‘This marriage is bad,’ and they ended up divorced later. Even as a child, I was called ‘the Matchmaker.’” A smile tugged at her lips. “It may seem incredible, but in truth, you can know a person’s character by the direction of their emotions, actions, words—as you might know the direction of the wind by studying a magpie’s nest.”
I waited in silence, daring no interruption. She could tell much about a man or woman, and seemed to know much about me, yet to me she was mysterious and unknowable. I could not understand why a woman such as she—wealthy and privileged, wanting nothing—had chosen to risk everything for heresy.
“I was informed that you saved your inspector.”
“Yes, mistress,” I whispered.
“You have courage, that is clear. You are also intelligent and possess a good heart—and incredible curiosity. Cunning, yet honest too. There is too much empathy in you, though, and it will burn you out.” Her gaze remained fixed, as though peering into the wilderness of my future. “A darkness will fall on you. But never let fear stop you from doing good, Damo Seol. Everyone dies; what is difficult is a meaningful death.”
I sat straight as a hollowing sensation expanded in my chest. “What do you mean, mistress?”
She didn’t answer, and instead said, “When you are in trouble, do not forget. Come to me for help.”
* * *
A flash of subdued robes the color of Woorim’s hanbok caught my eye as I slipped on my sandals outside the guest hall. Woorim, just disappearing through a courtyard gate. I followed, keeping my steps quiet. If I could not find answers with Lady Kang, perhaps it was time to consult the maid again.
I emerged into another quiet courtyard, the women’s quarter. A paulownia tree stood by the stone wall, and I kept under the shadow of its huge, heart-shaped leaves. A few paces away, Woorim set a tray down and crept up to the middle pavilion. She peeked through a crack in the papered screen. Only for a moment, as if she was afraid of being spied upon, then withdrew and hurried along her way. The tray remained.
My heart thrumming, I walked quietly over to the pavilion. My warm breath rushed against the paper screen as I drew closer to the gap. Within, a middle-aged gentleman sat cross-legged. His eyes were downcast and his dark hair tied back, revealing a broad face covered with small scars.
A man was not to linger in the women’s quarter. Fathers and brothers might visit, but never for long. This man was concealed, away from searching eyes …
Away, perhaps, from the eyes of an investigator.
The hairs on my skin rose. I tried pushing the thought aside, shocked by the leap my mind had made. Yet, once there, the thought could not be undone.
I slipped from the courtyard as quietly as I’d come and collected the still-empty market basket. Speaking to no one, I hurried from the mansion, the secrets of Lady Kang burning inside me.
FIVE
THE DEEP RUMBLE of the great bell had already echoed through every street and alley, announcing the start of curfew. The time of total silence. Occasionally footsteps hurried across, followed by a patrolman’s call of “Arrest him!”
I had spent the entire next morning and afternoon trying to appease the chief maid’s fury. After all, I’d left the bureau for far too long the day before to visit Lady Kang. So I’d made sure to catch up on all my chores until every limb in my body ached in protest.
Now the sky had finally darkened, and it was nearly time to retire for the night—but not yet.
I stood by the courtyard gate with a lantern, waiting for Damo Aejung. Iron cauldrons, ablaze with smoky light, cast moving shadows against the curve of rooftops, reminding me of the midnight waves of my childhood, crashing against the cliffs, then withdrawing. I had watched their dance from the door of our hut. A dance that reached for the moon.
The moon had fascinated me: how alone it looked, how locked up within darkness. My brother had told me its story. To escape a hungry tiger, two children climbed a rope to the sky. The brother became the sun. And the sister became the moon. “I am scared of the night,” said the sister, and so the brother replied, “I will be the moon for you instead.” So the brother became the moon, and the sister became the sun.
I opened my eyes to the flooding light. It was never pitch-dark