The assassins burst through the trees like demons.
There were five of them, dressed in black, faces covered, swords drawn and gleaming in the dappled sunlight. Professional killers. Soyeon had seen enough historical dramas to recognize the type.
"Behind me," Prince Liang Jian commanded, his voice cold and steady despite the blood still seeping through his bandages.
"You can barely stand—"
"Behind me."
He somehow managed to retrieve his bow, nocking an arrow with hands that trembled only slightly. The assassins fanned out, circling them like wolves.
Soyeon's heart shook. This was real. This was actually real. Those were real swords and she was about to die in ancient China and she had never even finished her medical licensing exam.
The lead assassin lunged.
Prince Liang Jian's arrow took him in the throat.
Then everything exploded into chaos.
Soyeon screamed and hit the ground, covering her head as steel clashed against steel. The prince fought like a demon despite his wound, his movements lethal even weakened. But there were four of them left and only one of him and he was bleeding.
As if on cue, horn blast shattered the air.
The thunder of hooves. Shouting in Mandarin. The assassins' heads snapped up in alarm.
Through the trees, soldiers poured in, dozens of them, wearing black and silver armor, the character "梁" emblazoned on their chests. Liang. The prince's family name.
"Your Highness!" A gruff voice bellowed. A massive man on horseback charged forward, his sword already swinging. "Protect the Second Prince!"
The assassins scattered, but they were surrounded. Within moments, three were dead and two captured, forced to their knees with swords at their throats.
A large man, most likely a General from his appearance, dismounted with surprising grace for his size. He took one look at Prince Liang Jian's bloodied robes and his weathered face went pale.
"Your Highness, you're wounded—"
"I'm fine." The prince's voice was steady, but Soyeon could see the way he leaned against the tree for support. "General Wei. You're late."
So that was his name. General Wei.
"The ambush was well-planned. We had to fight through—" General Wei's sharp eyes finally landed on Soyeon, still crouched on the ground in her fine silk robes. His hand immediately went to his sword. "Who is this woman?"
Every soldier turned to stare at her.
Soyeon slowly stood up, very aware that she was covered in the prince's blood and probably looked completely insane.
"She saved my life," Prince Liang Jian said flatly.
The silence that followed was deafening.
General Wei's eyebrows rose so high they nearly disappeared into his helmet. "She.….what?"
"I was bleeding out. She appeared in the forest and treated my wound with medicine." The prince's dark eyes fixed on Soyeon with an unreadable expression. "Without her, I would be probably dead, or near dead."
"Your Highness, she could be one of them, a spy sent to gain your trust—"
"If I wanted him dead, I would have let him bleed," Soyeon snapped before she could stop herself. Her Mandarin was too modern, too casual, but the words came out anyway. "I'm a physi—a healer. I help people. That's what I do."
General Wei's hand tightened on his sword hilt. "Mind your tongue when addressing—"
"Enough." Prince Liang Jian pushed away from the tree, swaying slightly. Soyeon instinctively moved to steady him but stopped herself. "We're bringing her to the palace. I want to know who she is and how she came to be in this forest."
"Your Highness—"
"That's an order, General."
The old warrior's jaw tightened, but he bowed. "As you command."
~
The ride to the palace was a nightmare.
Soyeon had never been on a horse in her life. They put her on one anyway, with a stone-faced soldier behind her to make sure she didn't "try anything." The horse was enormous and terrifying and every jostle sent her stomach lurching.
Behind her, Prince Liang Jian rode his own horse with his usual cold composure, like he wasn't still slowly bleeding. Insane. These ancient people were insane.
The forest eventually gave way to hills, then farmland.
The next sight made Soyeon hold her breath.
The Imperial City rose before them like something from a painting. Massive walls, sweeping curved roofs, gates of red and gold that gleamed in the afternoon sun. It was huge. It was exactly like every historical drama she'd ever watched except real.
"Holy shit," she whispered in Korean.
The soldier behind her grunted. "What did you say?"
"Nothing. Sorry."
They entered through a side gate. From Soyeon's knowledge of their dramas, it was only an illegitimate prince that didn't use a main entrance.
Wait….was this prince an illegitimate prince?
And if he was, who was the other prince?
They wound through increasingly elaborate courtyards. Servants and officials stopped to stare as they passed. Their eyes lingered on Soyeon, her slightly foreign face, her blood-stained robes, the fact that she was with the Second Prince's retinue at all.
She heard the whispers.
"Who is that woman?"
"The Second Prince brought someone back?"
"Look at her face, she's not from the Central Plains—"
Finally, they reached a large courtyard dominated by a palatial building with dark blue roof tiles. Less ornate than the other palaces they had passed, but still breathtaking. A plaque over the entrance read: 冷月宫 - Cold Moon Palace.
"The Second Prince's residence," the soldier behind her said. Not unkindly, for the first time. "Dismount."
Soyeon basically fell off the horse. Her legs were jelly, and everything hurt.
Prince Liang Jian dismounted with considerably more grace, though she noticed the way his hand pressed against his wounded side.
"Your Highness," General Wei said urgently. "You need to see the Imperial Physician immediately—"
"No."
"Your Highness—"
"No Imperial Physician. They report to the Empress Dowager." His eyes were cold as winter. "I will have the wound cleaned and dressed by our own people. Also, prepare a room for the woman."
"You can't be serious about keeping her here—"
"I'll take responsibility." Prince Liang Jian turned to Soyeon. His gaze pinned her in place. "You saved my life. I'm in your debt. But until I know who you are and why you were in that forest, you'll remain in the Cold Moon Palace under guard. If you're truly innocent, you'll be rewarded and freed. If you're a spy...." His voice dropped. "Then I will personally ensure your death is swift. Do you understand?"
Soyeon's mouth was dry. She nodded.
"Good. Take her."
Two female servants appeared, elderly women with kind faces, and guided Soyeon away. She glanced back once to see Prince Liang Jian speaking in low, urgent tones with General Wei, his face pale with blood loss but his spine straight as iron.
The stubborn idiot was going to collapse.
But that wasn't her problem anymore.
...Right?