“Nothing! I, um, never mind.”
“I eat a lot because I work hard and I burn a lot of energy,” she said. “A healthy appetite is a sign of a healthy body. If I eat more than you, maybe it’s because you’re too lazy.”
“I’m sorry if you took my words the wrong way. I take it that this is a sore point for you . . .”
Kira heaved a long sigh. “I see women give these confusing messages all the time. Urging the men to enjoy their food and eat a lot, and telling their girls to go hungry or else they’ll get fat and no man will want to marry them.
“My appetite was a big joke with the court ladies. Even my aunt, the queen, would criticize me when I ate with her,” Kira said. “It got to the point where I would eat nothing because her constant criticisms would make me lose my appetite. But my mother always brought me food afterward. She never judged, she only ever loved me.”
The pain threatened to overwhelm her and she closed her eyes, holding back her tears. She could see her mother sliding open the door to her quarters, carrying a full tray of food with her own hands. No servants to help her. She could hear her mom’s voice in her head, telling her:
“Never go to bed hungry, my child. Always fill your stomach so you can be strong. So much stronger than I ever was.”
Her mother would sit beside her as she ate. Patting Kira’s hair from time to time, urging her to eat all her favorite foods.
“I love to watch you eat,” she said as she stacked up the empty dishes. “You eat with such enjoyment and pleasure. I love how you find comfort and happiness in the simple things of life. Never forget them. Never forget what makes you happy.”
The memory faded and Kira was left again with the aching loss that always overwhelmed her when she thought of her mother.
Jaewon was kneeling in front of her, patting her hands between his.
“I meant no harm by my words,” he said. “I’m always teasing you, but I never mean to hurt you. Forgive me.”
Kira looked up at him. “I know that. I was missing my mother,” she said.
Jaewon’s eyes turned sad. “Me too.”
He put an arm around her. She leaned against his shoulder and rested.
After a long moment, he asked. “Hungry?”
She nodded.
“Good,” he said, rising to his feet.
Kira watched as Jaewon placed a generous portion of food in her wooden bowl before passing it to her.
“Watching you eat is the highlight of my day,” he said with a smile. “Don’t ever change.”
His words were so similar to what her mother used to say that Kira had to blink back her tears.
“Don’t worry,” she said, her voice husky with emotion. “I won’t.”
5
In the heart of the island, the jungle seemed nearly untouched by humans. There were no villages to avoid and no fear of running into any Yamato patrols. Kira finally began to circle around toward the eastern mountain range.
It was early afternoon on the fifth day since Fulang took Taejo. Finally, they saw what they’d been looking for. In a valley of gently sloping mountains, the tremendous height of one craggy cliff towered over all the rest. Where the lower surrounding mountains were green and filled with color, the black rock was devoid of any vegetation. A rocky crag on which nothing grew. But high in the shadows of the mountain, Kira observed the shape and glow of the golden temple. It stood in stark contrast to the darkness of its mountain. Tiger’s Nest Temple was built into the cliffs itself with no discernible entrance into it.
Suddenly they heard the roars of an angry animal.
“That sounds like a tiger,” Jaewon said. His eyebrows furrowed in concern. “What’s it doing on an island?”
Kira had frozen in shock, trying to place where the roars were coming from. “Tigers are great swimmers,” she said absently. “They’ve been spotted swimming to the islands from the mainland.”
The bellows swept over them again. Trying to pinpoint the location, Kira began to head farther inland. The tiger’s roars were echoing all around them, making it hard to figure out where they were coming from. But Kira was determined to try.
“Why are we heading toward the tiger?” Jaewon asked as he hurried to keep pace with her. “Shouldn’t we be running away from it?”
Kira didn’t answer, concentrating on following the anguished cries.
“Also, you do realize we’re going the wrong way, right? We are heading to the other side of the island.”
Kira continued to ignore him, focused on saving the animal in need. Finally she spotted an open clearing where a large hole had been camouflaged with bamboo and foliage, which the weight of the tiger had collapsed.
The tiger had fallen along the side of the pit wall, but it looked as if it had been skewered through the side by one of the numerous sharpened bamboo sticks within the trap.
Without hesitating, Kira began to climb into the pit.