Chapter Text
Sun Nyang was frightened for her life.
It was slowly slipping out between Sun Nyang’s tiny shaking fingers as she desperately tried to hold it together. But her life like water was quickly trickling away as the little girl grasped uselessly at it.
“Mama.”
No, not Sun Nyang’s life. Her life. Sun Nyang’s mother’s. Ok-Bun. The grown women gasped in pain as her body failed her. Pain that had blossomed on her back when she had been struck earlier now dulled to a strange static as cold threatened to consume her life force. The Yuan soldier had not been kind with his whip when he smited her down in a moment of weakness. Now laid across her daughter’s lap, locked up in a compound with other Goryeo tributes, her wounds bleeding out, Ok-Bun weakly brought up a hand to wipe away Sun Nyang’s tears.
“Shh shh…” Ok-Bun croaked out feebly. “Don’t cry sweetheart. Mama will be fine.” She cupped the crying girl’s cheek gently. “Mama loves you Nyang. Don’t ever forget that.”
But the child was inconsolable and burst out into more tears as she grabbed her mother’s hand tightly.
Ok-Bun knew she had very little time left on this world. Already she could feel the cold hands of death brushing against her soul. She should be scared for her life but was not. Instead, the mother feared for her daughter’s fate. What would become of Sun Nyang when she died? Never had Ok-Bun loved anything more than she did this small and fragile thing before her. How she desperately wished she could protect her child from the cruelties of the world. Sadly the gods don’t play fair games and now she must leave her Nyang to fend for herself. It was desperate times like these that Ok-Bun wished to still be in the loving embrace of her Ja-Oh. The commander probably didn’t even know what had happened to his lover and child. Curse those cruel Yuan nobels. Stomping down on them only for their Goryeo blood.
“Darling,” Ok-Bun called softly. “Please my love. Look at me.”
Slowly Sun Nyang’s eyes fluttered open, her lashes sparkling with tears.
The women used the last of her strength to reach for the ring on her finger. A momento of affection from her beloved commander. Now the only thing she had left to leave with her daughter. “Take this my Nyang,” she grabbed one of girl’s hands and gingerly placed the ring in Sun Nyang’s palm. “This… Is your father’s. A gift for me and now from me to you. He loved us dearly and could he prevent this he would.” Ok-Bun coughed. It was wet and painful and accompanied by a spray of red. There was little time left. “This ring… is one of… two… Hah…” Breathing was getting harder. “Your father… Ki… Has one just like it. A duplicate… Two identical rings to connect our souls… Now they connect yours.” She closed Sun Nyang’s hand over the precious object. “If you ever… Get away my Nyang… Find him… Find your father…”
“Don’t speak Mama,” Sun Nyang whimpered. “Save your strength. We can still save you.”
Ok-Bun closed her eyes and smiled, “Of course… my Nyang…”
“Don’t close your eyes either! Keep them open. Please Mama, you cannot go to sleep!”
A light laugh, “It’s alright darling… I haven't… left yet…”
Sun Nyang opened her mouth to say more but was interrupted by the sound of their cell opening. Fear shot through the young girl as she whipped her head around to the entrance. But instead of the sight of a demonic guard, there was only the picture of a slight boy looking both anxious and scared. He immediately locked eyes with the young girl.
“This is all I can do,” he whispered to her. “Please leave. Run away before they notice! I’m sorry that I am unable to protect my people.” He lowered his head in anger and shame, “I’m sorry that this is all that I can do for you.” The young prince looked up again, “So please. Get away while you still can!”
There was a soft murmur of surprise that spread throughout the cells before the women seemed to understand the situation. Suddenly there were dozens of women pushing past each other into the courtyard and running for freedom. All except two.
The young prince looked in surprise at the girl, “Please. You must run too! The Yuan soldiers will be here at any moment.”
Sun Nyang shook her head, “I- I can’t just leave her.” She looked down at the dying woman in her arms. “She’s not d-dead yet. I have to stay with her…” Ok-Bun was already too out of it to notice the commotion around her. “I can’t leave my mother.”
The boy bit his lip in worry and was about to retort when the sound of metal and running arrived. As the women escaped the courtyard, Yuan soldiers spilled in. In front of them was a young general and the prince’s uncle Wang Go.
“After them!” Shouted the young general. “Don’t let a single one survive!”
The prince listened in horror at the order and watched as the Yuan soldiers began chasing after the defenseless Goryeo women, armed with swords and arrows. He ran towards the general, “You can’t! Please sir! It was my idea, I let them-” The boy was cut off when his uncle struck him across the face so hard that the prince collapsed.
