The Boldest Gambit
Dinner that evening was held at a tavern owned by the Zhejiang Yu Family, set within the largest market street in Hangzhou.
I-hyeon's family and Ha-ryeon's family took the seats of highest honor.
"A fine seat, with the stage in full view. Does it please you?"
"Watch a play from here, and I won't even notice what's going into my mouth."
"Haha. I told them to bring out the dishes you'd favor, so you ought to do the food justice as well."
The women talked on, and before long the play began and the dishes started coming out. The adults savored the performance and the meal alike, chatting easily among themselves.
Ha-ryeon, though, could not have cared less what she ate for dinner or what she watched. The only thing on her mind was how to spirit I-hyeon away.
If I'm going to deal with those guards, I need to make some special memory today—but there's no opening. It can't be helped. I'll have to force my way through.
She beckoned her bodyguard over and leaned in to whisper.
"Think you can handle I-hyeon's guard?"
"Wha— please don't say something absurd out of nowhere, my lady. I'd be dead in three exchanges."
"So you can buy me a little time, then? I'm counting on you."
Her guard looked utterly dumbfounded, but Ha-ryeon paid that no mind at all. She shot up from her seat and, ignoring the rest of the family, went straight to I-hyeon.
Yu Dan-a and Namgung Hwi-gyeom noticed, but they pretended otherwise and let it be. The husbands, their eyes stolen by the play, never caught on.
Free of the adults' interference, she went to I-hyeon and said:
"I don't know where the privy is. You know this place—show me the way."
She hadn't actually wanted the privy. It was only a brief excuse. Before he could even answer, she seized his wrist and made for the door.
"Hey. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
I-hyeon asked once they were outside.
Ha-ryeon faltered for a moment, then found her courage.
"Let's wander the market street."
At that, I-hyeon's eyes flew wide.
"What are you saying? No. The adults will scold us."
"I can take the blame. Besides, I've got plenty of money. Don't sit through that boring play—come outside with me."
The words sounded so sweet that I-hyeon's resolve wavered.
"Th-then I'll call the guards."
When he turned to go back in, Ha-ryeon blocked him.
"No. Just the two of us. I know what you're worried about. But look at this."
She drew out what she had hidden in her sleeve and showed it to him.
"What is that? A whistle and a rice cake?"
"This isn't an ordinary whistle. It makes a sound no common person can hear—only the warriors of our clan. Blow it, and they'll catch it from ten li away, and the adults will come running."
"Then what's the thing that looks like a rice ball?"
"A smoke bomb. If anything happens, use this and we can still get away."
Ha-ryeon set about persuading him with everything she had.
"Even so, the guards..."
She snatched his hand.
"Please. I'm begging you. Let's enjoy the street, just the two of us. What could possibly happen on a boulevard this big? Drag guards around with us and all we'll do is draw every eye—we won't get to enjoy the street properly at all."
That did him in completely. More than once, when he had come out to the market, he had seen people freeze in fear at the sight of his guards. He hated it when others piled on excessive courtesy or acted unnatural around him, and this felt like a chance that would never come again.
"All right. But I have a condition."
He slipped his fingers between hers.
"Promise you won't let go of this hand."
Hearing that, Ha-ryeon lit up as if she had just been confessed to.
"Okay! Then let's get out of this inn, quick!"
Hearts light, Ha-ryeon and I-hyeon broke into a run. The moment they spilled onto the street, its bright lights wrapped around them both. Drunks staggered past; people in martial robes wandered with swords at their hips; families had come out to dine together. All those raw, unvarnished sights struck the two of them as something fresh and startling.
Hands clasped tight, they began to look around. Threading between every kind of building and every kind of person, the pair were like minnows in a stream—yet they pushed on down the street undaunted.
"What a wonderful street. Just walking around is fun!"
Ha-ryeon said, her voice bright with excitement.
"Yeah. I'm glad we came out together."
I-hyeon answered.
And so the two of them took in the street for a good long while.
"Getting a little hungry? Want to eat something?"
Ha-ryeon asked.
"Do you have money?"
"I brought a little."
She pulled out a coin pouch and gave it a shake.
"Want to try that stall over there? People were coming out with sparkling fruit skewers."
