Man of the House, Ch. 6
Previously:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Disclaimer: Everything you see here belongs to me for a change!
Author's Notes: I AM ALIVE!!! And also very, very, VERY sorry for going so long without an update. :'( Apart from being really busy with real-life stuff, I also had a terrible case of writer's block. I swear I've lost count of the number of times I opened my story file and kept it open all day before closing it, virtually unchanged - or worse, with chunks of existing writing deleted because it didn't feel right. I'm still not 100% confident in the way the courting scene turned out, but it's as good as I could make it.
A very belated thank you to min7girl, junmaolove, Anonymous, akaironoyoru, and naddyamal for reviewing my last fic featuring the infamous little red book. I hope you haven't forgotten me, and enjoy this chapter :) Hopefully the rest of the fic will be posted on schedule.
Chapter Six
Dae-ran was still brooding about the encounter with the young lord a few days later, when Jin-sang sought him out in the stables. "My lady noticed that you haven't eaten," the servant remarked.
Ordinarily, the idea that So-ra had been paying attention to him would have been pleasing, but these days, thinking about her upset him. "I'm not hungry," Dae-ran replied as he pulled a brush through the mane of his best mare, a chestnut with white feet. He knew that he was sulking, but he really did feel bad and decided that he was entitled to a little sulking in private. (At least, he had been sulking in private until Jin-sang had come upon him.)
His declaration that he would marry So-ra had been more of an impulse than anything else - Dae-ran's only thought then was to ensure that he had a woman besides the land that was the khan's reward. A wiser man, once spurned, would have simply taken what he wanted or turned his attentions to the other women around; but apparently he had lost some of his mind as well as his eye, and chose instead to wait while she decided whether or not to marry him. During that time, it became clear to him that she was not only nice enough to look upon, but she had spirit, and was not afraid of hard work despite her delicate appearance. Even though she was not a woman of the nation, he knew that he would get fine sons from her.
However, So-ra had not yet made her decision, and that lordling persisted in hanging around. Whatever she had said to the man that day on the way home from the marketplace, it hadn't sounded like a dismissal to Dae-ran. Perhaps he should have looked upon her as a sister from the very beginning, as she had intended, he thought morosely as he pulled some stray horsehair from the brush. If he hadn't fallen into the trap of thinking of her as a wife, he wouldn't be so miserable.
"Was there anything else you wanted?" he asked, scowling when he looked up again and saw that Jin-sang, though clearly dismissed, had not moved from where he stood next to a pile of straw.
"I was just wondering, master," he replied pensively, "whether your lack of appetite has anything to do with what happened on the way home from market the other day."
Dae-ran grunted. "If you think that little scratch I gave the puppy's man was enough to put me off my food, you are sorely mistaken. I've seen more blood coming out of me many times in the past."
"I do not refer to that, master, but to what happened afterwards, when Lady So-ra spoke to the young lord."
"How can that upset me when I don't know what she told him?" he retorted, sounding more annoyed than he had wanted, and glared at his servant. "Get that stupid grin off your face."
To his irritation, Jin-sang did not. "Shall I tell you what she said, then?"
"A good servant," Dae-ran growled, "would not have waited for his master to ask."
"Oh, that was supposed to be your doing? How disappointing."
Jin-sang had to give credit to Lady So-ra; all day long, she had borne the humiliation of having their wares rejected by almost every merchant in town. (Of course, she was not the only one who had to do so, but he supposed that people like him and Min-kyung, who were of the servant class, were more used to bearing such indignities.) Now, she had just discovered that the man she greatly disliked was responsible for their difficulties, but rather than rail at him as Jin-sang expected she would, she acted as though it was of no consequence.
Lord Choi tried to twist the situation in his favor, dismissing the merchant who had helped them as insignificant, but to Jin-sang's glee, Lady So-ra refused to take the bait. Even better, she had stolen a look at Jin-sang's master right in front of the young lord.
(She hadn't said anything yet, but Jin-sang was certain that she would end up marrying his master. At least, he hoped that she would. Even though the Cha estate wasn't wealthy, he liked it there, and enjoyed his status as servant to the man who would become its master. Some of the maids certainly found it impressive.)
Lord Choi sneered at Jin-sang's master, who sat his horse at the side of the wagon, watching the other man's companions with a gaze as cold as the blade he carried. "This blind man refuses to go away. Have you finally chosen between us, then? Is the man you're going to marry?"
