Gilded (The Gilded Series, Book One)

by Christina Farley

  “Haraboji.” I lower my chin, giving him a solid glare. “I don’t need an escort. I’m perfectly capable of traveling on my own.”

  Grandfather lifts his eyebrows. “Indeed.”

  “I’m glad to help,” Marc says, a twinkle in his eyes. “Can I come with you to the ferry?”

  Grandfather frowns deeper but nods. “Only to the ferry. Your parents will be worried otherwise.”

  Grandfather cocks his head, an indication for us to follow him, and marches outside to the taxi stand. In a clipped voice he tells the driver to head to the port and jumps in front while Marc and I scramble into the back.

  “The boat leaves at six a.m.,” Grandfather explains as we pull away. “I’ve arranged for us to stay for the next four hours in a resting house next to the ferry terminal until we head to customs.”

  “Dad has been leaving me five million messages,” I say. “I think it’s going to work. He says he’s taking the first bullet train in the morning. I told him to meet us in the Fukuoka terminal. That way he can’t talk us out of leaving Korea.”

  Marc and Grandfather chat in Korean for the rest of the taxi ride. Marc is more fluent than I am, and I tune them out, wondering if I can pull this off. Will Dad take my bait and show up? Can I get him out of the country in time? I wonder if Haemosu will show up unexpectedly. I hope Haechi took care of him.

  The closer we get to the port, the faster I twirl the golden bracelet around my wrist.

  I have only slept for three hours in the tiny rented room Grandfather found before he wakes me and Marc. I munch on dried squid as we hike the two blocks to the ferry terminal in the misty, purplish glow of dawn.

  The roadside is lined with tarp-stretched shacks where fishermen are already slapping the wooden tables with this morning’s catch. I sigh. An orange juice and bagel would be perfect about now. I try to focus on the ocean and the fishing boats bobbing near the shore. Beyond them the big sea tankers drift, outlining a skyline now soaked in indigo and dark, rain-puffed clouds. A storm is approaching.

  We enter the parking lot of a giant building, and I immediately notice the signs in its aqua-colored windows displaying the Beetle. The boat in the picture is unremarkable, white with a black hull, but Grandfather says this boat flies over the water as if it has wings.

  When we enter the terminal, I grip my dragon bow’s case tighter, hoping this plan will work.

  Grandfather already bought our tickets and left one on reserve for Dad. We’re hoping he will arrive in time to catch the next boat. I peek through the glass windows that look out to sea at my escape boat bobbing in the water. My heart lightens as I realize that if Haemosu wanted to show up, he’d have done so by now. He wouldn’t make a scene in such a crowd.

  “I guess this is good-bye.” Marc stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Skype me, Fighter Girl.”

  Tears fill my eyes, but I don’t care. For the past six weeks, all I’ve wanted to do is leave Korea, but now I feel as if it’s a part of me. It’s brought me friends, a great school, my relatives, and now Marc.

  I throw myself into his arms.

  He stumbles back, surprised, I think; but he wraps his arms around me, squeezing me tightly as if he knows how I’m feeling.

  “We’ll meet up again,” he says into my hair. “You’ll see.”

  My head pounds as he releases me. What if I’m making the wrong decision?

  “Come,” Grandfather says, motioning to the turnstiles. “It is time.”

  I don’t have any words for Marc so I just kiss him. Right there in the lobby in front of my grandfather. He pulls me to him tight and cups my face in his hands and kisses me again, softly this time.

  “Saranghae,” he whispers.

  An announcement blares over the speakers, but I don’t move as I stare into his green eyes. He just said “I love you.”

  He loves me?

  Loves me?

  I stumble after Grandfather to the gate. As I hand over my passport to the attendant, I glance back at Marc.

  His hair is wild and sticking up everywhere, and he looks so alone that I want to run back to him and tell him I’m going to stay. Suddenly Marc’s eyes change. He’s looking at something behind me. He reaches out his hand and yells, “NO!”

  I whip my head around, and I realize I’m holding out my passport to Haemosu, in a black button-down shirt with dark slacks, his hair slicked back.

  Haemosu grins. His skin flickers like a thousand stars under the fluorescent lights. “You thought I would forget about my princess?”

