Lady Earthquake

Lady Earthquake Chapter 43

Sun-Sin slept with the same concentrated focus he brought to his swordsmanship. One of the men watching him through the bars of his cell said to his companion, "I have not seen the boy asleep since he was a small child. He looks exactly the same."

"He was very young when he left the palace, was he not?"

"Yes. Hardly more than an infant."

"Does he remember...anything?"

"I have never asked. I do not wish to know."

"No doubt you are wise, your majesty."

"Oh, there is much doubt about that, Chief Eunuch. Much doubt. Wake him up. Gently."

The eunuch bowed. There were no guards present so he stooped from his lofty office to open the cell door himself, laying the chain on the stone floor with hardly a clink. The king remained outside as his servant bowed again before the sleeping figure and murmured the time-worn formula for waking a prince who would far rather stay in bed. The fact that this was the military prison and not a luxurious suite of royal chambers mattered not at all. The demands of ceremony must be obeyed.

By the third soft-voiced repetition, Sun-Sin stirred. One eye opened, rolling until it fixed on the double-chin and thin beard of the man bending over him. Then he started upright, fists clenched. The eunuch bowed lower. "Your servant greets your highness."

Sun-Sin converted his fists into combs and ran his fingers through his unbound hair. He yawned. "What time is it? Morning, noon, or night?"

"It is slightly past midnight, your highness."

"Then go back and send me a better dream, eh? Something with a beautiful dancing girl would be my preference. Anything other than you." He collapsed backwards onto the unpadded bench, the crook of his arm over his eyes.

"His majesty is here," the eunuch murmured. The prince did not stir.

"His majesty is...."

"I heard you. Leave, please."

The king motioned for his servant to come out of the cell and then shooed him away. "But, your majesty...is it safe?"

From the cell came a low growl. "Tell that fool that assassination when it is obvious only one person could have done it is not my method of committing suicide."

The king chuckled. "You heard my son. Go out."

As the king walked into the cell, Sun-Sin said, "That man is a fool."

"Sometimes it is better to employ a fool than a sage. He does what he is told and does not think to question his orders. Unlike my son."

"I am unfilial, your majesty." Sun-Sin bowed to his father, his bare feet on the rough stone floor. "I did, however, warn both you and the Second Prince that I would not allow a single one of my men to suffer so much as an insect bite in the furtherance of a political scheme."

"And I told you they are not your men, but mine. As is every soldier in the army."

Sun-Sin still had no good answer to that. He bowed again.

"Now I must appoint that person head of my army, even though we know his dealings with the Yiang. How many more men will die due to his treachery because you were squeamish?"

"I acknowledge my fault, your majesty."

"Yes, but I can see you still think yourself justified. Oh, stand up, stand up. Are they feeding you all right?"

"Yes, your majesty. Soldier's fare but edible, mostly."

"They say it is good for an officer to live like the men or so my own father always told me. I confess I have never eaten my servants' food. I suspect it is considerably better than what they serve to me."