Jin-sang's fingers clenched around the reins and he willed the lady to announce that she was indeed going to marry his master. She hadn't driven them out or tried asking the king for a new brother, one that knew his place... she had given his master a new name... she had looked at him while speaking of people who could surprise you. Surely all of that counted for something?
Lady So-ra's expression closed - a bad sign. "I am still deciding," she said, causing Jin-sang's heart to sink. However, it lifted again with her next words: "But you need not concern yourself about my decision, Choi Myong-bok. One thing is for certain: I will never marry you."
So-ra and her mother were seated at their evening meal when they heard footsteps in the corridor outside. "It sounds as though Master Yoo was successful," the younger woman observed.
"That man won't be very happy, though," Lady Woo warned her.
"I can't risk him starving to death just because something's bothering him, Omonim. He'll feel better after he's eaten."
"That's true, but men don't like being made to do anything. You should have left him alone."
To their surprise, Dae-ran looked decidedly cheerful when he entered the room, trailed by his servant. "I am sorry... that you waited," he addressed the ladies in halting Koryeo, inclining his head politely as he spoke. "I became busy... and forgot."
"My master was seeing to his horses, my ladies," Jin-sang added, "and he lost track of time."
So-ra nodded her acceptance of the explanation, but looked quizzically at the newcomer as he took a place at the table.
Dae-ran caught the look and, thoroughly accustomed by now to her penchant for cleanliness, held out his hands for her inspection. "I washed them," he assured her with his most charming smile.
She blushed, unnerved by his sudden change in behavior. Perhaps he was acting strangely because he was faint from hunger, or driven mad by the thoughts that had seemed to weigh heavily upon him over the past few days. "Good."
His smile faded then and he stared at her for a long moment. So-ra looked back at him, puzzled, and was about to ask him if he was unwell when he spoke again, addressing her mother this time. "My lady, may your daughter... ride me?"
"WHAT?" the ladies demanded, looking horrified.
Dae-ran's face burned as Jin-sang's frantic gesturing caught his eye and he realized that he must have said something horribly wrong. He struggled to remember the speech that they had carefully rehearsed on the walk from the stables and tried again. "May your daughter... ride with me?" he ventured. Yes, that sounded correct. "Tomorrow?"
To his relief, they looked far less alarmed after his second attempt, especially after Jin-sang interceded to help smooth things over. Still, it was embarrassing to know that he had made a terrible mistake; and even worse, judging from the expression on her face, it might have frightened So-ra's mother into refusing.
"Will my daughter be safe with that man?" Lady Woo asked Jin-sang. "I've heard stories of the way the Mongols ride. So-ra might get hurt."
So-ra resented that, but at the same time supposed that it make a good excuse to refuse Dae-ran's invitation. The idea of spending time with him didn't repulse her the way entertaining Myong-bok did, but she was still hesitant about accepting.
"I assure you, my lady," replied the servant, "my master wishes to take a pleasant ride around at the estate. He will not let Lady So-ra come to any harm."
"I still don't know... but I suppose if my daughter would like to go, then she may go."
So-ra looked up, startled. "What?" She had hoped that her mother would make the decision for her: So-ra had certainly never entertained Myong-bok of her own free will, and she knew that Dae-ran still made Lady Woo uncomfortable. What a time for her to start allowing her daughter to make her own decisions!
Her heart skipped a beat at the broad grin that spread over Dae-ran's face at Jin-sang's translation of her mother's response, but she kept her expression even when he turned to extend his invitation directly to her. "My lady... do you wish to ride with me tomorrow?"
She could have refused politely, with the excuse that she had too many important things to do around the estate, but the distracting way that he was smiling at her made the words die in So-ra's throat. (Why was he doing that instead of staring at her, practically challenging her to say no, the way he would have in the past? It would have been so easy to refuse then.)
"I suppose it's all right," she said finally.
This would not be anything special, she told herself. As the new lord, Dae-ran should know what the property looks like. It will be something he needs to do... just like the trip to the market.
In keeping with her private vow not to treat the outing as extraordinary, So-ra deliberately chose not to dress prettily. "But, my lady," Min-kyung protested when her mistress announced that she wasn't changing out of the plain, workaday hanbok she had worn around the house that day, "you can't show yourself to the lord looking like this."
"She's right, So-ra," Lady Woo said from where she sat in the corner of their bedchamber, observing the preparations. "Don't I always tell you that a lady must look her best when walking out with a young man, even if he is a Mongol?"
