“Let’s go,” Shin says.
The heavy mist extends across the whole city, seeming to roll along the ground like swirls of clouds. The doors to the Sea God’s palace are closed, so Namgi scales the wall and throws down a rope for Shin and Kirin to climb, with me clinging to Shin’s back. Over the wall, the Sea God’s garden is eerily quiet, the blanketing fog like ghostly tendrils reaching out as if to beckon us into the mist.
Shin leads the way with Namgi, as always, beside me. It’s Kirin I’m surprised to find walking to my left.
“You’ve decided, then,” Kirin says, a chill in his voice. “What you want.”
His animosity is palpable. “What are you trying to say?” I ask.
“Last night, Lord Crane was eager to divulge to us the knowledge he shared with you, that the Red String of Fate between yourself and Shin can be unmade, should you form a connection with the Sea God.”
So Shin does know. I look to him where he walks a few paces ahead. The fog is so thick it’s unlikely he can hear our words.
“It’s not just my decision to make,” I say. “Shin can also form a connection with someone else.”
“Modesty doesn’t suit you. The one who will make the choice will be you.”
“My feelings are not so simple,” I whisper.
“Neither does indecisiveness.”
I flinch, though I don’t blame Kirin. I see now how loyal he is to Shin.
“That’s unfair to Mina,” Namgi protests. “It’s not so easy for her to follow her heart. She has a duty to her family, her people.”
Kirin growls. “Then I should praise Mina for her sense of loyalty, and condemn you for your lack of it.”
Namgi tenses. “I have loyalty.”
“Is that why you abandoned your brothers, your family, your blood? Leaving them doesn’t make you less of a monster, Namgi.” Kirin’s voice is cold, ruthless. “It just makes you a traitor.”
Namgi holds himself very still; then his shoulders sag, the fight seeming to leave him. He says, in a defeated voice so unlike his own, “Sometimes you don’t find family in your own blood, but elsewhere.”
And though Kirin was the one with the harsh words, it’s he who turns away, as if pained.
Namgi separates from us, and the fog swallows him whole. When he doesn’t return after a few minutes, I ask worriedly, “Should we go after him? He might get lost in this fog.”
From the murky depths comes a muffled shout.
“Namgi!” Kirin cries out, his hand reaching to his sword belt.
“Go to him,” I say. “I’ll follow the Red String of Fate to Shin.”
He meets my gaze, then nods, disappearing into the mist.
Rain begins to fall, and soon my dress is soaked through. Perhaps it was a mistake to go in search of the Sea God instead of waiting out the storm, but deep down inside I knew when I woke this morning that if I didn’t look for him now, I might not look for him ever. I might step off the path I chose for myself when I jumped into the sea and instead follow my heart.
The rain lightens to a low drizzle. I follow the Red String of Fate as it parts the mist, flitting along the dewy air to the pavilion by the Pond of Paper Boats. This is where I find Shin, standing at the center of the elegant wooden structure. With him is the Sea God.
If Shin is surprised to find the Sea God awake, he’s careful not to show it, perhaps wary like I am that the god might flee, taking with him the chance to solve the mystery of his enchantment.
“Have you come to tell me another story?” the boy-god asks. He’s dressed in the same grand robes he wore when I first laid eyes on him, an emblem of the dragon embroidered in silver on his chest. Once more, I’m struck by how like a child he is, wanting to hear a story rather than face the truth.
I immediately chide myself. My grandmother would scold me for such a thought. Sometimes, only through a story can a truth be heard.
“If that is what would please you most,” I say. Though I’m unsure of what story to tell.
I meet Shin’s gaze over the boy-god’s shoulder. I settle on Joon’s favorite, a love story.
“A long time ago, there lived a woodcutter at the edge of a great forest. He was young, strong, and kind. He was also very lonely. One night, as he was traveling back home, he heard laughter through the woods. Curious, he followed the lovely sounds. Beneath a magnificent golden tree, he found two heavenly maidens swimming in a small rock pond, their beautiful white dresses streaming out behind them. The heavenly maidens had taken off their wings and had hung them over a low branch of the golden tree.”