| Sword of a General, Touch of a Gentleman (Part 2)

Soo-Ah continued to look daring, evoking her resentment. "My, my, acting so high and mighty the great general. The one who knows all and can do it all. The one who can dictate over any soul under his rule. How grateful should I be that he bestows upon me his benevolence."

He raised his eyebrows in response to her un-minced words. An edge of annoyance and menace returned to his voice. "Careful with the sarcasm, dear lady. You are treading on thin ice."

"And what is the Great General going to do? Punish me? Throw me in the brig again? Flog me?" challenged Soo-Ah, sounding more like a hot-blooded lad trying to pick a fight.

There was a fire in this woman. And the way he got to know her he was sure she would have fought him, if only she had her sword. "I will not dignify your immature words with a reply." Sung-Ho did his best to extinguish the spark of conflict by dismissing her childish game of threats.

But Soo-Ah was not playing. She raised her voice in defiance, frowning at him. "Don't tell me I am immature! I have seen things and lived through horrors girls my age, prancing their fancy dresses around your house, wouldn't even have nightmares about. How dare you dictate what I should do? I do not care if my grandfather entrusted me to you. I am old enough. [I just turned ten and eight winters]. I am my own person. I should be allowed to make my own choices."

Sung-Ho batted an eye at her defiance. He had uncovered another reason for her cold attitude towards him. "You want to stay here? Fine. Stay here. Do what you want, but do not expect my support in any form. I have no time for women playing war, Lady Soo-Ah."

In passing, he wondered how a smile would rearrange the lines of her young adult face. Because all Soo-Ah had for him was scorn it seemed. "And how can I stay here, now that you made me look like this and paraded me through your entire camp, General? I am no longer safe here!"

Sung-Ho exhaled, "I am at my patience's limit. Then do tell me what you want, Lady Soo-Ah?"

"I wanted to be asked what I planned to do. I do not know you, General. I do not know your intentions and I do not trust you one bit. Telling me I should do this or that makes me distrust you even more." This must have been the most opened and sincere she had been since she entered his tent.

But Sung-Ho retained just one confession from her sincere speech. "You do not know who I am?"

Despite struggling to keep on a mask of impassivity, his disappointment must have been showing through, because Soo-Ah was taken aback, her abrasiveness subsiding. "I am sorry, but Grandfather never got the chance to elaborate on who you are. And I never met any of the other generals nor did I need to find out more about them, so, no, I do not know who you are. I barely know you by your name, General Sung-Ho."

Her words sank in like a stone in water, heavy, hitting hard the rock bottom. He repeated like a sorrowful chant. "You barely know my name.." Then he tried to cheat on his sorrow with a truth that passed as an ironic remark and a weak smile. "How very disappointing."

Taking a dignified stance, he proceeded in a respectful form. "It is a little late for introductions but I feel I owe you that much. My courtesy name is Sung-Ho of the noble Ho family, True Bone of the Silla Kingdom, proud son of Seorabeol, Great General in his majesty's army and trusted friend of the king. I was also lucky enough to consider myself a good and trusted friend of General Min Jun. I have no ill intent and though I do not expect you to believe me, here and now, I do want to earn your trust. So please, tell me how I can do that."

To his entire calm and warmth-filled speech Soo-Ah offered only a curt reply. "A stranger demanding to put my faith in him can never earn my trust, General Sung-Ho."

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted when the general's aide entered and stopped awkwardly by the entrance, sensing the tension in the air.

Shifting his focus to his man, Sung-Ho's words were meant for Soo-Ah's ears. "There are three ways to get to know a man and see if he is trustworthy." He signaled the soldier to carry on with what he planned to do. "One, share the first line on the battlefront with him. Two, share a meal and drinks with him." Then, he pointed at the table that was now being set in a hurry by the soldier. "Speaking of, would you be my honored guest and share a meal with me, Lady Soo-Ah? And I hope you will join me for lunch every day while you are a guest in my encampment." He would offer her plenty of chances to come to know who he truly was.

As he spoke, two trays holding covered plates were brought in by two soldiers. Passing by Soo-Ah, an appetizing bouquet of flavours must have left her stomach rumbling as she followed the food with her eyes until it was carefully placed on each side of the table. The chairs had been pulled a little aside by the soldiers as a welcome for their guests. He stepped into the woman's view to pull even further a chair, silently inviting her to sit.

"You said there were three ways to assess if a man is trustworthy, but you only mentioned two. What is the third one?" She sat on the opposite chair.

He remained stunned for a couple of moments watching the woman take what was meant to be his seat. Sung-Ho could have sworn his courteous intent was obvious, yet Soo-Ah seemed to remain oblivious. In the end, he sat himself down in what was meant to be her chair. He eyed his rightful place at the dinner table with inexplicable yearning. Then he noted the woman's expecting gaze. She had asked him a question.

An awkward smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "The third way to know a man is to share a bed with him."

Soo-Ah's eyes flung open while a single huff escaped her mouth. "What an appalling idea. You talk senseless, General."

He remained staring at her with a quizzical look etched on his face for enough moments to persuade Soo-Ah to apprehensively ask, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Sung-Ho quickly changed his expression. "I keep marvelling at how forthright you are. I usually need to struggle to find my way around a woman's allusive phrasing. It is quite refreshing to have someone spit in my face about what they think of my words. But do tell me, why do you say knowing a man by sharing his bed sounds senseless?"

"First of all, all of your examples are flawed. No man is to be trusted so easily. My grandfather was the only kind-hearted man I could fully trust," she added bluntly, ignoring Sung-Ho's remark about her forthrightness.

Sung-Ho leaned back on the unfamiliar seat, unswayed. "I find this hard to believe. Didn't you have any close friends or brothers, growing up?"

"I am not close to anyone else, General Sung-Ho. In my childhood, I did have a friend and a man I used to call Big Brother. But the friend moved away, and I had never heard from him since the war. Big Brother turned out to be a wicked man." Soo-Ah explained herself in a rush.

Sung-Ho's corner lip twitched. "A wicked Big Brother. I am sorry to hear that. Where is he? And what, for the love of gods, made you think he was wicked?"

"I do not know where he is. I haven't heard anything about him since I left home. I hope I never do."

[He brought his hands together, close to his mouth, supporting them on the armrests. The look he gave her matched the one from the boar engraved in the wood of his chair and desk. An animal lurking, expecting an opportunity. "That is unfortunate for you. If you would have kept in touch, I am sure you would have preferred to be in his care instead of mine."]

"Never!" came Soo-Ah's response in a raised voice. But the consternated expression on her face spoke even louder.

This absolute reaction surprised Sung-Ho. His stomach clenched. "Now I must insist. What happened between you and him?"