So-ra couldn't help bristling at that. "His name is Cha Dae-ran now, Omonim, and I'm not 'walking out' with him. I'm just showing him around the estate. That's why I said I would go riding with him - if Dae-ran is to take over the running of this place, then he must know what it looks like."
"I believe he already does. The farmhands have taken him to see every inch of the estate."
"Well, there might be some things that they haven't pointed out to him," she insisted. "Besides, no one should wear their best clothes when going riding. I can't afford to replace them if they get spoiled."
Her mother sighed. "At least let Min-kyung put a ribbon in your hair."
"Fine, but don't make it too big," So-ra warned the maid, "or the horses might want to eat it."
A number of choices were proposed and, after several minutes of haggling, the women agreed on a robin's-egg blue ribbon to add some color to So-ra's brown skirt and dark blue jacket. With her toilette completed, So-ra took her leave of her mother and walked with Min-kyung to the stables.
Dae-ran was already in the corral, overseeing the saddling of the horses, when they arrived. He was personally checking the straps on a saddle and thus unable to come over and greet them, but he managed to give So-ra a smile that stopped her in her tracks. "Why does he keep looking at me like that?" she muttered, feeling her face grow warm. "I'm not going to do anything with him that's out of the ordinary. I didn't even dress up."
"He's courting you, my lady," her maid reminded her. "He would smile at you that way even if you were wearing nothing at all." She giggled. "In fact, I imagine his smile would be even bigger then."
She reddened even more at the idea and resolutely pushed such thoughts from her mind. "Well, he never did it before," she grumbled. "He didn't have to start now."
"Ladies," Dae-ran hailed the newcomers as they approached the corral fence. Jin-sang echoed the greeting and, judging from the length of his speech, even improved upon it. Ordinarily, he would have left his servant to observe the pleasantries for him, but he knew that he had to do more of the talking as soon as possible. "Shall we go?" he asked, sure about the words, but not about his pronunciation.
So-ra shrugged and mumbled something. Since it didn't seem to be a vehement refusal, he led their horses forward, and waited prudently to see whether she would need any help mounting hers. (She struggled a bit with her skirts, but she didn't.) Dae-ran smiled - he had been very sure that she would try to manage it on her own - and climbed into his own saddle.
His horse, taking the saddle as a signal that they were going for a long ride, wheeled about in a tight, excited circle. Jin-sang avoided its swishing tail as he cautiously approached to hand up a bag of food to his master.
So-ra observed the exchange and realized with some alarm that only two horses had been brought out. "You're not accompanying us?" she asked the servants, when the horses started to walk out of the corral.
"No, my lady," Jin-sang explained while Min-kyung merely looked apologetic. "My master wishes to take you on a simple picnic, and servants would just be in the way."
"But... but-" she sputtered, but it was too late. Dae-ran's mount quickly sped up to a canter, and her own followed suit.
"Have a wonderful time!" Jin-sang's voice floated after them.
Despite her best efforts to treat the outing as a chore, So-ra found that she was indeed having a wonderful time. It was difficult not to enjoy the day given the pleasant weather, coupled with the fact that she was gallivanting about outdoors instead of shut up in the house, worrying about estate matters.
Following her companion's lead, she gave her mount its head, holding on to the Mongol saddle that, though bulky, at least held her firmly in place atop the animal. Her horse proved to be sure-footed, navigating the uneven terrain of the Cha lands with the confidence of a creature that had been born and raised in the mountains of the west.
Dae-ran seemed to be enjoying himself, too. So-ra chanced a glance at him and saw that he was smiling. He never looked more relaxed than when he was with his horses, she thought; perhaps it was because they were constants amid all the changes that had occurred in his life.
Suddenly, he called out a command and both horses halted on the bank of a rushing stream. "We stop here," he told her. "We...." Murmuring something in Mongol, he mimed putting something in his mouth.
"Eat?" she ventured.
He nodded. "Yes, eat."
They dismounted, with So-ra once again shunning any assistance, and Dae-ran took the horses' reins to tether them to a shady, grassy spot to rest. After checking their feet to make sure they hadn't stepped on sharp stones or anything that might have hurt them, he took a rag to wipe down his mount. It had been a light ride, so the animal had barely broken a sweat, but a good Mongol always took care of his horses.
He turned to the other horse, but rather than let him continue, So-ra took the rag from him and fell to the task herself. "I'll do it." She was very much aware that her movements were but a clumsy imitation of Dae-ran's, but the work seemed simple enough and she wanted to do her part.