  All the air has left my body. I drop my passport and stumble backward. I glance around at the people chatting, talking on their cell phones, totally obvious to the Korean demigod standing in their midst. Of course. No one can see the immortals unless they allow it.

  No one but Marc.

  “Haraboji!” I shout, but Grandfather has already gone through the turnstile and can’t hear me over the crowd.

  Haemosu lunges for me. I lurch away, his fingers brushing my arm, and Marc barrels through the crowd, shoving people out of the way. He dives and crashes his body into Haemosu. The two tumble to the floor. Those in line circle Marc, yelling and pointing at him.

  One lady cries out, “Seizure! The boy is having a seizure!”

  I push my way to Marc, but a security guard catches my arm and drags me back. “Marc!” I scream.

  “Run, Jae!” Marc yells.

  I kick and squirm in the guard’s arms until I wrestle my way free with a back elbow punch, turn, and knee to the groin. This guard messed with the wrong girl. I race into the empty circle where I last saw Marc. Neither Haemosu nor Marc is there.

  “Marc!” I shriek, spinning around, distantly aware that I must look as insane as a banshee. “Marc!”

  My screaming is pointless. Haemosu has taken him.

  I stand on the gangplank, indecision pulling me in both directions. Get on the boat with Grandfather or back to land to find Haemosu and Marc? The wind cuts against my face, salt water spraying my legs. All I can think about is how Marc is gone. Can I save him? Is he still alive?

  “Jae Hwa,” Grandfather says, “get on the boat!”

  “But Marc,” I say, and my heart squeezes. Grandfather drags me onto the boat deck, and I don’t have the energy to fight him. My feet weigh a thousand pounds as the gate lowers and the plank rises. I’ve never felt so weak and helpless in my entire life.

  It’s all my fault.

  I shove Grandfather’s hand off me and run to the edge of the boat. Should I jump? I’d have to jump just right so as not to hit the deck or the propeller. A guard pushes me backward, but all I can think about is how Marc saved me and I did nothing. There must have been something I could’ve done.

  My vision blurs as Grandfather guides me into the boat’s cafeteria. My insides feel numb. The door slams shut behind us. The boat engines rev up.

  “No!” I say. “We can’t leave Marc. Haemosu took him. I have to help him.”

  Everyone is sitting at tables to watch the departure, but my shouting has obviously gotten their attention. I suppose that’s because I sound like a raving lunatic.

  “You are safe. That is all that matters right now,” Grandfather says, leading me to a table with padded chairs that look out to the water. “There is nothing that you could have done to stop what happened. He saved you. We will be in international waters soon. Haemosu has no power over you there. This is what Marc wanted.”

  I stare blankly ahead while Grandfather’s hand grips the side of the table, knuckles white. He’s visibly upset, his lips tight and hair tussled. Even now he’s so confident that we’re doing the right thing. What has happened to me? What kind of person am I to stand by and watch as Haemosu takes all the people I love?

  The boat slides away from the dock. I study the massive terminal; the roofline swoops down like white waves over the aqua walls. People wave from the observation dock as a heavy mist settles in. Marc isn’t there. Of course he isn’t there.

  I s
hould’ve known Haemosu would try to take him. Ever since that day I entered the locker and Haemosu heard Marc’s voice, Haemosu has been jealous. I knew I shouldn’t have let him come, but I’m so freaking selfish. He’d be safe at home if it wasn’t for me.

  I spot gulls in the distance flying toward the boat like gold coins in the sky. Slowly I stand. No, not gulls. Those creatures glinting in the morning sun are not from this world.

  I know what I must do. I pull out my quiver and the Blue Dragon bow from its case. The wooden arch vibrates as if it’s alive in my hands.

  “What are you doing?” Grandfather’s hands form fists. “Sit.”

  “I have to go.” I strap the bow to my back and the quiver on my hip.

  “No, you do not! Think of all those who have sacrificed to save you. To stop the curse.”

  “I hear their voices every night crying for help, Haraboji! I can’t live knowing he has Marc and Komo. I can’t live knowing Haemosu will come and take you and Dad next. And it’s all my fault. So, yeah, I have to!”

