I. Two Mistakes

“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” 

                                                                      =Buddha

Year 967 (19th Year of King Gwangjong's Reign)

 

As King Gwangjong and his retinue entered the Royal Court, his star diviner Ji-Mong who had been waiting for him to arrive approached,  formally bowing to greet the King. Once King Gwangjong saw him he remembered the conversation they had shared the night before in Ji-Mong's tower . Before Ji-mong said anything  the King addressed him first, ” Do you want to leave that badly?”

Ji-Mong replied with a simple, “Yes, I can’t help but think of him.” He said, referring to the King's deceased oldest brother.
  

The King tried to remind him of his duty, “You said you weren’t anyone’s person but the King’s person.“ 

Hesitating for a moment Ji-Mong explained, “I think my King was one person. He was a brother and a friend to me…..he was a Monarch.”

King Gwangjong had learned how to read his subjects. It wasn’t the words Ji-Mong used but his eyes that spoke that this was a man who had reached the end of a long battle with himself and found his answer. 

Another long pause and Ji-Mong added, “In regard to Lady Hae Soo, I don’t think she was from this world.  When you think back on things there are many instances where you realize it.  You need to forget her.”   With added levity he said, “If you long for a person you cannot reach, you end up like me” he ended with a broad smile.

Ji-Mong’s words echoed in the King s’ mind. Then, he heard it. The crisp sound of a waterdrop magnified as if he could hear the precise moment it touched water.This is the sound he associated with truth. 

Finding it inside the palace walls was rarer than finding gold. He knew even before Ji-Mong's words about Hae Soo could make

sense in his mind that he spoke the truth.

After dropping the unexpected news, Ji-Mong formally bowed to his King one last time and walked away, ending a lifetime of service to Goryeo’s royal family and leaving in his wake more questions to ponder than answers.

The King stood in stunned silence at Ji-Mong’s words. 

King Gwangjong recalled how the previous night, they had stood close in Ji-Mong’s tower watching the skies.

“Another eclipse approaches tomorrow Your Majesty. Some fear them as bad omens of calamities.  Others see them as announcing change.  Either way it is believed they are messengers from the heavens.”As he spoke Ji-Mong fidgeted with his invention trying to look at the stars with something he called a telescope.

Standing in that tower overlooking Goryeo, the King’s thoughts traveled to the past and his brother The 8^th Prince’s residence. 

It was the first snow of Winter and Hae Soo had stood as close to him as Ji-Mong now was. She had been especially taken by what she called “The bright stars found only here in Goryeo”.   In those days life had seemed simpler and fate or finding the meaning in stars had been of no interest to him. Fate had already taken too much from him.

After another silence  Ji-Mong looked up at the sky, this tower which had been his home for so long really afforded the best view for stargazing. Jovially he announced,” My fate like that of tomorrow's eclipse is to be here only for a moment, and then move on. My star is fading. My time with you, Your Majesty has come to an end.” 

The Kings’ face remained calm, “Fate? What has fate to do with your decision to leave?”

Walking towards the front balcony Ji-Mong outstretched his hands as if wanting to grab all the stars in the firmament, “All of these together do not have a path as set as the one the heavens command for us. Has your path not been as fated King Gwangjong?.....”

An uneasy sensation suddenly brought the King back to the courtyard. As the temperature dropped and the wind changed directions, he felt a chill down his spine.  As if waiting for Ji-Mong’s exit from the courtyard, the eclipse in that moment reached totality. He looked up at the sky. The Moon completely covered the Sun and darkness descended in Goryeo. 

To a casual observer the shadow of the eclipse momentarily obscuring half the Kings’ face would have reminded them of the mask, worn long ago by 4^th Prince Wang So before he ascended the throne.

Memories of another eclipse years ago, when  4^th Prince had first galloped into Goryeo returned to him a heart that as a Monarch  he should have already buried, but had not. His Father, King Taejo had said as much to him,"As a King you must throw her away. You must throw them all away ." Only one name could bring that heart back to life, Hae Soo.

Later that evening as the King retired in his quarters an urgent messenger from the Daminwon arrived bearing the news. The Royal Diviner was dead. Ji_Mong's body had been found at the Daminwon’s pool.