“Quiet your mouth boy,” Wang Go hissed angrily. “You may be Prince but you have no power here. You’ve done nothing tonight other than sacrificing the lives of those women with your stupid actions.” Behind his steely gaze he fought the urge to smirk at the boy’s horrified expression. “What have you to say for yourself Wang Yoo?”
“I-I… Please Uncle. You must do something! Those women-”
“Are serving the punishment they rightfully deserve as deserters of the Yuan cause,” Wang Go answered finally. “Though you are the one responsible for putting such idiotic ideas into the minds of your subjects Prince . This is punishment for both them and you. You will now see the consequences of your actions.”
The young general took this moment to return to the court yard, this time on horseback. He looked down disgusted at the fallen Goryeo prince. “Wang Go, take care of this trash.” He brought up his crossbow and smirked, “I have some hunting to do.” With that he rode off behind his men.
“Uncle-”
“Shut that insolent mouth boy!” Wang Go spat, his patience running out. “You will sit there and await the return of your betters.”
And so the night dragged on. Over the course of the next hour sounds of screaming and agony could be heard echoing through the surrounding forest. Wang Yoo sat collapsed on the ground with a sense of numbness as he contemplated the results of his decisions. Wang Go stood lording over his nephew as he watched soldier after soldier return, dragging the dead corpses of the escaped Goryeo concubines. Meanwhile, the only remaining person in the holding cells held the cooling corpse of her mother’s body in her arms. Ok-Bun had finally died after holding out for so long. Hours of tears had all but drained Nyang. She herself had nothing left to cry with and just sat there with a similar state of numbness and disbelief as the boy not thirty meters from her.
Eventually the young general returned on his horse looking viciously satisfied. He spared the devastated prince a passing sneer and turned to Wang Go. “We will need to acquire new concubines before noon tomorrow. Father is expecting a shipment in four days.”
“Of course Dangkise,” Wang Go bowed to the general. “They will be gathered at daybreak.”
Dankise nodded in agreement then looked around. “Are there any concubines left? Or had they all run away?” Wang Go looked curious as well. Wang Yoo tense up from his position below them and he snuck a glance worriedly at the girl and her mother.
“I hadn’t thought to look my General,” Wang Go answered.
Dankise dismounted his horse and handed the reins off to a soldier before walking over the the cells. He peered and and was met with the sight of a small girl hunched over an older women. It was obvious by the lack of movement that the women was dead. Perhaps the girl’s mother or caretaker. He growled out, “You there. Girl.”
Sun Nyang felt fear creep up her spine as she was shocked out of her numbness by a vicious voice. She looked up to see the general who had heartlessly ordered the deaths of all her fellow Goryeo women. Was he here to finish her off too?
Dangkise noticed the scared look in her eyes and laughed. “At least you were not stupid enough to listen to your trash prince. For that you will live to see another day Girl. You are the only one to live out of all these pigs. Aren’t you proud?”
Sun Nyang didn’t answer. She felt hate boiling in her for this man. Not only did he have the cruelty to kill so many innocent women but he also had the audacity to mock her about it. He was a monster that didn’t see her or her people as anything more than animals.
“No answer?” Dangkise sneered. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. You’ll be among more of your filth tomorrow when we march for Daidu.” He turned around and called to one of his soldier, “You there. Come and take this corpse away before it stinks up the cell-”
“NO!”
The general whirled his head around and stared in shock at the flustered girl. He felt his temper rising, “Did you just shout at me trash?” He reached for his sword at his side and took a menacing step forwards into the cell.
“N-no…” Sun Nyang replied meekly. “P-please sir… S-she’s m-my mother…”
“So what?” He laughed out harshly, “She’s dead. What do you care?”
“I-” Sun Nyang closed her mouth and furrowed her brow. A strange calm and anger coming over her. “I won’t let you take her.” The ring pushed up against her flesh as she squeezed her hand. She noticed her prince’s shocked face from behind the general. His eyes begging her the back down.
Dangkise was taken aback. Where was the quivering girl who was just there a moment ago? “Are you sure you want to talk back little girl?” He was only met with her unwavering and defiant gaze as she held her mother closer. There was a tense moment of silence between them. A battle of wills. They held each other’s stares, neither willing to back down.
Then Dangkise burst out into laughter.
The tense moment was lost and he sheathed his sword. Nyang’s grimly determined face morphed into confusion. Was he laughing at her? Wasn’t he going to kill her?
