her wedding to Yo?' he wondered. 'Ah, what a fearful man I am – this is not a wedding to an unpleasant man, it's a diplomatic mission! They'll serve me fruits on golden platters and suggest peace treaties…'

Baek Ah tried not to think of how unlikely that would be, of the hatred fostered between Goryeo and Khitan, carefully molded through sharp remarks of leaders that provoked battles. 'Jung fought here,' Baek Ah thought, remembering his brother's drawn, pale face and the sword he kept by his side at all times now.

The procession advanced further. As the first man mounted the peak of the road that led to the outcropping, a cool calm induced by panic descended over Baek Ah – just as it had when he had killed a man for the first time.

And then they were there. "Fourth prince," the leader said in a low, accented voice. "You have come."

"I have." Baek Ah's voice did not shake.

"We are honored by your presence."

"As I am to be here."

The cold wind stung his skin, and he returned the inscrutable look the man gave him with one of calm defiance.