A voice above Abby started questioning the guards. Abby was only able to catch a few phrases here and there but from what she was able to understand and piece together latter the conversation seemed to go like this.
"What on earth do you think you are doing to that Lady! How dare you handle a Lady of the Court thus" His Majesty barked, "Release her at once and explain yourselves!"
The man who appeared to be the lead of the military group bowed deeply to the King, "Chona, please, accept our explanation. We found her wandering in a restricted area. Her strange appearance, manner and even language is not quite correct. We were taking her to be investigated.
His Majesty the King peered at Abby, "Odd appearance did you say? Raise her up so I can look at her properly."
Abby was roughly jerked to her feet and found herself face to face with a handsome man in red robes embroidered with a five toed dragon. Oh, she thought, this must be the actor playing the King. As the gentleman met her gaze he his eyes widened in shock. He started to circle her, muttering under his breath as he did so. Abby wondered what on earth he was looking for. Surely she was not that ugly or funny looking.
"Who does she say she is?" The King questioned the head guard.
"All we managed to understand was that she was a guest and lost, Chona. She could be lying or a Spy."
The King again appraised Abby's appearance and almost smiled. "I doubt it. With that hair she would be noticed anywhere and be easily remembered. Not a very good choice for a Spy. Her clothes have the style and cut of high ranking nobility or a wealthy merchant family. How she came to be in the palace though we must ascertain. Release her, she is obviously terrified, I will question her myself."
The Guards all murmured in protest. "Chona! You must not! Chona! It would not be proper!"
"I Will Do As I PLEASE! Now release her."
The guards released Abby and she fell to the ground in. Her knees had just given out from all the shock and fright. The King thought she had fallen into a awkward bow and said to her kindly, "Rise, and fear not you are in no danger here. Please tell me who you are and what you are doing here?"
Abby felt the sinking of reality setting in on her. The smells, the clothing, the speech all of it pointed to the fact that she was no longer in Modern day Korea. That meant she was truly facing a reigning King of what appeared to be the Joseon era. Her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her body of fright. She knew the wrong words now could lead to her death. She had to thinking quickly on her feet and answer the King without revealing to much. She decided to give a random name that she had been given by a Korean name game generator as a joke. Glancing up shyly at His Majesty she replied, "The name I was given was Shin Bin Gi. Chona."
His Majesty nodded but he did find it odd that she said given and not that it was her name. But he let it pass for now. "And why are you here?"
"I was brought here, Chona"
"Brought here? By who?"
Tears filled Abby's eyes. How could she explain. If she really was in Joseon, everything depended on her next few words. Oh what to do. A sudden inspiration came to Abby. She recalled that during the Joseon Era that the kingdom did a lot of trade with China. It was called Ming or Qing depending on which part of China you were dealing with. She took her chances and said, " I was captured by the people of the Ming and brought to the palace. I know not where the men are that accompanied me, Chona."
The King squinted at her. Abby was not sure that he had understood her and all her rambling. She hoped that she had understood enough of what he had said to properly answer the question. As he peered at her, her necklace caught the sun and sent a beam of light directly into His Majesty's eyes. He held up a hand until it passed and then looked at the necklace again. He pointed at it and said, "Is this the script where you come from?"
"Yea, Chona."
"And what does it say?"
Abby fingered the necklace lovingly, smiled to herself and then spoke without thinking, "Princess."
The King's head snapped up, "Princess?!"
Oh crap, thought Abby, she really had messed up and put herself in a pickle. How could she have spoken so thoughtlessly. Abby could not think of the phrase for nickname in Korean, so she blurted out, "It was a title my mother gave me not long after my birth."
The King nodded and seemed satisfied with her answer. Phew, thought Abby, she had sidetracked that issue but who knew what other issues might arise. The King motioned to one of his eunuchs, "Have her taken to Court Lady Jo and supervised by her in the Court of King's Women for now until we figure out what to do with her."
Harem! Bloody Hell she hoped she had just translated that wrong. Otherwise this was getting serious. Hopefully it would only be temporary lodging until they sorted out where she belonged or she figured to what had happened and how to get back home to her own time.
As she the left the King was quite thoughtful. What an unusual creature. Why that child was almost as tall as himself. And he was considered to be almost a giant among men at 5'10". Red hair the colour of fire and green led eyes of the purest jade. She almost seemed to be and other worldly creature sent to torment him in his troubled reign.