Dae-ran smiled. While going to war for his khan had kept him busy, he'd also had time for women, and he therefore knew that this was an opportunity that he would be foolish to ignore.
So-ra squeaked in surprise when she suddenly felt him standing close to her, his hand covering hers, and almost dropped the rag; but his fingers kept it firmly in their shared grip, guiding her in the proper motion. She held her breath, conscious of their close proximity and poised to run if he tried anything inappropriate.
He didn't, however. Rather than demand a kiss or do whatever a prospective rapist might do, he simply carried on with their task. His instructions were mostly in Mongol and, when he wasn't groping for words, rumbled disturbingly in her ear; but his tone was dry, even clinical. Little by little, So-ra relaxed.
"You wipe... its face," Dae-ran said, nudging her closer to the mare's head so they could do just that. "We... we don't-" A slight breeze stirred up So-ra's clean, warm scent, causing him to give up trying to translate his thoughts. "We shouldn't leave the sweat to just dry...."
It was only when they had finished seeing to the horses that he realized that the tension was gone from her shoulders, and she no longer had a death grip on the rag. Nevertheless, So-ra colored and stepped away from him when she turned and found that they were standing quite close to each other.
He gave her what he hoped was a charming, harmless smile, and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Thank you."
She blinked. "What?"
"Thank you, for... for... help with horse," he managed to say, illustrating with vague gestures. Dae-ran wanted to tell her that he appreciated her helping him, but couldn't rightly recall the proper words in Koryeo.
Finally, he glared at the mare standing indifferently beside them. "You... say 'thank you,'" he ordered in his sternest tone. As if on cue, the animal whinnied and dipped her head as if in gratitude.
"Oh," So-ra said, and laughed up at him.
The musical sound made his heart lift. He knew that she had had very little to smile about ever since her brother died, and this was also probably the first time she had ever laughed just for him. Even better, he could not recall her ever seeing her smile or laugh in the lordling's presence.
Feeling greatly encouraged, Dae-ran grabbed their bag of food from where it hung off his saddle, and held out a hand to her. He faltered when she blushed again, looking apprehensive, but placed her hand in his just when he started to think that he might have pushed things a bit too far.
Grinning, he turned and started towing her towards another shady spot so that they, too, might eat and rest.
"How was your outing?" Lady Woo asked her daughter that evening as the women prepared for bed.
"Fine," she replied, her head bent studiously over the skirt she was folding. She turned away briefly to stow it and the jacket she had worn that morning in the small wardrobe that held their clothing.
The older woman peered at her intently. (Min-kyung, who was braiding her hair, was forced to lean forward as well or else risk snatching her mistress bald.) "Did he force himself on you?" Lady Woo asked.
"Omonim!" So-ra exclaimed, color flooding her cheeks. "Dae-ran did nothing of the sort. We rode the horses and ate some food, and I tried to teach him some more Koryeo. That's all."
"He didn't try to compromise you even just the slightest bit?"
Well, he had held her hand, but she had allowed it of her own free will, and there had been perfectly innocent reasons for him to do so. "No," the younger woman reiterated firmly. "If that had happened, I would have been very angry with him."
"You sound angry, my lady," Min-kyung pointed out.
"Well, I would have been much angrier," So-ra replied, but she lowered her voice anyway. "Look, he was as polite as he knew how to be, all right? Nothing happened. And," she added truthfully, "while I wasn't as comfortable with him as I would have been with my true brother, this afternoon was... not so bad."
To So-ra's relief, her answers seemed to mollify her mother, and there was no more prying after that. It wasn't that she was hiding anything, she reasoned as she lay in bed later that night. Things had been as awkward and innocent as she said, but thinking about them made her feel uneasy.
She wrapped herself more tightly in her blanket, trying not to wake Lady Woo with all her tossing and turning. Although she tried, over and over again, to make herself believe that the afternoon with Dae-ran had meant nothing, the words rang false whenever she said or thought them.
The feel of his hand on hers, calluses rough against her softer skin, had not felt like nothing. Nor had the memory of him standing steadfastly behind her, smelling of man now instead of dirt and horses; or the smile that dawned on his face when she took the hand he had offered. Even the sunlight dappling his hair as they sat beneath the trees, trying to converse after their picnic, felt terribly important.
If all those things didn't mean anything to me, why can't I stop thinking about them?
Perhaps, So-ra thought, she was beginning to like Dae-ran as a woman does a man.
Her heart beat a little faster at the idea.
Just a little.
