Yong comes to the shrine yard wearing one dark cloak and carrying another. Hood of his own cloak drawn to hide his face.
"Nui*," he says, crouching down to peer at her face. "What on earth are you doing down there? Get up, the ground must be freezing!" He wraps Seol in the spare cloak slung over his arm and grips her by the shoulders.
Seol looks at him through the cracks between her fingers, tear streaked face buried in her hands.
"Who told you I'd be here?" She asks, no true fight in her tone. Yong sighs.
"I think you know the answer to that," he arches a brow and pats her on the back. "Come now sister, how long are you planning to leave Lord Kang guarding an unmanned shrine door?"
Seol wipes her eyes roughly with her palms.
"He's still here?" She casts a surreptitious look around.
"Come," Yong says instead. "I'm tasked with bringing you home." He hauls her to her feet and helps her with an arm around her waist when she stumbles. "How much wine did you drink Nui? Seriously, you must tell me where this tavern is - we are going to have a long talk when you are sober I promise."
His voice trails off as he leads her out on a different route than the one Seo had taken in coming in. Seo watches them leave, crouching atop the shrine roof where moonlight did not reach. Yong was not a fool to roam around alone at night, Seo could make out shapes of the crown prince's personal guard waiting just beyond the footpath, reins of a horse at hand.
He hears movement in the wind and knows the evening is at an end. Still he holds the line of sight where Seol had disappeared with her brother and speaks into the night.
"What news do you bring?"
It is protocol among men of wind and dust; the secret intelligence force better known as shadows; that no shadow faced another as they exchanged news.
"Hawk has left the shores, its perch uncertain," it is a woman's voice that answers. "A friend from across the river is due any moment."
There is a flicker in the depth of Seo's silver eyes, apart from which he gives no other outward reaction of having registered the message.
"Baby bird will take flight soon," he replies.
For a moment, there is no response or movement from the other end. Seo could no longer see Seol from where he was perched.
"What you saw here…" he begins and breaks off, thinking better of it.
"Take care in the mountains, General," the woman tells him, "the slopes are slippery there."
Seo says nothing, in a moment or two the shadow that accompanied his on the tiled shrine roof melts into the night. Seo exhales the breath he had been holding, suddenly cold and adrift. His eyes turn to the skies, longing stirring in their silver depths.
*
Yong hands Seol into an inconspicuous carriage, throwing a dark look at one of the guardsmen who stares at his sister for too long. It was only after a moment that he remembers that Seol is not dressed as his lady sister but as a dirty ragamuffin. Shaking his head, he follows after her, giving clear instructions of the route to be taken.
Seol curls into a corner, massaging her head. She looks a bit green in the face and her eyes are bloodshot. Gloomy mood hangs over her, as she leans an arm over the couch window and buries her head against the crook of it, her shoulders shaking.
"Yong - ah," her voice is muffled. "Do you think I'm despicable?"
Yong folds his legs under him, enjoying the brief release from having to be the composed, civilized crown prince. Between his sister and him, there were no such formalities observed.
"Depends on various factors sister," he says teasingly. "Now what have you done? No, wait, I don't think my innocent ears need to hear that."
Seol lifts her head only a fraction, so that Yong could see her glare. Her eyes soften in the moment though.
"Do you wish me gone?"
Yong looks appalled. His teasing grin falls off as he scoots over to his sister.
They were unlikely siblings, the first and second born of the reigning emperor. While courtiers and nobles schemed to pit these two against one another, speaking of claims to throne and purity of blood - they had inadvertently orbited towards each other. When the queen had fallen ill following a hard pregnancy Yong and Seol had been inseparable. In an unconventional inner palace, that consisted only of the queen - these children had grown viewing each other not as competition or potential rivals but as the only unconditional support they would receive.
Seol responds to his movement by uncurling herself to scoot closer to her brother, resting her head upon his shoulder. Yong remains silent, patting her head.
"Let him be, Nui," he says after a moment. He doesn't stop patting her head. "I want General Kang to be my Lord Protector. It will not do for him to get into a scandal involving you."
Seol pulls away, her eyes burning.
"What do you think I -"
"You love him." Yong states. "It is clear to anyone with eyes." He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "And people like you and I don't end up with those we love." His voice softens. "If things turn ugly, he is the one who will end up shouldering the blame. Do you really want to ruin his chances at a better life pursuing this unattainable wish?"
When she says nothing he continues.
"You are his ward. Court is going to claim he has abused his position as your guardian, by influencing you into this. Then, although they have different mothers and decades between them - he shares a father with my imperial mother. The nobles will not have another Wang tied up with another Kang. We are the spoilers of the dragon blood!"
Seol exhales slowly. Her frames slumps as all her arguments are extinguished one by one. Yong looks at her with pity.
"Forgive me Nui, but young master Kang is too gentle to be frank with you. And someone has to deliver these facts."
For the first time Seol sees Yong for what he had become. No longer her little brother, no longer her mother's dumpling with a penchant for all things sweet; not even the heavenly lord of Eastern Palace- but a boy who had to grow up too fast.
"If you truly love him, make things easier for him. And be happy doing that - nothing would make him happier."
**
Glossary
Nui: older sister.