The Scent of Myrrh and Sage

8. Betrayal of the Heart

Bleak eyes stared into the dense forest. The delight of its new life had dulled as a haze blurred Seonghwa's vision. He couldn't listen to the song of the birds with glee anymore. Felt as if they whispered with malice, like those ghosts Hongjoong kept close had done.

When Jongho noticed the slump of his shoulders, he assessed Seonghwa's well-being once more with his intelligent gaze.

"You paled. Are you feeling well?"

The rustle of last year's fallen leaves under their feet stopped. In the distance, the villagers laughed about something, light-hearted and full of hope now that the royal physician was here.

Seonghwa hung his head.

"I am, just... Shaken. I never suspected magic."

Hongjoong. He never suspected Hongjoong. Had helped him every day in his obscure tasks. How did Seonghwa never realise their sinister character? Those eerie plants Hongjoong told him never to eat because they would kill him. The summoning circles and shadows following him everywhere. Even Hongjoong's coldness as no person could gain such a skill without sacrificing their humanity.

"How... would you get rid of the curse then? The dark magic?"

Though Seonghwa felt numb from his realisation, he was nervous about the answer. Had Hongjoong stopped cursing everyone or was this an outer influence protecting them and Seonghwa aided in his quest to conquer the village?

What would happen if they found him in his lonely tomb?

Jongho glanced towards the bleak grey skies. It might rain soon, no longer cold enough for the water to freeze in the air.

"Since this is a mortal curse, it will only thwart once it finds nothing more to fester in. Which means all bodies are dead and the souls are under the control of the necromancer. That person grows stronger with every kill, raising an army of dead around them."

In all this time, Hongjoong put none of them to sleep. He gathered them, listened to their names and their goals in their lifetime. Made them take form and become attached to him.

Seonghwa didn't even need to ask. There had been a reason Hongjoong didn't tell him the whole truth and this was it.

He was undoubtedly the necromancer whose magic poisoned these lands. Seeking power. Killing the living to tend to the dead. Not once, Seonghwa had seen him do something human. He might as well be one of them, haunting these lands.

Jongho continued, clueless about the mayhem in Seonghwa's heart. He never experienced such a stabbing pain in his chest, and it took his breath away. Though he wanted to sink to the ground to scream and cry in his anguish, he retained his trembling limbs to listen to Jongho's thoughtful words.

"To get rid of such a curse, you must kill the source of the foul magic. Necromancy is forbidden in our kingdom and all practisers will be sentenced to immediate execution upon being found out."

Seonghwa clamped his lips shut. He wanted to defend Hongjoong, wanted to assure everyone he wasn't evil, but it would be a lie.

Seonghwa's mother had been right. Where he had been too blind to see, Jongho brought the truth to the people.

The physician turned, contemplating Seonghwa's miserable state. In his eyes lingered his suspicion that Seonghwa was the necromancer, but he had no clue.

That Seonghwa got to know him and spent so much time near him. Fell in love with him and laid with him in the most sacred of acts.

Clawed fingers dug into Seonghwa's shoulders as he needed to hold himself together so his agony wouldn't burst out of him. He wanted to rage, wanted to rip the flesh from his bones to punish his stupidity. Wanted to bash his head against a rock until he would stop thinking about Hongjoong, his secretive chuckles, and Seonghwa's undying foolishness.