Yong does not enjoy the prospect of being sent to Silla, even in a position of power. Seol had not managed to make him divulge what had transpired between him and the Silla forces apart from what she had already witnessed in the holding cells of Songak but shadows hung over him, diminishing the light in his eyes, sucking out the confidence that had once filled him with so much life and leaving him feeling like a shell of her beloved brother. Her brother had emerged from the ordeal as a stranger who made her skin crawl.
Seo and Yong had been two constants of her life, apart from her father. Seol felt adrift and cut from all three of them. Silla looming ever closer would only distance them further. That thought had made her suffocate, choke on crisp morning air. She is quite out of sync with her surroundings when Yong grabs her elbow abruptly, almost yanking her off her saddle.
"Nui," he says, aghast. "Where is your focus?"
