(fic) World Without End - Mr. Queen
World Without End | Mr. Queen
Ship(s): Kim Byeong In/Kim So Yong
The year is 1864, when the young Yi Yung Jun becomes His Majesty, the King of Joseon with his mother behind him as regent in the wake of his father’s sudden death.
In the eight years before he is eligible to take the throne on his own, the brash boy king struggles under the strict tutelage of his personal bodyguard—his distant maternal uncle, Kim Byeong In.
After I had taken So Yong’s hand at the cliff, we soon discovered that Kim Jwa Geun was, as always, two steps ahead of us—the assassin he had sent managed to render her unconscious, and I thought it would be it then, when the man thrust his blade forward too quickly for me to parry—I simply accepted that our time had come, and I thought that at least, in death, we could be together—
But instead of meeting the end of a sword, I tumbled backwards onto the ground from the force of what I later realized was His Majesty’s sharp elbow.
“Kim Byeong In,” he grit out through his teeth as he fended off my father’s assassin, “You will help me.”
He said the words with such conviction, with full expectation that I would obey without question—and so I did, at least long enough for me to gather So Yong in my arms and follow him to safety after he slipped his sword through the assassin’s stomach.
She came to just as we reached the camp—and even though I had never been a superstitious man, I found myself thanking every god I had previously dismissed the existence of as she blinked awake and reached up for my face. “Orabeoni,” So Yong whispered and at once I knew that the thing that possessed her body just earlier had departed, “Don’t cry?”
For some reason, even though I knew it would prevent me from ever getting what I wanted—I then assisted His Majesty with storming the capital. My father was waiting for us in front of the entrance of the hall that led to the throne room, as if he were a mongrel trained by its master to stand guard.
“Go,” I urged the King as I swung my sword at Kim Jwa Geun.
Strangely, the King paused and traced his eyes over my face instead of rushing into the building.
“Go—before I change my mind again,” I knocked my opponent to the ground, “and you find yourself at my mercy.”
