Chapter 11:the first winter
691 Words
CHAPTER 11: Bonus-The First Winter
3 months after the wedding.
First snow in the North.
Seo-ah was freezing.
"Your people wear like 5 layers," she complained, wrapped in furs. Her breath came out in white clouds.
Kadir laughed and pulled her closer. "You’ll get used to it. You’re Joseon. You’re supposed to hate cold."
"I don’t hate it," she said. "I just wasn’t born for it."
They were in the library. Fire roaring. Books stacked to the ceiling.
Minho’s letter was on the table, sealed with Joseon red wax.
"Read it again," Kadir said, sitting beside her.
Seo-ah smiled and broke the seal. "'Sister, the palace misses you. The gardens are dead without you. Come for winter. -M'"
"He’s softening," Kadir said.
"He called you 'brother-in-law' in the last letter," Seo-ah teased, nudging him.
Kadir went red. "Did not."
"Did too. I have it memorized."
There was a knock.
A servant bowed low. "Your Majesties. The Joseon merchants have arrived for the winter fair."
Down in the courtyard, it was chaos and color.
Northern furs. Joseon silk. Spices. Tea. Iron. Everyone trading and shouting in 2 languages. Children ran between stalls.
Seo-ah walked through the crowd in her blue Joseon hanbok under a white fur cloak. People bowed.
A little girl, maybe 6, ran up to her. "Princess! Princess!"
She spoke Northern with a thick Joseon accent. "My appa says you ended the war."
Seo-ah knelt. "Did he now?"
The girl nodded seriously. "So we can have candy again."
Seo-ah laughed and gave her a honey candy from her sleeve. "Then tell your appa thank you."
Her eyes watered as she stood.
This was what they fought for. Not thrones. Not land. This.
That night, Kadir found her on the balcony. Snow fell softly.
"You did good today," he said.
"We did good," she corrected. "You let the merchants in. You lowered the taxes."
He handed her something. A ribbon. Blue. Joseon color. Silk.
"To match your dress," he said quietly.
Seo-ah tied it in her hair. "Thank you. For remembering."
They stood in silence. Watching the snow cover the training grounds.
No war drums. No screams.
Just peace. And the sound of merchants packing up below.
Kadir took her hand. Kissed her knuckles. Right on the oath scar she got that day in the tent.
"I would do it all again," he whispered. "The treaty. The wedding. All of it."
"Me too," Seo-ah whispered back. "Even the part where my brother threatened to burn your kingdom down."
Kadir snorted. "Fair."
A messenger bird landed on the railing. Small tube on its leg.
Kadir untied it. Another letter from Minho.
Seo-ah opened it.
"Little sister,
The court is stable. No one calls me traitor to my face.
The people like the peace. They like the trade.
Come home for winter solstice. I’m tired of talking to ministers.
Also, Kadir: if you make her cry, I wasn’t joking about burning things.
-M"
Seo-ah burst out laughing. "He’s so dramatic."
"He loves you," Kadir said.
"He’s learning to love you too," Seo-ah said.
Kadir didn’t answer. Just pulled her under his cloak.
They watched the snow until their noses were red.
Later, in bed, Seo-ah couldn’t sleep.
"Do you think they’ll really stay peaceful?" she asked.
Kadir was quiet. Then: "I think as long as you’re here, they will."
"That’s a lot of pressure," she said.
"You handle pressure well," he said. "You handled me."
She threw a pillow at him.
The next morning, they toured the village.
Old women taught Seo-ah how to make Northern stew.
Northern blacksmiths taught Kadir how Joseon made silk thread.
It was awkward. It was slow. It was working.
Before bed, Seo-ah wrote back to Minho.
"Brother,
I’m coming for solstice. Save me some rice cakes.
Kadir says hi. Don’t burn anything.
-Seo"
She sealed it and gave it to the bird.
Far away, in Joseon, Minho got the letter.
He read it twice. Then he raised a cup of tea to the window.
"To my sister," he said to no one. "And to peace."
Outside, for the first time in 20 years, the border was quiet.
- Writer