Suddenly, shouts rent the night.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Disclaimer: Everything you see here belongs to me for a change!
Author's Notes: I AM ALIVE!!! And also very, very, VERY sorry for going so long without an update. :'( Apart from being really busy with real-life stuff, I also had a terrible case of writer's block. I swear I've lost count of the number of times I opened my story file and kept it open all day before closing it, virtually unchanged - or worse, with chunks of existing writing deleted because it didn't feel right. I'm still not 100% confident in the way the courting scene turned out, but it's as good as I could make it.
A very belated thank you to min7girl, junmaolove, Anonymous, akaironoyoru, and naddyamal for reviewing my last fic featuring the infamous little red book. I hope you haven't forgotten me, and enjoy this chapter :) Hopefully the rest of the fic will be posted on schedule.
Chapter Six
Dae-ran was still brooding about the encounter with the young lord a few days later, when Jin-sang sought him out in the stables. "My lady noticed that you haven't eaten," the servant remarked.
Ordinarily, the idea that So-ra had been paying attention to him would have been pleasing, but these days, thinking about her upset him. "I'm not hungry," Dae-ran replied as he pulled a brush through the mane of his best mare, a chestnut with white feet. He knew that he was sulking, but he really did feel bad and decided that he was entitled to a little sulking in private. (At least, he had been sulking in private until Jin-sang had come upon him.)
His declaration that he would marry So-ra had been more of an impulse than anything else - Dae-ran's only thought then was to ensure that he had a woman besides the land that was the khan's reward. A wiser man, once spurned, would have simply taken what he wanted or turned his attentions to the other women around; but apparently he had lost some of his mind as well as his eye, and chose instead to wait while she decided whether or not to marry him. During that time, it became clear to him that she was not only nice enough to look upon, but she had spirit, and was not afraid of hard work despite her delicate appearance. Even though she was not a woman of the nation, he knew that he would get fine sons from her.
However, So-ra had not yet made her decision, and that lordling persisted in hanging around. Whatever she had said to the man that day on the way home from the marketplace, it hadn't sounded like a dismissal to Dae-ran. Perhaps he should have looked upon her as a sister from the very beginning, as she had intended, he thought morosely as he pulled some stray horsehair from the brush. If he hadn't fallen into the trap of thinking of her as a wife, he wouldn't be so miserable.
"Was there anything else you wanted?" he asked, scowling when he looked up again and saw that Jin-sang, though clearly dismissed, had not moved from where he stood next to a pile of straw.
"I was just wondering, master," he replied pensively, "whether your lack of appetite has anything to do with what happened on the way home from market the other day."
Dae-ran grunted. "If you think that little scratch I gave the puppy's man was enough to put me off my food, you are sorely mistaken. I've seen more blood coming out of me many times in the past."
"I do not refer to that, master, but to what happened afterwards, when Lady So-ra spoke to the young lord."
"How can that upset me when I don't know what she told him?" he retorted, sounding more annoyed than he had wanted, and glared at his servant. "Get that stupid grin off your face."
To his irritation, Jin-sang did not. "Shall I tell you what she said, then?"
"A good servant," Dae-ran growled, "would not have waited for his master to ask."
"Oh, that was supposed to be your doing? How disappointing."
Jin-sang had to give credit to Lady So-ra; all day long, she had borne the humiliation of having their wares rejected by almost every merchant in town. (Of course, she was not the only one who had to do so, but he supposed that people like him and Min-kyung, who were of the servant class, were more used to bearing such indignities.) Now, she had just discovered that the man she greatly disliked was responsible for their difficulties, but rather than rail at him as Jin-sang expected she would, she acted as though it was of no consequence.
Lord Choi tried to twist the situation in his favor, dismissing the merchant who had helped them as insignificant, but to Jin-sang's glee, Lady So-ra refused to take the bait. Even better, she had stolen a look at Jin-sang's master right in front of the young lord.
(She hadn't said anything yet, but Jin-sang was certain that she would end up marrying his master. At least, he hoped that she would. Even though the Cha estate wasn't wealthy, he liked it there, and enjoyed his status as servant to the man who would become its master. Some of the maids certainly found it impressive.)
Lord Choi sneered at Jin-sang's master, who sat his horse at the side of the wagon, watching the other man's companions with a gaze as cold as the blade he carried. "This blind man refuses to go away. Have you finally chosen between us, then? Is the man you're going to marry?"