“You have spirit,” the general snickered. “I like that.” Then he added, “It’s always funner to break the defiant ones. You remind me of my baby sister. In fact, I believe you would be around her age...” He trailed off looking thoughtful. “Be thankful. That is the only reason you aren’t flayed on the end of my sword right now. But I would watch my mouth next time.” Sun Nyang didn’t answer but Dangkise didn’t mind. He turned around and walked out of the cell. “Someone go help the girl bury her mother then feed her. She’s earned that much.” Let no one say that I cannot be kind, he thought chuckling.
Sun Nyang just watched on in confusion as the young general walked away and a soldier enter the cell to assist her. A Wang Yoo watching from the other side of the bars felt similarly.
~*~
The next day went by quick. Sun Nyang did not see the boy prince again but she saw much of the young general. In the morning she was greeted early with a breakfast much better than what she was use to, curtesy of the strange Yuan general who thought her amusing. She was sore from digging and burying her mother the night before and the meal was welcomed. It certainly wasn’t an extravagant meal nor all that good. But it was clearly a better meal than the ones afforded to slaves and the portion was also much larger than she was used to.
For the most part she was alone in the large cell all morning. She mostly just watched the guards go on with their duties or traced the dried stains of her mother’s blood on the ground. But occasionally the young general would come around and taunt her. Sun Nyang kept in mind his warning from the night before about watching her mouth. She did so for the most part but refused to quiver before him like the animal he most assuredly thought of her as. He even personally escorted her out of the cell (read: pushing and shoving and manhandling) to meet up with the rest of the newly captured concubines. Though he did notice her limpy on a bloody bandaged foot and later that day a soldier came around and gave her fresh bandages. She wasn’t sure what to make of the whole situation.
She still clutched at her mother’s ring. Ok-Bun’s voice echoing in her head and Nyang reminded herself that she had to stay alive and one day find her father. Survival first and foremost. Sun Nyang nodded to herself as she marched alongside the other Goryeo women. “Ki…” she murmured under her breath. She would find him.
The day came to a close having barely began their journey to the capital Daidu. Nyang settled in a corner of the concubine’s tent and day dreamed. The females milled around her discussing in hushed and tired tones. Most conversations featured talks of how sore they were, or who “so and so” got whipped for lagging behind, and general gossip in spite of their situation. It was mostly mindless droll that Sun Nyang paid little mind to. What she did notice was the sudden appearance of a guard that set everyone in the tent on guard. Immediately all sounds were hushed until only silence remained.
The guard scanned the group before landing eyes on Sun Nyang. He didn’t say anything but motioned for her to follow. Frowning, Sun Nyang stood and followed the soldier out of the tent. The whispers of women gossiping followed behind her.
Silently she followed the soldier. Though confused as to why she would be called, Nyang also had little doubt this was once again the work of that general and his strange fixation on her. She could only hope that this would not spell out her doom. Steeling herself as they came up on a tent she took a deep breath and settled her nerves. The guard opened a flap up for her and she nodded back in acknowledgement before stepping into the tent. She was surprised at what greeted her.
The young general was feasting on a lavish meal. Sun Nyang eyed the large roasted chicken with desire. It was possibly the biggest she had ever seen. And all that for one person too. It was almost disgusting.
The general paused in his meal and looked up at her. A cruel smile spread across his face, arrogant and narcissistic. Nyang’s brain worked in overdrive, is he flaunting and showing off? But why? Certainly not for me. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
“Name?”
Sun Nyang was startled out of her thoughts. The general had spoken to her.
Dangkise frowned when the girl did not answer. A little more impatient this time he asked again, “Girl, what is your name?” Her lips tightened into a thin line.
“...” Nyang knew she needed to answer. But it rubbed her the wrong way that this man thought he could rip her away from everything she knew and now demanded her name too. What more did she have to give? She took a deep breath and answered in a tight tone, “Sun Nyang.”
Dangkise smirked as he took a sip of his wine. The answer was short and kurt. This little girl had some nerve but there was also something endearing about such a small cub rearing up to defy him, even in her own little way. Instead of wanting to shed her blood the general wished to goad more reactions out of her.
“Alright then… Sun Nyang,” he tested the name out on his tongue and found he liked it. It suited the tiny spitfire. “Would you care to join me in an evening meal?” He gestured to the seat across from him.
She was confused again. Nyang was still young and untrained at the time, she hadn’t learned how to school her expressions to hide her emotions, so Dangkise was greeted with a widening of her eyes and her eyebrows raised high in surprise. He let out a low chuckle at her expression and Sun Nyang immediately turned her cheek and furrowed her brow embarrassed. He is mocking me, she thought furious, I must be more guarded with my expressions. Don’t give him anything to use against me.
