Page 48 of King Foretold (Realm of Four Kingdoms #2)

When I step outside the cave, the sky is still blue, the trees are still tall, and the ground still lies beneath my feet.

But everything has changed in the span of hours.

Ethan is mine, and I am his. I laugh and strut around in my hanbok, but I stop with a wince.

I’m sore in an odd but not unpleasant way, which makes me grin harder.

Pleasant or not, it seems I’m in no condition for smug strutting. Because of sex .

I might’ve dissolved into obnoxious giggles if Jihun hadn’t walked out of the woods at that exact moment. But all thoughts of laughter evaporate when I don’t see the gamas at his side. I pick up my voluminous skirt and run toward him.

“What happened?” I grab his sleeve. “You couldn’t get the gamas?”

“Have some faith.” His lips quirk as he gently loosens my grip. My stomach drops when he hangs on to my hand a second too long. Gods, I don’t want to hurt him. “I glamoured them and hid them in the woods. They would be too conspicuous out in the alcove.”

I slip my hand from his and smooth nonexistent wrinkles out of my apron overcoat. Unlike those worn by the palace uinyeos or even those at the Suhoshin headquarters, my hanbok is coarse and worn, with faint stains on the apron even after a good wash.

“Are you sure I’ll be allowed into the palace in such shabby clothes?” I squint up at him. We discussed the overall plan, weaving in my modifications, but I still have lingering questions.

“You’re supposed to be the assistant of a renowned but eccentric physician.

Someone who refused to become a royal physician many times over.

” Jihun gives me a once-over and nods in approval.

“He and his assistant only serve the poor, so they wouldn’t have anything other than threadbare clothes to wear.

Even when answering the king’s summons.”

“That makes sense. Also, I get that the physician needs to take a palanquin because he’s blind”—I cock my head to the side—“but how do we justify his assistant taking one?”

“According to our palace spy, the king doesn’t want word of his ailment to spread.

So he ordered the province inspector to bring the physician and his assistant to him in secret,” Jihun explains.

“It’s actually a stroke of luck for us. Even if you dampen your magic, a fellow being of Mountains might recognize the gumiho in you.

That would give us away even before we made it to the Shinsi Palace. ”

“Okay.” I shrug. “As long as we have a legitimate excuse for it.”

“But I still don’t like the idea of the prince escorting us as the province inspector.” Jihun crosses his arms over his chest. “He’d be safer in the palanquin as the blind physician.”

“I hate to break it to you, but you’re starting to glow under your disguise.

No amount of disguise or glamour can hide that you’re a seonnam for long.

You’re dealing with fellow shinbiins, not skeptical humans who refuse to believe in magic.

” I arch my eyebrow. “But Ethan is half a being of Mountains. As long as he locks down the Sky in him, he’ll pass muster better than you. ”

He grunts noncommittally. Gods, he’s stubborn. I grin affectionately at him, but my smile slides off my face when I remember ... I shut my eyes for a moment, searching for strength. I have to tell him about me and Ethan. He deserves to know.

“Jihun, I—”

“My prince.” He looks past me and bows his head. “The gamas are waiting in the woods.”

I glance over my shoulder at Ethan. Even wearing a jade dopo that has seen better days and with the shadow of his gat obscuring his eyes, he is handsome enough to make my knees weak.

I blush even before I can fight it. He holds Jihun’s gaze over my head, but the corners of his lips quiver as though he’s fighting a smile. I blush harder.

Ethan clears his throat and asks, “Are we still good to go?”

“Yes,” Jihun confirms. “Our spy will ensure our safe passage to the king’s inner chambers once we get to the palace. But we must hurry.”

“Of course. Here, Captain.” Ethan hands him a modest overcoat befitting an impoverished physician. “I cleaned up our camp enough to pass casual inspection, so we can leave as soon as you’re ready.”

“Thank you.” Jihun accepts the dopo with both hands and swiftly shrugs into it. It’s a little tight around his shoulders and chest, but it’ll have to do. Considering the time crunch we were under, he did an amazing job of gathering the appropriate disguises for all of us. “This way.”

Ethan and I follow him into the woods, and with a short wave of his hand, Jihun unveils the gamas a few yards away. They aren’t as beautiful as the ones from his estate, but they’re more than sufficient for our needs. Ethan opens the door to the first palanquin and motions for me to get in.