Jin-sang's fingers clenched around the reins and he willed the lady to announce that she was indeed going to marry his master. She hadn't driven them out or tried asking the king for a new brother, one that knew his place... she had given his master a new name... she had looked at him while speaking of people who could surprise you. Surely all of that counted for something?
Lady So-ra's expression closed - a bad sign. "I am still deciding," she said, causing Jin-sang's heart to sink. However, it lifted again with her next words: "But you need not concern yourself about my decision, Choi Myong-bok. One thing is for certain: I will never marry you."
So-ra and her mother were seated at their evening meal when they heard footsteps in the corridor outside. "It sounds as though Master Yoo was successful," the younger woman observed.
"That man won't be very happy, though," Lady Woo warned her.
"I can't risk him starving to death just because something's bothering him, Omonim. He'll feel better after he's eaten."
"That's true, but men don't like being made to do anything. You should have left him alone."
To their surprise, Dae-ran looked decidedly cheerful when he entered the room, trailed by his servant. "I am sorry... that you waited," he addressed the ladies in halting Koryeo, inclining his head politely as he spoke. "I became busy... and forgot."
"My master was seeing to his horses, my ladies," Jin-sang added, "and he lost track of time."
So-ra nodded her acceptance of the explanation, but looked quizzically at the newcomer as he took a place at the table.
Dae-ran caught the look and, thoroughly accustomed by now to her penchant for cleanliness, held out his hands for her inspection. "I washed them," he assured her with his most charming smile.
She blushed, unnerved by his sudden change in behavior. Perhaps he was acting strangely because he was faint from hunger, or driven mad by the thoughts that had seemed to weigh heavily upon him over the past few days. "Good."
His smile faded then and he stared at her for a long moment. So-ra looked back at him, puzzled, and was about to ask him if he was unwell when he spoke again, addressing her mother this time. "My lady, may your daughter... ride me?"
"WHAT?" the ladies demanded, looking horrified.
Dae-ran's face burned as Jin-sang's frantic gesturing caught his eye and he realized that he must have said something horribly wrong. He struggled to remember the speech that they had carefully rehearsed on the walk from the stables and tried again. "May your daughter... ride with me?" he ventured. Yes, that sounded correct. "Tomorrow?"
To his relief, they looked far less alarmed after his second attempt, especially after Jin-sang interceded to help smooth things over. Still, it was embarrassing to know that he had made a terrible mistake; and even worse, judging from the expression on her face, it might have frightened So-ra's mother into refusing.
"Will my daughter be safe with that man?" Lady Woo asked Jin-sang. "I've heard stories of the way the Mongols ride. So-ra might get hurt."
So-ra resented that, but at the same time supposed that it make a good excuse to refuse Dae-ran's invitation. The idea of spending time with him didn't repulse her the way entertaining Myong-bok did, but she was still hesitant about accepting.
"I assure you, my lady," replied the servant, "my master wishes to take a pleasant ride around at the estate. He will not let Lady So-ra come to any harm."
"I still don't know... but I suppose if my daughter would like to go, then she may go."
So-ra looked up, startled. "What?" She had hoped that her mother would make the decision for her: So-ra had certainly never entertained Myong-bok of her own free will, and she knew that Dae-ran still made Lady Woo uncomfortable. What a time for her to start allowing her daughter to make her own decisions!
Her heart skipped a beat at the broad grin that spread over Dae-ran's face at Jin-sang's translation of her mother's response, but she kept her expression even when he turned to extend his invitation directly to her. "My lady... do you wish to ride with me tomorrow?"
She could have refused politely, with the excuse that she had too many important things to do around the estate, but the distracting way that he was smiling at her made the words die in So-ra's throat. (Why was he doing that instead of staring at her, practically challenging her to say no, the way he would have in the past? It would have been so easy to refuse then.)
"I suppose it's all right," she said finally.
This would not be anything special, she told herself. As the new lord, Dae-ran should know what the property looks like. It will be something he needs to do... just like the trip to the market.
In keeping with her private vow not to treat the outing as extraordinary, So-ra deliberately chose not to dress prettily. "But, my lady," Min-kyung protested when her mistress announced that she wasn't changing out of the plain, workaday hanbok she had worn around the house that day, "you can't show yourself to the lord looking like this."
"She's right, So-ra," Lady Woo said from where she sat in the corner of their bedchamber, observing the preparations. "Don't I always tell you that a lady must look her best when walking out with a young man, even if he is a Mongol?"
