“I’m indebted to you,” he said.
I blinked. “For what, sir?”
“I might not have lived if not for you.”
“It was my honor to serve you, sir. If only I had come earlier, then you would not have been wounded.”
“It was not my blood. It belonged to my horse.”
I recalled the horse struggling on the ground, its head nodding up and down. “Oh…”
“Come closer,” he said.
Surprise lit in me. Inspector Han had always kept his distance from all, officers and damos alike. I slid across the veranda, and once I was close enough, I wondered if he could feel the heat of my nervousness.
“Hold out your palm.”
I reached out and spread my fingers. He pressed a solid and cold object into my hand: a tasseled ornament, a norigae, like the one tied to Lady O’s dress—but much different in color and shape. This one was an amber carving of a terrapin, attached to a long tassel of blue silk strings.
“This was a gift I wanted to give my sister on her birthday, but never got to. Hold on to it until I fulfill my promise to you.”
“Promise, sir?”
“Tell me. What is it you most desire?” he asked. “And I promise it will be yours.”
Still staring at the ornament, unable to believe my eyes, the truth slipped out of me before I could weigh its full implication. “Home.” His gaze drifted to the brand on my cheek, and I opened my mouth to quickly erase that request. “I mean—”
“Then when the investigation is over, I will return it to you.”
“Sir?”
“Your home. I will send you back.”
I froze, and as his words sank in, my heart rocked back and forth in shock. He would send me home … The place that whispered to me through the familiar smiles, the familiar scenes, the familiar patterns of each day: you belong here.
Brother had once told me that when you long for something too badly, and for too long, it begins to feel like a faraway, unreachable dream. That was how home had begun to feel to me. But Inspector Han had just reached out and placed that hope, a solid promise, into my hands.
Real. So real.
“You are not a palace nurse sent here because of low grades,” he observed. “So how did you end up in the bureau?”
It took me time to collect my thoughts, scattered in dozens of directions. At length, I spoke, my voice cracking. “I was a nobi servant, a property of my master, Lord Paek. I was different from other servants who were only bound to their masters by a contract; Lord Paek owned me. So when he decided to sell me to a nearby police bureau in Inchon, I had no choice but to go. Then … then my sister overheard an officer telling his superior something.”
“What was that?” he prompted.
“The officer said, ‘You might regain Commander Yi’s favor if you sent the servant girl. She is strong, and the police bureau needs strong damos.’ And so they transferred me to the capital.” I worried my lower lip, wondering if Inspector Han could truly keep his promise. “I am indentured for one generation.”
“There are ways to end the indenture sooner.”
“With money? It would take me too long to earn enough, sir.”
“Freedom can also be received through government favor. I will make sure that you return home by the new year. Until then, keep that norigae safe.”
“Of course, sir,” I whispered, believing him. “With my life!”
Quietly, we sat side by side, staring ahead at the sky above the police bureau walls. The clouds had moved, revealing a splinter of the moon that glowed skeletal white.
* * *
All night, I couldn’t sleep and just listened to the drip, drip, drip of water falling into the rain catchers. My heart full and able to think of little else, I repeated the scene of me shooting the tiger in my mind so many times that the memory itself began to fade, like a sketch folded and opened once too often. The memory of the Mount Inwang incident was irresistible. Of Inspector Han, his eyes widening at the sight of me, his eyes seeing something in me no one else had seen before: the empress in me, rising, holding her bow steady. Perhaps he had felt a sense of indebtedness mixed with admiration. Perhaps this had led to his realization that I deserved more kindness? That I deserved a reward—to be returned home?
When the morning arrived, my mind whirled, filled with crashing waves of nervous excitement and exhaustion. It took me a while to recognize that people were conversing inside the servants’ quarter.
“It has begun!”
“What has?”
“Commander Yi ordered Maid Soyi’s beating for running away, and now Inspector Han is interrogating her. Come quick!”
I wanted to know too, why Soyi had run, what had scared her. I changed out of my nightgown and bound my breasts; the hanbok uniform required the waistband of the skirt to go around my upper chest. Then I donned a long kwaeja vest over my garments, securing it with a sash belt. Once presentable, I followed the distant sound of Inspector Han’s voice to its source, the main courtyard.
I walked around the crowd of civilian spectators and dove into the flock of people, elbowing my way to the front. No one blocked me now, so I had a clear view of Inspector Han; he paced before Maid Soyi, who was tied to a chair.
I observed the dark shadows beneath her eyes and the blood staining her pale lips from biting down too hard. I frowned as the sight of her probed at something in me, something important that I had forgotten. Then a memory swept into my mind.
I do not believe in indentured servitude.
Was it a coincidence that Soyi’s mistress shared the same rebellious idea as the mysterious woman? More pressing, if Soyi had indeed murdered Lady O, why kill the woman who had offered her the gift of equality?
Inspector Han’s commanding voice broke into my thoughts. “Do you know why you are here?”
“Because I am Lady O’s personal servant, sir.”
“She had many personal servants—but only one who blatantly lied.” After a beat, he folded his arms and took a step closer. “You informed a damo that you’d woken up early to see if your mistress had had a good night’s sleep before raising the alarm. But you knew of her disappearance long before then, didn’t you? A witness saw you leaving the mansion soon after Lady O’s disappearance.”
“I … I was asked to keep an eye on her.”
“Asked by whom?”
“Lady O’s mother.”
“For what reason?”
“It is indecent to say—”
“This is a murder investigation, Maid Soyi. Do not withhold anything from me.”
Her gaze flicked to me, as though she had sensed my arrival from the start. “As I told the damo, my mistress had a lover. And when I saw her sneaking out at night, sir, I followed. She had mentioned Mount Nam often, so I wondered if she had gone there.”
“Tell us what you saw.”
“I was walking down the street. It was the curfew hours, so everyone was asleep. I took the long way around to search as many alleys as possible, and walked toward Mount Nam—” She stopped. Though tied to a chair, she managed to sit straighter. A sudden clarity lit her eyes as she looked up. “I remember now. I saw someone.”