she whispered, taking my hands and squeezing them. “Especially to a child it fears.”
“I wouldn’t mind the nobles. But Mother …”
“I understand, Woo In. My father didn’t want me either.”
For several moments we sat in silence, hands clasped, watching snowflakes drift into the fire.
“You’re a lovely boy, you know,” she said. “Queen Hye Sun doesn’t deserve you, and she knows it. I’ve heard rumors that she’s tortured with guilt. If you went back now,” The Lady said thoughtfully, “she would give you whatever you wanted.”
“I don’t want anything from her.”
“Ah,” breathed The Lady, avoiding my gaze, “but I do. I want to keep children like you safe. And if you convince your mother to let me borrow her army for just a little while, I can make sure that no Songland child enters the Breach ever again.”
My pulse quickened. “How?”
“That’s where you come in, my dear. Somewhere on this mountain, there’s a cave with a very special secret. I’m told only a few Songlanders can find it: the highest shamans and the royal family.”
I gulped. Of course I knew how to find Sagimsan’s holy cave. Every year, my family visited on a pilgrimage to leave offerings at the opening and pray for Songland’s prosperity. No one was supposed to go inside, but I had once stolen into the tunnel, mad with curiosity. I found a room with glowing gibberish on one wall. Then I fainted, lungs floundering in the blue pressurized air. Eventually shamans came to rescue me, and I was barely conscious for two days.
“I can’t tell you where it is,” I said, drooping. “I’m only allowed to tell family.”
“Not allowed by who? The bullies in Eunsan-do who called you names?” She let me ruminate on this before adding, “Besides, I can be family, dear. If you will have me.”
And as I lay my head on her soft chest, she told the most beautiful story I had ever heard. There was a band of anointed children, outcasts just like me. They had raised each other, grown together, traveled the world sharing one mind. Their love was so strong, separation caused illness, and even death.
“Where are they now?” I asked in awe.
“Waiting at the Arit border.”
“Do you miss them?”
“Yes, though council sickness does not affect the Raybearer. I could not bring them into the pass; the storm was bad enough with one foreigner. I have three Anointed Ones, and several more hopefuls.” She smiled. “Someday, we will be twelve.” The Lady could anoint me too, she explained. In her family, I would never be hell-boy or sacrifice. I would only ever be Woo In: liberator of the Redemptors.
I led her to the cave the very next day.
“Did you learn what you needed?” I ask her eagerly now, my arms wrapped around her waist as we ride Hyung back to camp. “Can you free the Redemptors? Will you anoint me now?”
“I …” She rubs her temples. “I learned a lot of things. Let me be, Woo In. I need to think.”
I ask her again the next morning, as The Lady retrieves a hare from one of her traps, absently snaps its neck, and cleans it to roast over our fire. “Are you done thinking, Lady?”
After a pause, she says, “You don’t really want to be anointed, Woo In. It’s for life, you know, and a lot of work, not to mention the council sickness. Why don’t you join me as …” She thinks quickly. “… as an honorary member? It’ll be just the same.”
“It won’t,” I say, frowning. “I won’t have the Ray.”
The Lady laughs. “We don’t need the Ray to love each other, child. Tell you what. Why don’t you get bundled up and go back to Eunsan-do? I’ll wait right here, and you can convince Queen Hye Sun to see me. Then I’ll come to the palace and fetch you. We’ll go away together, forever.” She cleans her bloodstained hands in the snow, then comes to draw her cloak around me, murmuring into my hair. “Once the queen lends me her army, I’ll need a handsome young prince to help me lead it. Just imagine—”
“You don’t want me.” To my embarrassment, my lower lip starts to tremble. “You’re afraid to keep me with you. Just like Mother.”
The Lady kneels to my level and grips my shoulders. “I am nothing like Queen Hye Sun,” she whispers. She fixes me with those vivid black eyes, though for a moment she speaks to herself. “I would never disown a child out of