When she turned back to face him again her face was once again hard and cold, with only a faint flush to hint that her composure had been ruffled. Dangkise was almost impressed. Then she answered.
“I must decline your… generosity. But it would be best if I returned to the other women and dined with them.” Sun Nyang spoke in a dismissive tone and he frowned. Dangkise did not like to be dismissed.
“I must insisted,” he responded. “A child as young as you should eat more if you are to grow strong.” He gestured to the seat again, “Please. Sit.” There was a bite to his voice.
Nyang clenched her fist at her side. It wasn’t that she did not want to eat the food before her. All of it was very tempting. But it felt like if she were to accept food from this monster that she would be submitting to him as well. Of course, there would likely be consequences if she did not accept his offer… Swallowing her pride and contempt, Nyang stiffly walked forwards and took a seat in front of the young general. Dangkise smirked at the display of submission and nodded his head at the food, “Eat to your filling.”
Sun Nyang fixed him with a sharp glare and rigidly reached for a chicken leg and placing it on the place laid before her. Her stomach grumbled in hunger as the smells hit her nose but she felt slightly queasy at the situation. Dangkise had already returned to tearing into his own meal vigorously. Nyang fought a grimace, the older teen obviously came from a life of privilege yet she has seen street urchins eat with more finesse than him. The drip of oily fat that ran down his chin only furthered her conclusion that the young general was a mannerless brute.
After several moments of silence, with only the sound of Dangkise feasting to fill the tent, the man looked up and eyed the slip of a girl before him and rose a brow. He swallowed and spoke, “Are you not going to eat?” There was both a genuine curiosity in his voice as well as a thinly veiled bite.
She looked up at him, lips pressed into a thin line. Sun Nyang opened her mouth to speak and-
“General Dangkise!”
The older teen growled low in his throat when a panicked soldier burst into the tent breathing heavy. The young general stood abruptly, rattling the table, and scowled at the other man. “What is it,” Dangkise snapped loudly. “Speak now. Quick.”
The soldier made noise of distress as he struggled to catch his breath. “Sir! Turks!” He gasped deeply having sprinted to get here, “Turkish bandits attack from the west!”
Dangkise’s eyes widened in shock, his teeth bared and lip curled in disbelief, “Turks? This far inland?!” There was a panic in his voice. The soldier nodded frantically.
As if answering the young general’s question there was a loud tearing noise as a flaming arrow flew halfway through the roof of the tent and stuck half way. Sun Nyang sucked in a harsh breath in surprise, she gripped her chair tight. On the other side of the table Dangkise swore loudly and marched around towards the soldier having forgotten Nyang’s presence. He shouted out a loud command that she didn’t register and the two men rushed out of the tent leaving her alone.
She wasn’t sure how long she sat there before Nyang realize that she was alone. The sounds of chaos were getting louder outside, men shouting and feet pounding. With everyone so distracted by the bandits… Sun Nyang looked down at her hands, reached into her pocket, and pulled out her mother’s ring. “Ki…” she whispered with wide eyes. This… This was a gift from the gods. This moment of chaos and confusion maybe her only chance to escape. Her breaths came out shallow as she took in her miraculous situation.
Then a calm feeling settled over her. Much like the calm fury that overtook her barely a day ago when they threatened to take her mother’s body away. Sun Nyang felt determination surge through her as adrenaline began pumping through her system. She quickly stuffed the ring back into her pocket and leaped to her feet. She look a look at the disturbed table of food and in a quick decision took the chicken leg she had grabbed earlier and dug into it. If she was to escape and run all the way back to Goryeo and find her father she would need every advantage possible. She would take what food she found.
It was offered to her afterall.
Nyang ate as fast as possible and gathered a couple of fruits into her pockets, enough to keep her fed but not too much as to slow her down. Then she ran to the flap and peaked through. There were only a couple of soldiers running around this side of camp. From the looks of the lights in the distance, the majority of the army were gathered at the western wall of the camp. She waited until no one was looking at her direction and darted out into the cool night air.
The sounds of battle where louder out here. Sun Nyang took a moment to look over at the battle and was momentarily mesmerized by the sight of metal flashing and flaming arrows flying through the air before she shook herself out of the trance and continued to sneak through the camp under siege. She froze up when a shouting soldier ran blindly into her. The air was knocked out of her breath when he knocked hard into her and she fell back onto her back. Horror spiked through her for a second and she feared that she had been caught. But then the stumbled soldier recovered from his trip, as though he had not noticed her, and continued he charge for the west wall. Nyang let out a shaky breath as tension bled out of her body. She only took a moment more to recover herself before climbing to her feet and continuing her own way.
