Blessed Moon: The King's Seer Read online

  Contents

  The King’s Seer

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  The King’s Seer

  Blessed Moon

  Book 2

  L.S. Bethel

  Copyright © 2020 by L. S. Bethel

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

  Chapter One

  Serenity was bored. Her bottom was getting sore from sitting on her throne so long. It wasn’t like she was purposely tuning out. Everyone was speaking in a language she had yet to master so following the conversation was incredibly difficult. She’d given up twenty minutes in. She really wanted to skip the meeting and defer it all to her husband, but ever since her injury on the battlefield, he refused to let her out of his sight. It was endearing but also incredibly annoying. She’d much rather be helping her mother-in-law and making herself useful than be trapped in a room unable to listen to or give input on anything that was said. Interestingly, that was probably one of the few negatives involving her injury. There were several positive aspects of it as well.

  One was that now as she walked the palace grounds, eyes that use to look at her with suspicion, now seemed welcoming. Disdain gave way to grudging respect and genuine hatred turned to ignoring her which she took as a win. Apparently, all she needed to do to earn the respect of the people was be willing to risk her life for the King.

  Serenity felt her head start to droop for the fourth time and she jerked herself up which caused her to irritate her injury. She let out a small hiss which drew Kang-Dae’s attention.

  “What’s wrong? Are you in pain?” he asked completely derailing his briefing. Everyone’s eyes were on her now. Feeling embarrassed at having the attention of the room Serenity decided to take the opportunity to make an escape.

  “I think I’m going to go back to the room,” she said pushing herself off the throne. Kang-Dae jumped up.

  “I will take you.”

  “You’re in the middle of a meeting. Stay. Jung-Soo will walk me,” she asserted.

  “We will continue this discussion another time,” he announced completely ignoring her.

  She pulled on his arm and spoke in his ear in a hushed tone so no one else could hear. “You wanted to be king so you could lead things like this. I’m just going back to the room. I’ll be fine.”

  He was silent for a good two seconds before calling out, “Dismissed!” Serenity frowned and her irritation rose. This was both the negative and positive of what she had suffered. Positive because of Kang-Dae’s special attention to her, which was nice, in most instances. It still gave her butterflies thinking of how he insisted on being the one to change the dressing on her injury and how gentle his touch was.

  One week ago

  Serenity winced again. Kang-Dae was applying medical apprentice’s Mehdi’s salve to her still healing wound. Amoli usually helped her with this but for some reason, he insisted on doing it this morning. “Sorry,” he said with sympathetic eyes. Serenity shook her head to signify she was alright. “Perhaps this pain will deter you from being so reckless,” he said. Serenity's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

  “Excuse me, I believe my recklessness saved you,” she reminded him.

  “There is no way to know that for sure. It's entirely possible the arrow would have just wounded me,” he said in an annoyingly condescending tone. He seemed to enjoy the shocked look on her face.

  “I-, You-,” she stammered as Kang-Dae grinned. Realizing he was joking Serenity pushed at his shoulder, but the movement made her hiss. “Ow!”

  “Do you enjoy causing yourself pain?” He admonished before gently blowing on her stinging wound. Him being so close to her exposed shoulder made her heart jump. His warm breath on her chest filled her with butterflies.

  “No,” she answered having a hard time forming the word. He helped redress the bandages. Every swipe of his fingers on her bare skin causing her to shiver. She hoped he didn’t notice, mortified at her reaction to such a small thing.

  “I will help you with this from now on. I do not want you to have to wait for Amoli to finish her morning duties.”

  “It’s fine,” she told him, but he shook his head. “I am here and am willing. I think helping his wife after she injures herself saving his life is the least a husband can do for such a woman.” Serenity was so glad for her darker skin, knowing if it wasn’t, her face would be beet red. Once the bandage was secured, he pulled her dress back into place.

  “Thank you,” she said, barely able to look him in the eyes. He smiled before placing a kiss on her forehead. “You are welcome Neeco.”

  Serenity felt heat rise to her cheeks at the memory. Kang-Dae’s gentleness with her was a definite positive. The negative repercussions were that he was treating her like she was incapable of being without him. Today was not the first time he’d put her ahead of his duties, even when she’d insisted, she was fine. Just the other day Advisor Min had come into his study where she’d been, sitting in his chair at his insistence. Min had wanted Kang-Dae to meet with a possible new council member, to replace the late Amin. Kang-Dae was okay with it until Min mentioned the man had invited him to his home outside the city. Kang-Dae had quickly declined. He didn’t vocalize it, but it was obvious to both Min and her he did not want to leave her on her own.

