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English
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Published:
2022-12-16
Completed:
2023-01-13
Words:
1,205
Chapters:
3/3
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12
Kudos:
295
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Empire of Dirt

Summary:

What if the king hadn't found his queen that night in the forest.

Notes:

I do not own Mr Queen. Fair warning, this is going to hurt.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

In the dead of night in a cave, deep in the forest, there was a loud scream. Seconds after it died down, the loud disgruntled cries of a newborn could be heard.
With the baby there should've now been three people in the cave. But instead, there were two.
Baby cradled in his arms, Byeong In stared at So Yong's unmoving form, unable to comprehend. For months they'd been in the forest, running and hiding, trying to make it back to the palace. Both of them too weak to up their pace, the cold and hunger not doing anything to help. But through it all, he'd had hope. The spirit inside So Yong, doing everything in its power to keep the body alive. They'd both carried on without complaint, traces of So Yong peeking through every now and then. From the way she laughed, to the absolute care she used to dress his wounds. Never complaining.
They'd almost made it too.
 Hanyang, even in their weakened states was just a day away. But then her labor pains had started and Byeong In had known it was over. He'd wanted to fall apart then and there, but the fear in So Yong's eyes had stopped him.
“It's going to be alright,”He'd lied to her for the first time in his life, badly. But at the time both of them had needed the lie. 
Now there was no longer anyway to turn away from the truth.
She was gone. Like her mother before her, So Yong had died without ever getting to see her child.
Her little boy. The baby, unaware of how much he'd just lost, slept in Byeong In's arms. With no one to bear witness, Kim Byeong  In for the first time in his life…wept.
Morning found him still kneeling, baby in his arms. Every single part of him protested, his chest heaving as struggled to draw breath. Relying purely on will power, he forced himself to get up. Joints creaking in ways they never used to.
Shutting down his emotions, he focused on what needed to be done. So Yong, needed to be buried. The baby needed food. And the two of them had to make it to Hanyang.
Priorities set, Byeong In got up, fighting off a dizzy spell as he made his way to the mouth of the cave.
Leaning against the cold stones, he let his eyes slip shut. Letting the morning sun wash over him, hoping beyond everything for a miracle. It didn't matter whether he lived or died, but if he could make sure So Yong’s boy made it. Then he could die with his mind at ease.
“Lord Kim!” The startled scream had him reopening his eyes, and there, standing amongst the trees, was one of his family's servants. Looking for all the world like he'd seen a ghost.

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

There were many regrets in Cheoljong's life. 
Sitting on his throne, watching the two faced ministers bow. Cheoljong felt an ache in his chest. He watched the snakes at his feet bicker. All of them clearly eager to unseat him, but too scared after recent events.
Thanks to the queen having the royal seal stolen, he'd been able to retain his title. Then he'd also gotten rid of Kim Jwa Geun, grand queen dowager, and the queen dowager. 
For  the moment, the ministers were busy fighting each other. Everyone wanting to fill the power vacuum. He should’ve used the opportunity to remove them. But Cheoljong found himself caring less and less.
When he'd left the palace without saying goodbye. He'd had hope, no matter how bad things had looked, he'd hoped to see his queen  again.
But then they'd come across court lady Choi, and Hong Yeon, and his queen had been nowhere to be found. A night out in the blistering cold, and he hadn't come across a single trace of her.
The military guards when pressed, had said Kim Byeong In had taken her. And Cheoljong had headed back to the palace, hoping she'd been taken there. 
There'd been no So Yong, nor any Byeong In. Just an assassin trying to blow his brains out, and a shaking child sitting on the throne.
Later, the assassin, gripped by a disease that had his whole body shaking, the agony clear on his face, had made a deal. In exchange for his medicine, he'd told them what had happened.
Yes, he'd been sent to kill the queen. No, he hadn't succeeded, Byeong In had gotten in the way. For his interference, the assassin had made him pay. 
“I cut him deep enough to make sure he died slow,” The man had hissed. Unaware that he'd just given Cheoljong his first real reason to cling to hope.
Byeong In, as much as the king hated him, would do everything in his power to protect So Yong.
Knowing that, had been the only thing that kept Cheoljong going as time wore on. 
And then one day, one of his father-in-law’s servants came to the palace. 
“Your majesty, the queen…”And Cheoljong's world fell apart.

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Where his queen should've been, there was Kim Byeong In  instead.
Pale, almost skeletal, and looking frail in a way that only hunger and long illnesses could manage. And next to him on the futon, there was a tiny bundle.
A squirming little bundle, and kneeling beside them was Cheoljong’s father-in-law. For once the man wasn't crying, instead he was just staring at the baby.
And when he looked up at Cheoljong there was an emptiness in his eyes. He bowed deeply, and when he rose to his feet, he took the child with him. 
“Your majesty, the prince greets you,” The old man held out the child…the boy…his boy… So Yong's boy.
The moment he was in Cheoljong’s arms, the baby stopped squirming. Where he'd expected a scrunched face with unrecognizable features, he found the baby's eyes wide open.
His queen's eyes staring up at him through the face of a newborn.
Oh.
He should’ve woken up Byeong In, demanded answers from him. But at the sight of those eyes, all thought and reasoning left him.
He turned and left without a word, his son in his arms.
They'd placed her in her childhood bedroom. Her body wrapped in the finest silk, hair styled, make-up done. 
She looked like his queen, but she could not be. His queen was a force of nature, a wild horse, she would never be so still.
But she was, and she always would be.
“Did you get to see him?” He asked, voice breaking, and right on cue the baby began to cry.
With the baby's loud wails masking his sobs, Cheoljong allowed himself a moment to not be king.
His tears falling hard and fast as he grieved. Not as a monarch, but as a simple man who'd had his heart ripped in two.
It was a heartbreaking sight, and unbeknownst to the king, two hundred years in the future, a man grieved him with the same intensity with which he was grieving his beloved queen.
A lifetime of grief for two people who'd never properly met. A cruel fate for an undeserving couple.

Notes:

Comment or kudo if this tugged at your heart strings.