Toast

Waving silver gray standard bearing the sea-serpent sigil marks the first sight of Naju. Harvested fields stretching beyond eyesight towards the faint silhouettes of blue gray hills were grants from the first emperor of Goryeo in the memory of a woman whose kindness had thrived him during the long battle leading to unification of three kingdoms. But in the years since, none of the said woman's softness had been exhibited by her successors. The Ohs, despite their internal power struggles and gray moralities had somehow managed to stand on the right side of the battles since and managed to expand their power over estates of fallen clans.

Seo tells her of the story in a tone laced with typical Kang bitterness towards their neighboring clan. The harvested fields are covered in frost and gray in the wintery sun. Seo surveys them with a chagrined look, his eyes linger on the bare – footed workmen, hefting last remints off the frozen ground.

Seol doesn't question, but the question is apparent in the look she gives him, waiting with her impatient mount for Seo to catch up. Both of them are exceptional riders that their guard had fallen considerably behind. Surrounded by frosty fields in a winter evening Seol could almost spin a delusion of isolation. If only, Seo had not looked so dejected.

He shakes his head, makes Bi skip towards where Seol awaits.

"For some people," he says with one last look at the Oh retainers trolling away in the fields. "War never ends." Seol raises a brow, not quite following. "The Hwangbos were eliminated after the traitor's war, their estates in Hwangju were swallowed by Naju along with their retainers. And the stigma of being once ruled by a traitor has passed down from one generation to another."

"That's absurd," Seol bunches up her shoulders in disbelief. "What can retainers do if the master's decide to rebel?"

"The Ohs beg to differ, mama," Seo says flatly. "The traitors are not granted amenities provided through emancipation of slaves law. In Naju you could see a system that is no longer in operation anywhere else."

Seol clenches her jaw, seeing past the beautiful scenery into the barbaric practice that was being carried out. In front of her, Seo had pulled Bi into a halt. A party of Naju nobles had come to welcome the imperial princess, among them the young lady of Ohs, whom Seol knew from before.

"Gongjunim mama," the young master of Ohs, current Lord Oh's nephew and heir bows with flourish, dismounting to greet the on coming princess. His cousin the young lady too gracefully dismounts. But the young man Oh Dong Jin sneers at Seo. "General Kang – what an unexpected surprise…" his tone has no cheer the words would suggest. "How fortunate it is that you have time between your killing and marauding to tail after the princess."

"Young master Oh!" Seol snaps unable to help herself. But Seo is already dismounting, lips twitching into a sarcastic grin.

"Yes – young master Oh, not all of us have indefinite amount of time to spent closeted in our uncles' estates retaking state service examinations." Seol bites back a giggle as he walks around Woo to approach her. In an unexpected moment of spontaneity, Seo allows her to dismount into the circle of his arms. He watches the disgruntled young man over the top of her head. "So, sadly, we manage."

Seol turns just in time to savor the ugly purple that takes over Oh Dong Jin's face. His mouth twitches with unmistakable jealousy at their proximity. Seo adjusts the furs on her shoulders before Min Ha had joined them and he has to relinquish his hold around her to the care of an enthusiastic young lady Oh.

"Your cousin brother needs to mind his tongue," Seol tells Oh An Ah, in no uncertain terms. "My guardian has a temper he would be better off not having a taste of and what does scholars know of war to make such unsavory remarks?"

An Ah looks properly chastened, but her eyes flash with indignity.

"You did not say you were bringing a Kang, mama," she protests mildly. "We scholars have refined, gentle tastes that gets easily offended by the hard rough manner of …"

"General Kang remains the only candidate to clear both alseongsi and mugwa. And not one of your scholars have managed to surpass his score in classical knowledge." Seol ended with a snort. "Refined taste you say!"

An Ah's cheeks colored and she did not pursue the matter any further. Instead, she led Seol and Min Ha to her own court yard to freshen up before joining the tea that had been arranged in her honor.

'Wash your face mama," Min Ha whispers, her mouth curled with dry humor. "It will cool you down."

*

The tea would not have gone down in peace. Seol had known it the moment she had entered. It's a pity, she did not often have the chance of watching Seo in such refined setting. The man had a penchant in avoiding family gatherings. But now, wearing the official ceremonial robes of Kang household he made her heart flutter. It wasn't the midnight blue against his sun warmed complexion that caught her breath, but the fury that burned behind his eyes.