"Yeah! Let's go!"
Meanwhile, at the tavern—
The young master is taking far too long. I ought to check.
Uneasy, Tomusa slipped away from her seat, and Ha-ryeon's guard followed after her.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"The young master seems much too late. I'd better go see for myself."
"You mustn't."
Ha-ryeon's guard stopped her short.
"Better to just wait. My lady isn't what she looks like—if there isn't someone outside, she can't get anything done. But if two or more people are out there, she gets so nervous she can't get anything done either."
Tomusa stared at her as if she couldn't believe her ears. The guard, however, kept a perfectly calm face.
"Even so, I must at least confirm that the young master is there."
"You may not."
"Are you not worried for your own mistress?"
"No. I'm fine. I trust my lady. Do you not trust your young master?"
"This is not a matter of trust."
"If you mean to be that stubborn, then I have no choice."
Ha-ryeon's guard drew her sword.
"I'll have to stop you."
Tomusa answered by drawing her own blade.
"I will lodge a formal protest with the Namgung Clan."
"Do as you please."
Their swords met and rang out, a clean clash of metal.
"To think you'd actually come at me."
"It's an order."
Tomusa let out a long breath and undid the braids on either side of her head.
Scarlet sword-qi erupted from the blade, flaring to life in a rush of red.
"I'll treat you as an enemy and end this quickly."
The words had barely left her before Tomusa charged. Her opponent raised a clumsy guard, but before that sword it was sheared aside as if it meant nothing. In an instant Tomusa's blade had reached the front of the other woman's throat.
With the steel at her neck, Ha-ryeon's guard understood that this one truly meant to harm her.
"They slipped out to the market street in secret. By now they'll have wandered far enough that catching them won't be easy."
Tomusa withdrew the sword and drove a fist into her face.
"Count yourself fortunate it ended at this."
"I am overcome by your mercy."
Tomusa glared at her, then headed out of the tavern. The crowds, though, were thicker than she had expected, and she could not catch a trail.
Damn it. My qi sense can't pick the young master out of this street. I'll have to search on foot.
And so Tomusa began to run.
Meanwhile, I-hyeon and Ha-ryeon—
"That was really good."
"Yeah. I want to eat it again sometime."
The two of them were still enjoying the street, hands clasped tight.
"They sell all sorts of things."
I-hyeon said.
"They do. There are so many pretty, beautiful things here. Look at this one especially—delicate embroidery on a leather band."
Ha-ryeon said, pointing to a piece of craftwork.
"Looks like the two of them make a pair."
"The young sir has an eye."
The merchant selling the goods cut in between them.
"Even when it's the same animal, I paint a different picture every time. What you get is a piece that exists nowhere else in the world. This band in particular, worked with mandarin ducks, is one of my best sellers—lovers exchange them as betrothal gifts, or as presents."
At the words betrothal gift, the urge to buy surged up in Ha-ryeon.
"How much is this?"
"Two taels of silver for a pair."
"Here! One pair—the one with the mandarin ducks!"
I-hyeon caught her hand as she reached for her money.
"Why spend that much?"
"It's a gift. I think it'll suit you. Just take it."
"Quite right, young master. A gift is not something one refuses."
In the end Ha-ryeon, hooked by the merchant's patter, bought the bands.
"They still look a little large on the two of you. Shall I trim them down?"
"No. If we're going to wear them when we're grown, we have to put up with them being big now. Well then, take care."
"Yes, go safely."
They split the bands between them, one each, and Ha-ryeon looked thoroughly pleased.
"Really... you didn't have to buy it."
She was smiling brightly, and yet she spoke with a sincerity that flustered him. He wasn't displeased in the least. If anything, he felt his heartbeat quicken, little by little.
"Okay! I'll remember."
I-hyeon smiled, bright enough to strike her clean through the heart. For a long moment the two of them simply looked at each other, smiling.
"Young master! Where are you! Young master!"
"That's Tomusa's voice. She's looking for us."
I-hyeon said.
"Shall we head back, then?"
"Yeah. Next time, let's go out just the two of us again."
"...Okay!"
Hand in hand, the two of them returned to the tavern.