  I dash up the stairs to the upper deck before he can respond. The air rushes around me, whipping my hair across my face, and I weave my way past the lifeboats to the bow of the boat. No one is standing outside; it’s too cold, which is all the better. I step onto a metal box, slip on my gloves, notch an arrow into place.

  And wait.

  Not for long. They come, riding the morning rays, as red as the sun’s flames themselves. Haemosu’s dragons.

  I aim, pull, and let my arrow fly. It hits the first dragon in the eye. The creature screeches and pulls back. The second is an easy mark; for its belly hovers just above me. It makes a sound like thunder rumbling as the arrow pierces it. Before I can notch another arrow, the three remaining dragons have landed, their golden claws scratching the surface, radiating streaks of light.

  “Listen, Dragons of Haemosu!” I yell over the rush of wind. The boat has picked up speed, riding along the hydrofoils and skimming over the ocean toward Japan. But that isn’t my destination. I say, “I wish you to take me to your master.”

  The dragons blink their wide red eyes in surprise. The largest, cocking its head and flicking out a forked tongue, speaks in my mind. We bear a message, Princess. From the glorious Haemosu.

  “I know. That’s why I want you to take me to him.”

  You betrayed his love. Now all whom you love will pay.

  My vision blurs, I’m so angry.

  The message has been delivered. We must fulfill the master’s desire.

  One lets out a piercing screech and wrenches the dragon bow from my grasp. The largest dragon whips his head to stare at Grandfather, who has just come onto the deck.

  “No!” I lunge for Grandfather, but I’m too slow as the dragon’s talon snatches the back of his jacket.

  “Run, Jae Hwa!” Grandfather says.

  He doesn’t realize that they aren’t here for me, that this is one of Haemosu’s awful tricks. They’re here for him. Haemosu knows me better than I thought. He knows I’ll do what he asks to free everyone I love.

  I leap down and seize the bow as Grandfather’s body is lifted airborne. I pull back and release an arrow, aiming for the talon holding Grandfather. With a cry, the dragon drops Grandfather, but then the second dragon swoops in and snatches him again in midair.

  I take off running across the deck until I’m at the boat’s edge. I launch onto the railing and jump up in the air, the ocean below me, and grab ahold of Grandfather’s leg.

  “No, Jae Hwa!” Grandfather shouts.

  Too late. I’m soaring through the air with the dragons as I hold on to Grandfather, watching the boat speed away. It looks like a toy now, surrounded by a sea of blue.

  We rise higher and higher. Above, I can hear Grandfather groan from my weight pulling on his leg. He shrugs off his backpack and hands it to me. “Take this,” he says. “It will lighten my load.”

  I don’t understand how that will lighten his load, but I’m in too much pain from holding on to argue. I slide the pack over my shoulder and clutch Grandfather’s leg with every ounce of strength I have left. Below, I can see we are flying back toward Korea, the beaches below us and then the sprawling city of Busan, with its tall buildings and the mountains rising in the distance.

  A cloud moves in and cloaks us in a world of white. I realize we’re about to leave this world. I grow light-headed; waves of nausea push at my stomach. My arm aches. I just need to hold on a little longer. Pressure pushes on me from all sides.

  You are not allowed to pass.

  Talons take hold of me, and I’m yanked from Grandfather’s leg.

  “No!” I scream.

  Then I’m flung across the sky, far from the city. The wind rushes around me, screaming in my ears and tearing at my clothes as I plummet. The ground looms closer with every second. I know I’m about to die, but all I can think about is Dad, Grandfather, and Marc. What will happen to them?

  A golden light envelopes me along with the sound of tinkling bells. I black out.

  My bones ache and my head feels like a hand grenade exploded in my brain. Slowly, I lift my eyes and wait for my vision to clear. After seeing the golden light and hearing the tinkling of bells, I’m expecting to be in Haemosu’s world.

  I’m so wrong.

  The sky hovers above, smoky blue, and little block houses, some modern concrete style and others with the traditional tiled roofs, rise up toward it. Cars rush by, spraying slush on the sidewalk, splattering my face. My clothes are soaked, and my hair is slimy from whatever I’d been lying in. Probably vomit from the smell of it.