Tearing her gaze away from the magnetic force of attention that Seo seemed to claim, Seol turned to the sight that he was regarding with such naked disgust. Lord Oh had summoned a slave boy into the gathering. Seol flinches as her eyes take in the bruises staining the child's face. Somebody has had the audacity to beat him. Before she could question however, An Ah, urges her to take her seat and Seo stands up from his.

Anger sizzles in him. Seol had always heard that men of few words bleed in emotions. Until Kang Seo she had not quite grasped the concept. Fury flashes in his eyes like stormy clouds hit by lightning. Each muscle to his being winds tightly in taut anticipation of some - any expression of all that pent up frustration. His knuckles whiten around his cup before he sets it down with a resounding clank. Lord Oh it seems was only an older and much more obtuse version of Dong Jin. The distaste with which he eyes Seo is apparent.

The Ohs of north had been acting up since their arrival but nothing had come this close to a verbal argument. Seo isn't a man so easily provoked, despite the bitterness he seemed to harbor against their hosts. With their distant relations to the ruling clan and the current decline of Hwangbos it seems they considered themselves the royalty of distant north. It is no wonder that lord Oh simply draws himself straight and meets Seo's eye without a shred of remorse.

"He belongs to me," he says promptly. "I have paid my dues for keeping my slaves. I am entitled to discipline them as I see fit. You have no right to deprive me of my taster."

"I have and I will." Kang Seo barely rises his voice causing the older man to rile up further. "You know the law as well as I do my lord Oh, only imperial family is entitled to use tasters. Surely you don't expect to be poisoned in your own household."

There's a hum following his words, a hopeful gleam in the battered boy's eye and of cause Lord Oh turns purple. It would be an amusing story to recount to Yong, her brother enjoyed when old nobles were put down by newly appointed officials.

"You don't have authority to force life threatening labour."

The old man snorts in reply.

"Laws the new Basterds made," he says distastefully. "Not knowing the real gist of imperial sanctions." Seol has to bite back the retort dancing on the tip of her tongue at the slight clearly aimed at Kang Seo. Dong Jin snickers. Seo seems unfazed however.

"You are insulting laws that passed under his majesty's hand - Lord Oh, whoever bastard proposed it."

Seol cannot hold her silence anymore.

"My mother, queen Hyeon Jeong doesn't use a taster."

"But your imperial father does," Lord Oh bows towards her. "The imperial court has learned their lesson in foregoing security measures a long time ago your highness. I have learned from my personal experience that the best way to ensure safety is to have the cook's progeny be the first to try out the delicacies." Seol winces at the blunt disregard of the man towards the boy he had beaten into obedience. "Before our young master Kang objects again let me clarify, the taster is called for your highness's benefit not my own."

Seol physically feels the weight of responsibility of the boy's fate as well as Kang Seo's gaze settle upon her. She fidgets uncomfortably, never being one for political debates. Yong should have been here - this is work of the crown prince not mine - she thinks. But then she is startled by Seo crossing the hall abruptly, approaching her; the hum of inconsequential conversations die as guests notice his move.

He still radiates fury - much like her imperial father when he is pressed by the courtiers. Lord Oh cowers, but he shouldn't have for Seo has those lightening lit eyes focused on her. Words dry up on her tongue and she stares up at him. It is strange she thinks later - when she has hardly done anything wrong.

He barely lowers his gaze while snatching up her barely touched cup. She is only noticing its existence in front of her as he picks it up.

"A toast to you, Gongjunim," he rises the cup in greeting before draining the tea, a protest dying in her throat. "It is safe." He sets it down with a thud.

There is absolute silence punctuated by pounding of her heart. She holds his gaze for longer than any sense of decorum would have allowed, sinking if possibly deeper into those silvery depths. Had there been a grain of truth in Lord Oh's fears this man had just volunteered to be poisoned in her stead.

Seol rises to her feet, ears still ringing and unsteady if not for palace training and gestures for the cup to be refilled. She misses entirely her court lady's look of warning.

"May you prosper," she offers, before taking a sip of her own, from the very cup that he had drank for her. "Young master Kang."

**