So-ra couldn't help bristling at that. "His name is Cha Dae-ran now, Omonim, and I'm not 'walking out' with him. I'm just showing him around the estate. That's why I said I would go riding with him - if Dae-ran is to take over the running of this place, then he must know what it looks like."
"I believe he already does. The farmhands have taken him to see every inch of the estate."
"Well, there might be some things that they haven't pointed out to him," she insisted. "Besides, no one should wear their best clothes when going riding. I can't afford to replace them if they get spoiled."
Her mother sighed. "At least let Min-kyung put a ribbon in your hair."
"Fine, but don't make it too big," So-ra warned the maid, "or the horses might want to eat it."
A number of choices were proposed and, after several minutes of haggling, the women agreed on a robin's-egg blue ribbon to add some color to So-ra's brown skirt and dark blue jacket. With her toilette completed, So-ra took her leave of her mother and walked with Min-kyung to the stables.
Dae-ran was already in the corral, overseeing the saddling of the horses, when they arrived. He was personally checking the straps on a saddle and thus unable to come over and greet them, but he managed to give So-ra a smile that stopped her in her tracks. "Why does he keep looking at me like that?" she muttered, feeling her face grow warm. "I'm not going to do anything with him that's out of the ordinary. I didn't even dress up."
"He's courting you, my lady," her maid reminded her. "He would smile at you that way even if you were wearing nothing at all." She giggled. "In fact, I imagine his smile would be even bigger then."
She reddened even more at the idea and resolutely pushed such thoughts from her mind. "Well, he never did it before," she grumbled. "He didn't have to start now."
"Ladies," Dae-ran hailed the newcomers as they approached the corral fence. Jin-sang echoed the greeting and, judging from the length of his speech, even improved upon it. Ordinarily, he would have left his servant to observe the pleasantries for him, but he knew that he had to do more of the talking as soon as possible. "Shall we go?" he asked, sure about the words, but not about his pronunciation.
So-ra shrugged and mumbled something. Since it didn't seem to be a vehement refusal, he led their horses forward, and waited prudently to see whether she would need any help mounting hers. (She struggled a bit with her skirts, but she didn't.) Dae-ran smiled - he had been very sure that she would try to manage it on her own - and climbed into his own saddle.
His horse, taking the saddle as a signal that they were going for a long ride, wheeled about in a tight, excited circle. Jin-sang avoided its swishing tail as he cautiously approached to hand up a bag of food to his master.
So-ra observed the exchange and realized with some alarm that only two horses had been brought out. "You're not accompanying us?" she asked the servants, when the horses started to walk out of the corral.
"No, my lady," Jin-sang explained while Min-kyung merely looked apologetic. "My master wishes to take you on a simple picnic, and servants would just be in the way."
"But... but-" she sputtered, but it was too late. Dae-ran's mount quickly sped up to a canter, and her own followed suit.
"Have a wonderful time!" Jin-sang's voice floated after them.
Despite her best efforts to treat the outing as a chore, So-ra found that she was indeed having a wonderful time. It was difficult not to enjoy the day given the pleasant weather, coupled with the fact that she was gallivanting about outdoors instead of shut up in the house, worrying about estate matters.
Following her companion's lead, she gave her mount its head, holding on to the Mongol saddle that, though bulky, at least held her firmly in place atop the animal. Her horse proved to be sure-footed, navigating the uneven terrain of the Cha lands with the confidence of a creature that had been born and raised in the mountains of the west.
Dae-ran seemed to be enjoying himself, too. So-ra chanced a glance at him and saw that he was smiling. He never looked more relaxed than when he was with his horses, she thought; perhaps it was because they were constants amid all the changes that had occurred in his life.
Suddenly, he called out a command and both horses halted on the bank of a rushing stream. "We stop here," he told her. "We...." Murmuring something in Mongol, he mimed putting something in his mouth.
"Eat?" she ventured.
He nodded. "Yes, eat."
They dismounted, with So-ra once again shunning any assistance, and Dae-ran took the horses' reins to tether them to a shady, grassy spot to rest. After checking their feet to make sure they hadn't stepped on sharp stones or anything that might have hurt them, he took a rag to wipe down his mount. It had been a light ride, so the animal had barely broken a sweat, but a good Mongol always took care of his horses.
He turned to the other horse, but rather than let him continue, So-ra took the rag from him and fell to the task herself. "I'll do it." She was very much aware that her movements were but a clumsy imitation of Dae-ran's, but the work seemed simple enough and she wanted to do her part.