  ‘Okay, I am officially tired of this.’ Serenity thought as the men filed out. She noticed Jung-Soo lingering.

  “You can leave as well,” Kang-Dae said coldly. Jung-Soo lowered his head and obliged. That was one of the other major drawbacks of her injury. Kang-Dae still held some resentment for his friend for that day. He would barely s
peak to him and when he did, it was with an impersonal and sometimes angry tone. Not only that, Kang-Dae no longer felt safe leaving her in Jung-Soo’s care. With Kang-Dae always dragging her off with him she hadn’t been able to spend any time with Jung-Soo. She missed her friend. She hated to see the two at odds. She couldn’t help feeling guilty knowing she was the cause.

  Serenity stomped into the room with Kang-Dae hot on her trail. She’d sped walked the entire way refusing to acknowledge him. She angrily ripped off her gold headdress and practically slammed it on the vanity. She fumbled with the chain on her pink outer dress and a pair of strong hands moved to help unlock it, only for her to smack them away. She shrugged off the clothing ignoring her pain and faced Kang-Dae with a glare.

  “This is going to stop.” Serenity watched him with his faux innocent face and soft eyes trying to appear as if he had no idea where her anger came from. She was not going to fall for it. There was a cunning manipulator beneath those eyes. “I am not a child that you need to watch all the time.”

  “I only mean to make sure you are safe and well taken care of.”

  “I’m in the palace, not a battlefield. I don’t think I have to worry about arrows here,” she argued with a huff.

  “Have you forgotten you were poisoned right on these grounds?” Serenity’s jaw slackened. “Two times now your life has been at risk. You expect me to just do nothing? Feel nothing?” Serenity felt her irritation die down at the sincerity in his tone. She walked over to him.

  “The whole point of marrying me was so that something like that wouldn’t happen again,” she reminded him softly.

  “Even still, you think I can just sit by and not do anything to keep you from suffering those things? Neither can I leave you alone without you putting yourself in a dire situation.” He let out a listless laugh. “Even Jung-Soo cannot be trusted to do what is necessary.”

  “Kang-Dae! I told you it wasn’t his fault. You’re his king, but I’m also his queen. I gave him an order and he followed it. Besides, you should be thankful.”

  “Thankful?” he scoffed brow raised, his skepticism obvious.

  “Yes, thankful! You think I would’ve stayed put just because he refused to let me go with him? Like I was just gonna sit by and-,” she paused as she realized she was repeating his own words back to him. The room was uncomfortably quiet. Serenity suddenly found something interesting to look at on the floor. Kang-Dae was attempting not to let his happiness at her slip-up show.

  Serenity shook her head and sighed out in defeat. “I’m sorry that I scared you and I promise from now on to be more careful, so you don’t have to worry as much.” He looked to be about to interrupt so she quickly continued. “In keeping with that, I will allow you one stipulation for me that will make you feel comfortable.”

  “Stipulation?” he asked unfamiliar with the word.

  “You get one request that I will follow,” she clarified.

  Kang-Dae thought for a moment. “A personal guard. I should have appointed you one long ago. If you accept a personal guard to be with you at all times when I am not around, I will attempt to give you more freedom.”

  “How about just when I leave the palace?” Serenity offered.

  “All times.”

  “Whenever I go outside?”

  “All times.”

  “They go where I go but they stay outside the room,” she settled on, not prepared to bend anymore.

  Sensing her resolve Kang-Dae finally agreed, “fine.”

  “Fine.”

  Serenity pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. “Do I get to pick them out myself?”

  “I’ll ask Jung-Soo who he feels will be capable,” Kang-Dae answered. Serenity was pleased to hear him speaking of Jung-Soo without his usual annoyance.

  “Glad that’s settled,” she quipped before attempting to walk off.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To thank God. He just granted me a miracle,” she joked as she headed toward the balcony.

  Chapter Two

  “In waiting to act, that witch has been gaining the approval of the people and the nobles,” the man spat. It made him sick to hear the murmurs in the palace about how brave and loyal the new Queen was. How could they not see her for the infiltrator she was?

  “Calm yourself,” his partner spoke.