  I’m not in Haemosu’s lands. He saved me so he could torture me. My hands start shaking. I punch the ground, and mud and sludge splatter all over me.

  Three people I care about have been taken because they believed in me. I failed them. My stomach churns, thinking about what Haemosu might have done to them. I stumble into an alley and throw up.

  I check my watch for the time, but my vision is still fuzzy, and it takes a few moments for me to read it—eight a.m. I reach up gingerly and find a golf ball–sized bump on the left side of my head. How did this happen? I should be splattered across the pavement.

  I do a quick inventory check, hoping I somehow managed to take more with me than the huge bump. Sure enough, my bow is still strapped to my shoulder, miraculously undamaged, and my backpack is still on my back. I spy Grandfather’s pack at my feet. I pick it up and stumble down the side of the road, avoiding the mud and puddles. Shop lights flick on, and the roadside sellers make their way to their carts, tossing off the thick brown tarps in preparation for the day.

  It’s a normal morning for them. Unlike me. My latest grand plan has gone wrong.

  I touch Princess Yuhwa’s hairpin, still tucked in my slimy ponytail. I sense a connection with her just by having it on. She found a way to escape. Maybe her good fortune will rub off on me. This calms me somehow.

  I need to call Dad. Without a guardian I can’t leave the country. Oddly, the thought of staying in Korea is comforting. The truth of it all sets in. I don’t want to leave anymore. I can’t leave my friends or my family. This is where I belong. This is home.

  But I can’t call Dad. Haemosu is just waiting for me to lead him to Dad, so I can watch Dad get kidnapped. Haemosu will only do it if I’m there. Keeping Dad as far from me as possible is the only way I can ensure he’s safe.

  I search my backpack for food and finding none; I dig through Grandfather’s. My hand brushes against a silk drawstring pouch. Curious, I pull back the golden strings and dump the object into my palm. It’s cool to the touch, and the gold catches in the early light.

  Oh. My. God.

  The amulet.

  Grandfather had it the whole time! I think back to when I was talking to the police chief and I thought I’d seen someone slip out. Had that been him? He’d probably planned to get me out of the country and then secretly come back to defeat Haemosu himself.

  The three-legged crow l
ooks at me as if it’s itching to tell its secret. I run my finger around the circular edge, remembering how Grandfather said that each of the ancient Koguryo tombs was a gateway into the Spirit World.

  If I can find one of those tombs, I can enter the Spirit World just like I’d originally planned. Because now I have the key. I can rescue Marc, Grandfather, and Komo.

  Haemosu thinks he’s got it all under control, but I’ll show him. I clench the amulet in my fist and head over to a shopkeeper rolling back her tarp to reveal piles of socks loaded on her cart. I smile just at the sight. If I could take a picture of it and e-mail it to my friends back in L.A., they would die laughing.

  But those times are gone. Life has become way more complicated than taking pictures and hanging out with friends. I swallow back tears.

  “Excuse me,” I manage to say to the sock lady in Korean. “Do you know where the closest Korean king’s tomb is?”

  She glances up, and her weathered face grins. I suppose my L.A.–accented Korean is laughable, but she points to the bus stop across the street.

  “The closest tomb is King Munmu’s,” she says. “Bonggil Beach is a one-hour drive away.”

  Only one hour away? Yes! “Kamsahamnida,” I say, and skirt around her cart to a public bathroom next to the bus stop.

  There I wash the grossness out of my hair in the sink, brush my teeth, and splash water over my tear-streaked face. It wasn’t a hot bath, but it would have to do. Feeling a world better, I head back outside to the bus stop.

  The map hanging on the bulletin board shows that I’m not in Busan anymore. I’m actually farther east up the coast between Busan and Kyongju. Interesting. I suppose the dragons were trying to throw me as far from the port as possible.

  An hour later I stumble off the bus and onto a sand-streaked brick road. Every muscle aches, and my head hurts even worse. Wandering down the street, I breathe in the salty air and listen to the low rush of the waves as I search for someone to show me the way to the tomb. Even through my pounding headache, I notice there’s something strange about this town.