With a sudden lurch of fear, I catch his eyes. The next time I step out of the gama, we might have to fight for our lives. He only just became mine. I’m not ready to lose him. “A ... are you sure you know the way to the palace?”

“My mother’s memories are clear,” he says simply, but his eyes shine with understanding. He runs the back of his hand down my cheek. “Don’t worry, Sunny.”

“Have some faith,” Jihun says, echoing his prior words from my other side. “I won’t let any harm come to you or the prince.”

I give him a tremulous smile. “I guess you’re okay at what you do.”

Jihun pretends to glower at me, but he can’t hide the tenderness in his expression, and I want to hug the stupid, beautiful seonnam.

But with a solemn nod at Ethan, he steps inside his palanquin, saving me from the embarrassing display of affection.

Then I immediately stand on my tiptoes and plant a kiss on Ethan’s lips—it’s like I can’t stop myself from these effusive emotional spectacles—and dive inside my gama before I start climbing him.

“I love you,” Ethan mouths, then says out loud, “I’ll see you soon.”

I nod like a possessed Bobblehead and hold his eyes as the door closes, ducking my head to look at his face a second longer. I lay the tips of my fingers on the closed wooden door and whisper the words I couldn’t say without falling apart, “You are my everything.”

The palanquin levitates off the ground and moves forward with the slightest jerk.

My lower lip trembles dangerously, and I bite down on it without mercy.

I blow out a long breath and rest my palms on my knees.

This is not the time for tears. This is the time to be brave and strong.

No more avoidance. These males on either side of me, and my friends back in the Kingdom of Mountains, are precious to me. I cannot fail them. I will not.

I hold my palm out, remembering the flickering white light I summoned in the study.

With everything that’s happened, that night feels like a lifetime ago, but it has only been a few days.

I should be able to do it again, right? Easy peasy.

With a self-deprecating snort, I call to the light of the Yeoiju—carelessly, jokingly—and fall back in shock when a white flame ignites in the center of my palm.

“Sunny,” Ethan whispers urgently. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“Everything is o ... okay.” I close my eyes and count to five. We need to do this methodically. In five-second increments. Remembering Minju’s advice, I fist my hand and extinguish the flame.

“You don’t sound—”

“I’m fine.” I crack the window open and peer up at Ethan. “I must’ve rocked the palanquin, checking on my hwando.”

He doesn’t need the added worry of my unsupervised Yeoiju practice.

I didn’t really mean to summon the light anyway.

The element of surprise is the only thing going for us in this mission.

If I’d known I could actually do it, I wouldn’t have risked exposing us by accidentally blowing the roof off this palanquin.

But how did I do that? It was so easy, so effortless. I gingerly finger the word of power on my back, over my hanbok. I don’t sense even a prickle of heat—the rune is completely dormant—so it isn’t that. But I feel awake. I feel ... unleashed .

Did surrendering to my love free me somehow, like a mountainous boulder rolling off my soul?

Was I so focused on hiding my love from Ethan, holding everything in so tight, that I suffocated my own powers?

Can it be true? Did my desperation to protect Ethan constrain my magic like the stone of tears had bound his powers?

I’m sorely tempted to summon the light again, but I restrain myself. Later. I’ll see if it’s just as easy to call on the Yeoiju’s magic. I’ll see if loving Ethan with all of me—if being braver than I’ve ever been—has somehow made me more powerful. Later.

I sigh, suddenly restless. I don’t know how far we’ve come, or how far we have left to go.

The anticipation is killing me. If we’re going to die, I want to get on with it.

Better yet, I want us to capture the King of Mountains and have him peacefully abdicate his throne to Ethan.

But I have a feeling that is not how this is going to play out.

I drum my fingers against my knees, willing the time to pass more quickly.

I can’t even stare out at the passing scenery as I would on a long drive in the Mortal Realm.

The wooden walls of the palanquin seem to close in on me, and I shut my eyes against the unexpected bout of claustrophobia. All I can do is breathe and wait.

Harsh whispers jerk me awake, and I lift my ass halfway off the palanquin floor. I fight the impulse to throw the window open to see what’s happening. Instead, I calm my pounding heart and listen.

“You’re late,” a female snaps, sounding more afraid than angry. “We must hurry. I have been appeasing him, telling him the roads are muddy from the rain. But he will soon catch on that something is amiss.”