Amara

Chapter 3

Amara frowned and looked at Min Joon. “What exactly do you mean by that?” she asked. Min Joon sighed and shook his head.  “Forget it, it's not important right now just tell me if he's the one who hit you?”
    “He didn't hit me, he's the one who saved me. I broke a man's jade vase and when I couldn't pay for it, he hit me” Amara explained.
  Min Joon sighed and stepped closer to Amara “Why didn't you tell me, why did you try to hide it?” he asked her. Amara shrugged “You told me not to fight back if I got into trouble, I didn't want you to get angry and do anything unnecessary” Amara said, she hoped that Min Joon would just let it go. She was humiliated and she wanted to put it behind her.
   Min Joon grabbed her hand and briskly walked back to the inn, when they arrived he pulled Amara up the stairs to her room “Wait here” he said and left. Min Joon returned a moment later holding a very small porcelain jar.

He carefuly pushed Amara's hair out of her face and took some ointment out from the small jar. He gently rubbed it on Amara's swollen cheek, she winced a little and stepped back. “I can do it myself” she whispered. Min Joon hissed and looked down at her in a reprimanding manner, Amara stood still and stared at the ground.  “I can't remember the last time I was hit in the face” Amara said as Min Joon finished applying the ointment to her face, it had a very pungent smell. “Really? ” Min Joon asked. Amara nodded “When I first started training with my father and his warriors, I discovered that my face was the most sensitive part of my body, so when I fight I never let my opponent near my face, this is the first time in years that someone has hit my face, repeatedly for that matter” Amara said.  Min Joon stared at her for a moment, unsure of what to say to her at first.  “I should've watched you more carefully and I told you not to do anything. I'm sorry” he said.
   “Do I really have to rely on you? I can protect myself and prevent things like this” Amara said. Min Joon shook his head “Look at what happened when you didn't do anything, just imagine what could happen if you actually fight. They could gang up on you, get you arrested or falsely accuse you and get you killed.” Min Joon said.
  Amara sighed, she knew that Min Joon was right but it still felt unfair to her.  Would she have to hide behind him forever, if she was going to live like that wouldn't it be better to just go to a different country?
   “The ointment will help the swelling go down in a few hours, get some rest I'm going to help with the renovations” Min Joon said and left.
  Amara sat on the floor in front of a small mirror and stared at her face in the mirror. She took the butterfly hairpin out of her hair and put it in her bag and then she just sat staring at her reflection in the mirror, her father had always told her that she was the spitting image of her mother. Amara had never really noticed it before but now all she could see was her mother's face.
  She took a deep breath as she felt tears come to her eyes, she shook her head and wiped her eyes. Amara didn't want to cry, she saw no need to. Her father told her to face every situation bravely and crying wouldn't help her at all. She needed to be strong if she was going to survive in Joseon, this much she already knew.

Amara went out to the back of the inn, she found Seo yoon trying to chop wood. She rushed towards her and took the axe from her. “Please let me do that” she said and immediately began chopping up the wood on the ground. Seo yoon sighed “Thank you, I really don't know how I can ever repay all your kindness”
   “This is nothing, I'm just cutting wood. If my mother ever saw me standing idly by while an elderly was cutting wood or  doing any other chore, she'd beat me up” Amara said and giggled. Seo yoon smiled at her and nodded “My children should be more like you, they're so used to having things done for them they wouldn't mind letting me do all the house work”
  Amara looked up from her work and smiled “You don't have to worry, I'm here to help you now”
  Seo yoon grabbed Amara's wrist “My goodness, what happened to your face?”  she exclaimed and dragged Amara towards a bench near a small damaged storage room.
   “It was just a small misunderstanding at the market today, you don't have to worry and Min Joon already put some medicine on it” Amara said as she sat down.
   “I think you should still go to a doctor, look at how swollen it is. Who would dare hit such a pretty face?”  
  Amara laughed “I don't need a doctor, it was just a slap. You're just as worrisome as my mother was” Amara said and laughed out loudly until she realized that she'd used past tense, her mother wasn't alive. She stopped laughing and sighed “You don't have to worry, I'll be fine in the morning. By the way, where is Min ji?”
  Seo yoon clicked her tongue “That silly girl went to look for her friends she was supposed to help me with some needle work but as soon as I wasn't looking she left” Seo yoon said.  Amara nodded “Girls our age do that a lot, actually the only thing we think about is having fun with our friends and talking about boys” Amara said even though she wasn't really like that. She did have a few friends in her village and she sometimes joined the other young girls in the village to swoon over the young boys but she spent most of her time fighting and training.
    “Of course I know that, I was your age once.  I'm just worried about Min Joon, he hasn't been the same since the incident. He avoids his friends as much as he possibly can in fact, this morning was the first time in a long time since he'd been to see Prince Dong Sun. He spends too much time alone”  Seo yoon said.
  “What incident?” Amara asked, she wondered if it had anything to do with what Min Joon had mentioned earlier about Daehyun's father.
   “That is a story for another day, I should go prepare dinner. You should get some rest” Seo yoon said and left Amara sitting on the bench.  Amara watched Seo yoon walk back into the inn, she couldn't help but wonder what this incident was, it obviously changed their lives as a family.