Escaping proved to be more difficult than she visualized. The battle had slowly been spreading from the west walls as the bandits attempted to find other means of entering. Everywhere Sun Nyang ran there were either her her her her Yuan soldiers on this side of the wall or Turkish bandits on the other. Dread bubbled through her and she grimaced grimly. She resumed her search for a way out.
The shouting suddenly rose in volume and the young girl noticed that sounds of women screaming had joined the choir. She shivered as she flashed back to the night before but quickly forced herself back to reality when she realized what exactly this meant. It mean that the bandits were inside the camp. And lo and behold, when she looked over at the west wall the line of Yuan soldiers had been pushed further inwards. The concubine tent, close to the mayhem, had women attempting to escape as a few stray Turks that somehow made it past the line of defense as they stormed through the camp. The Goryeo women screamed and scurried apart when a couple of duals reached their tent. The guards in charge of watching them women struggled with keeping the tributes calm and together while fighting off bandits.
Before she knew it, there were people running and fighting all around her. Fear seized her heart and she let out a tiny squeak when a Yuan soldier fell next to her, a throwing axe sticking out of his skull. His eyes were wide open and empty as they gazed up at her, blood running down his face from the fatal wound. Sun Nyang gasped and prepared to run.
Suddenly there was a loud piercing scream ringing in the air. Without her consent, Nyang’s head swiveled back over the to concubine tent. A women was the source of the screaming when a Yuan and Turk pair fell to the ground before her grappling desperately. The Yuan soldier, a rather young looking teen, had his teeth gritted as he struggled to keep the Turk above him from stabbing him with a large and wicked looking dagger. The Turk was an older man with a vicious grin on his face, his hands gripped a dagger poised towards the Yuan teen. The boy desperately gripped the older man’s wrists in an attempt to keep the blade from piercing his chest. It was clear though that the younger man was quickly losing strength in the battle, not only against the Turk’s superior strength but also the man’s weight and gravity. He was going to die within the next few seconds.
Sun Nyang watched the scenario unfold before her in horror. Her brain begged her to move and escape while she could. Danger surrounded her on all side. But her feet and body were rooted in place as she stared intently at the death about to occur. What she did next Sun Nyang would never in all her years understand. She owed this boy nothing. All common sense said that she should be happy to see a Yuan man, from the Yuan nation that had ruined her life, die. But there was something about the desperate look of fear on the young, so young , boy’s face that triggered something within the young Goryeo girl.
Again without her body’s consent, Nyang blindly reached down for the bow and arrow that had fallen with the man killed by a throwing axe. She wasn’t even sure what she was doing but her body moved on it’s own. Her arms gripped the unfamiliar weapon shakily. If she had another choice Sun Nyang would’ve preferred to choose a blade or knife, anything but the difficult to learn bow and arrow. She had maybe seen such a weapon wielded once. But it was the only weapon closest to her and she was far too far from the grappling pair to get there in time to help.
By some miracle, she managed to pull the string back (and the coarse fibers dug and rubbed into her untrained fingers) with a struggle. She was shaky as she pointed the arrow towards the pair and flinched back and fell when she released the arrow. She hit the ground hard and the bow fell from her grip. Dazed when she finally looked back up she was greeted with a the shocking sight of the Yuan boy staring up in surprise.
The bandit had been pierce right through the temple by a badly fired arrow. The arrow head barely entered past the skull but was just enough to swiftly end the man’s life as he collapsed motionless on the young Yuan soldier. Nyang watched with a feeling of surreality as the boy turned his head and looked straight into her eyes with equal disbelief.
His eyes softened in relief as the reality of his saved life settled in. Nyang’s own lip twitched in a half smile half grimace at the boy but she was still figuring out what happened. But then the boy’s face contorted into fear and horror. His mouth opened in a shout and the young girl frowned in confusion.
It was only when it was too late that she heard the sound of a furious shout behind her, in a language she could not place but sounded like a slur. There was a flash of pain and she gasped soundlessly. The Yuan soldier she saved followed her gaze in alarm. Sun Nyang’s world tilted and she didn’t understand what was happening.
Her face was pressed against the grassy ground, a loud ringing in her ear drowning out all other noise, and darkness started closing in on her vision. Sun Nyang could feel her mother’s ring pressed against her skin through her clothes as her eyelids dropped low.
Then she knew nothing.