AR: I know, I know… I'm sorry, Life had me hostage. I'm back now.

xxxxXxxxxx

CHAPTER 20 - Blindfold

Came a knock at the door. Eun soo held a hand over the unsheathed sword of the Royal Guard, signaling with her eyes.

The minister gave a little nod before retreating behind the shadow. Eun soo quickly regained her composure and carefully opened the door.

"Did you get what I asked for?" blurted Eun soo at a confused Deo Gi. The girl froze at the door, her questioning eyes grew wider as Eun soo pulled the small pouch of herbs she had always hung on her leather belt.

"Thank you," said the doctor, weighing the pouch in her hand. "I'm tired. I'll be resting now. Please inform the General only to come to see me tomorrow." With that, she closed the door. Turning away from the door, she spoke in a low voice, "now no one will come to check on me, at least until tomorrow."

Seeing that the minister made no attempt to reply, she added, "I'll come willingly, so don't hurt any-"

She saw white fog coming right at her, it smelled like hot spring, and as she breathed it in, the world turned into darkness around her.

xXx

Choi young parted with Lady Choi as she darted toward the Queen's quarter, almost a dozen female and Royal guards were right on her heels. Cheung shik- the Vice General was leaving the study, only half a step away from the King, surrounded by the royal guards. Choi young took a short glance at the group before he sprinted, the ringing of his sword echoed along the enclosed spaced of the palace wall.

Bounding off the west gate and into the capital, Choi young followed the trails left by Dae man, leading to a shortcut to the valley, where Shi wool, one of the twin suddenly appeared onto his view, pointing toward the night market.

The harvest festival was only one week away, everyone was busy preparing for the festival, and the night market was busier that day. It took him awhile before he spotted Dae man, pulling himself up from a pile of fruits and pieces of wood from the broken table. When he regained his balance, Choi young had stood right next to him.

"General!" he exclaimed, a little startled. "I managed to hurt him, but he got away…"

Choi young, eyes already scanning the surrounding, suddenly leapt toward an alley, hardly noticing the chaos behind him. When Dae man had finally caught up to him, the general had pinned the man against the wall, sword grazing against the man's neck.

"Who sent you?" the question came in a low growl.

Attempting to push back, a line of crimson trickled down as the sword pressed harder against his neck. "Who sent you to kill that man?" repeated Choi young, ripping the mask off. The man gasped in pain; only then- Choi young realized the deep gash on his left abdomen.

"I… didn't kill anyone" whispered the man, "I swear…"

When the sword started moving away from his neck, the man slumped to the ground, pressing onto his stomach. Dae man quickly tied a cloth on his wound, before taking him back to the palace for questioning. Still standing by the empty wall, Choi young felt a bile rose onto his throat, the uneasy feeling as he left the palace had only gone worse.

If the man wasn't the assassin, it only meant that he went after the wrong guy. If he was a decoy, then…

xXx

It was pitch black.

The thick blindfold was too tight, Eun soo felt it pressing against her scalp, so hard she thought she might pop a muscle. Even though she had promised that she would cooperate, they weren't taking any chances of her running away or calling for help. Luckily for her, the last time she came back from the dead, she developed resistant toward certain herbs and poisons. The people who took her wouldn't expect her to wake up so soon.

By the time she woke up, she found herself inside a palanquin, being carried through highs and lows. Ever since then, she had been counting.

There were four turns, three short sets of stairs and seventy-six of steps she had counted so far. She was pretty sure that they were still in the capital, though she didn't know Goryeo had changed so much over the years. She couldn't remember having to pass so many flights of stairs to reach the night market.

The voices were slowly drifting further, and Eun soo kept counting. She could still scream with her mouth gagged, but that wasn't an option. She hoped Deo Gi had gotten her message, and that help was on its way.

It was when someone pulled her out of the palanquin and carried her out that she had almost dropped her act and run. She could tell from the unsteady step as they crossed over, that she was being carried onto a boat. The man who was carrying her, purposely slipped his hand under her skirt. The silk trousers she wore underneath had saved her for now. If only they hadn't found the knife she hid in her boot, Eun soo would have felt a little safer.

The boat sailed away.

xXx

Ends of Chapter 20

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