Dae-ran smiled. While going to war for his khan had kept him busy, he'd also had time for women, and he therefore knew that this was an opportunity that he would be foolish to ignore.
So-ra squeaked in surprise when she suddenly felt him standing close to her, his hand covering hers, and almost dropped the rag; but his fingers kept it firmly in their shared grip, guiding her in the proper motion. She held her breath, conscious of their close proximity and poised to run if he tried anything inappropriate.
He didn't, however. Rather than demand a kiss or do whatever a prospective rapist might do, he simply carried on with their task. His instructions were mostly in Mongol and, when he wasn't groping for words, rumbled disturbingly in her ear; but his tone was dry, even clinical. Little by little, So-ra relaxed.
"You wipe... its face," Dae-ran said, nudging her closer to the mare's head so they could do just that. "We... we don't-" A slight breeze stirred up So-ra's clean, warm scent, causing him to give up trying to translate his thoughts. "We shouldn't leave the sweat to just dry...."
It was only when they had finished seeing to the horses that he realized that the tension was gone from her shoulders, and she no longer had a death grip on the rag. Nevertheless, So-ra colored and stepped away from him when she turned and found that they were standing quite close to each other.
He gave her what he hoped was a charming, harmless smile, and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Thank you."
She blinked. "What?"
"Thank you, for... for... help with horse," he managed to say, illustrating with vague gestures. Dae-ran wanted to tell her that he appreciated her helping him, but couldn't rightly recall the proper words in Koryeo.
Finally, he glared at the mare standing indifferently beside them. "You... say 'thank you,'" he ordered in his sternest tone. As if on cue, the animal whinnied and dipped her head as if in gratitude.
"Oh," So-ra said, and laughed up at him.
The musical sound made his heart lift. He knew that she had had very little to smile about ever since her brother died, and this was also probably the first time she had ever laughed just for him. Even better, he could not recall her ever seeing her smile or laugh in the lordling's presence.
Feeling greatly encouraged, Dae-ran grabbed their bag of food from where it hung off his saddle, and held out a hand to her. He faltered when she blushed again, looking apprehensive, but placed her hand in his just when he started to think that he might have pushed things a bit too far.
Grinning, he turned and started towing her towards another shady spot so that they, too, might eat and rest.
"How was your outing?" Lady Woo asked her daughter that evening as the women prepared for bed.
"Fine," she replied, her head bent studiously over the skirt she was folding. She turned away briefly to stow it and the jacket she had worn that morning in the small wardrobe that held their clothing.
The older woman peered at her intently. (Min-kyung, who was braiding her hair, was forced to lean forward as well or else risk snatching her mistress bald.) "Did he force himself on you?" Lady Woo asked.
"Omonim!" So-ra exclaimed, color flooding her cheeks. "Dae-ran did nothing of the sort. We rode the horses and ate some food, and I tried to teach him some more Koryeo. That's all."
"He didn't try to compromise you even just the slightest bit?"
Well, he had held her hand, but she had allowed it of her own free will, and there had been perfectly innocent reasons for him to do so. "No," the younger woman reiterated firmly. "If that had happened, I would have been very angry with him."
"You sound angry, my lady," Min-kyung pointed out.
"Well, I would have been much angrier," So-ra replied, but she lowered her voice anyway. "Look, he was as polite as he knew how to be, all right? Nothing happened. And," she added truthfully, "while I wasn't as comfortable with him as I would have been with my true brother, this afternoon was... not so bad."
To So-ra's relief, her answers seemed to mollify her mother, and there was no more prying after that. It wasn't that she was hiding anything, she reasoned as she lay in bed later that night. Things had been as awkward and innocent as she said, but thinking about them made her feel uneasy.
She wrapped herself more tightly in her blanket, trying not to wake Lady Woo with all her tossing and turning. Although she tried, over and over again, to make herself believe that the afternoon with Dae-ran had meant nothing, the words rang false whenever she said or thought them.
The feel of his hand on hers, calluses rough against her softer skin, had not felt like nothing. Nor had the memory of him standing steadfastly behind her, smelling of man now instead of dirt and horses; or the smile that dawned on his face when she took the hand he had offered. Even the sunlight dappling his hair as they sat beneath the trees, trying to converse after their picnic, felt terribly important.
If all those things didn't mean anything to me, why can't I stop thinking about them?
Perhaps, So-ra thought, she was beginning to like Dae-ran as a woman does a man.
Her heart beat a little faster at the idea.
Just a little.
Suddenly, shouts rent the night.