  “He’s right. Every moment we wait it will be even harder to remove her,” the female spoke up.

  “Did you forget what happened to Amin when he tried, and that was before there was a crown on her head? No, we have to be smart. Our hands must not be a part of it. The best way is to use hands not our own.”

  “Is that not what Amin did?”

  “Amin used the wrong hands.”

  ****

  “One at a time!” Serenity scolded in Xianian. Posted at the edge of the marketplace, Soldiers formed a protective barrier as they stood by the packed carts. The gaggle of children calmed for just a moment before continuing to push each other out of the way. “Hey!” she shouted. They all quieted. “Everyone will get some, but if you fight, I will send you back with nothing,” she warned. Like magic, the kids formed an orderly line as they waited patiently for their provisions. Amoli smiled at the sight. Serenity, in an effort to help those in need, had decided to hand out supplies to the impoverished children in the city. With the food shortage, she knew they would be suffering the most as they had no means to pay for regular priced food let alone the now much more expensive kind.

  Serenity had gone to the Queen dowager with the idea and she had eagerly approved, stating the people would greatly appreciate it. Serenity, Amoli, and a few ladies oversaw the giving as the palace workers gave out sacks with vegetables, fruit, and bread.

  “Do not eat it all too fast. We’ll be back again soon with more.” She told them. The kids cheered and rushed up to hug her. Arezoo, the head of her new guard stepped up to force them back, but Serenity stopped her, insisting it was fine. When Jung-Soo first introduced her, she had been pleased to see a familiar face. Like Amoli, Arezoo hailed from a region where English was spoken regularly, which was one of the reasons Jung-Soo had chosen her. The other two, Nasreen and Gyuri, she’d never seen. Nasreen was the younger sister to Arezoo. Though they shared the same eyes, the resemblance stopped there. Whereas Arezoo kept her hair shorter, Nasreen’s long brown hair was in a braid tossed over her right shoulder. Her big round eyes were contrary to Arezoo’s smaller ones. Where Arezoo was hard and gave off a tough persona, Nasreen looked soft and sweet. However, Jung-Soo assured her she was incredibly deadly. Gyuri was actually from a noble family. With hair always pinned to the top of her head, strong facial features, robust build, and dark brows, no one would have ever guessed she was once a noble lady. However, she had wanted to be a soldier so bad she renounced her title and enlisted. Gyuri had requested to be a part of her guard. Apparently, she was very eager to serve a Queen who would brave a battlefield. Serenity didn’t have the heart to tell her she’d been terrified the whole time.

  Serenity gave as many of the kids she could reach a hug feeling a great amount of joy to have made them so happy. She was reminded of the children she taught and the fulfillment she got from working with them. One by one the kids ran off. Serenity and the others began to pack up, but a loud crash startled them all, except for her guard who already had their weapons out. Loud arguing could be heard from around the corner within the marketplace. Serenity started to walk over only for Arezoo to block her path. “It’s not safe,” she warned.

  “That’s why I have you,” she said smartly before walking around her. Her guard quickly surrounded her as she walked towards the rising voices. A small group of people was yelling at a man standing in front of his broken cart. Scattered pieces of vegetables littered the ground. The man was screaming at the crowd brandishing a large potato at them as if it were a weapon.

  Using her best “teacher” voice Serenity called out in Xianian, “What is going on here?” The crowd and the man sto
pped their fighting and dropped to their knees to bow. “You can stand,” she told them. They all got back to their feet and Serenity repeated her question which started another bout of screaming. Serenity did her best to listen, but they were talking way too fast and over each other, she wasn’t able to pick out anything useful.

  “Amoli?” she asked looking to her friend for help.

  “I believe these people are upset at this man because he has been purposely increasing his prices so high no one can afford them. He’s the only merchant in the market who sells produce of good quality,” Amoli told her.

  The man spoke out angrily and Amoli relayed, “he says he must put himself through dangerous situations to get the food here as he is the only one capable of sneaking through the blockade. He feels the prices are more than fair due to his sacrifice.”

  Serenity held up her hand quieting the merchant and the crowd. She waved the merchant over. He shuffled toward her hesitantly. “You can get through the blockade?” she asked. He nodded. Asking Amoli to translate she continued, “Would you like me to assign you a personal escort to protect you and help you bring in more food. More food means more profit.” The man nodded eagerly, saying thank you.