Abby slowly raised herself from the mattress and dried her eyes. She had even been crying softly in her sleep. It was late evening and she had hoped everything had been a dream but upon waking to find her surroundings the same she almost broke into hysterical sobs again.
No, Abby, she thought internally. You need to pick yourself up and be strong. Figure out how to sneak out and get back to that building. See if you can figure a way out.
A gentle tapping came at her paneled door, along with a gentle request asking permission to enter. Lady Jo entered along with three other young girls who appeared to be palace servants. One carried a tray with food on it, the other carried a wash basin and towels. The last one carried some fabric in her arms that resembled clothing . Abby eyed the fabric distrustfully. It was similar to her own clothing with other stripes of fabric that were not.
"Come," said Lady Jo, "Let's get you out of that wrinkled clothes and into something more comfortable to sleep in."
Two of the maids stepped forward and started to help remove Abby's clothing. Abby had to remind herself not to slap away their hands as they did so because they were only doing their job but she felt very vulnerable. When the servants came unbound her breasts and saw the bra and panties they looked at her very oddly and glanced at Lady Jo in concern. She waved away their questions as Abby said, "They're traditional undergarments from where I live." Lady Jo nodded and had them fold the undergarments but Abby had feeling they way they were handling them with dainty fingers of dread they would magically "disappear".
Lady Jo helped her dress the rest of the way in silk night attire. "There you are my Lady now you can get a good night's rest today and be ready for the ceremony in 2 days."
Abby's head snapped up. Had she heard that right? "Excuse me, what ceremony ?"
"Why your official naming as the King's concubine."
Abby about fainted, "there has to be some mistake why would the King want me? " she squeaked.
Lady Jo gave a rare small smile. The poor thing was nervous and modest but who wouldn't be marrying a King. Lady Jo had almost fainted herself when the royal command came from the internal affairs office. The King marrying a foreign Princess was the gossip of the day all over the palace and curiosity to see the Foreign Princess all palace staff was overwhelming and many people dropped by with silly or nonsense errands to try and sneak a peek. She was quite striking in her own way but not very beautiful in traditional standards.
"You need not worry my Lady. We will have you ready for the ceremony. You just need to sit and be your beautiful self." Although Lady Jo was concerned about the traditional wedding garments fitting her. She was just so tall compared to other women. She would have to have to sewing department work all night and the next day to address the problem of the skirt. As for her shoes… Lady Jo just shook her head. There was no way custom shoes could be made in 2 days. Hopefully they could make the skirt long enough to hide her feet and her odd shoes.
Abby herself was close to throwing up she was in such a panic. Marriage… to a King. Not only that in a foreign land and different time. This can't be happening to me?! How on earth am I going to get out of this.
Slow tears started to trickle down her face that she could not stop but kept hastily swiping away. Lady Jo attributed it to wedding nerves and quietly and quickly showed the girls out of the room. "Get some sleep, my lady. If you need anything just call out. Someone will always be outside your door ready to assist you.
As they left Abby realized she was well and truly trapped. Her one hope had been to escape when everyone was sleeping and make her way back to the building where she had first been discovered and hopefully find a way back home. But if someone was always on duty she had no chance of that. Still she had to find a way to try. There was no way she could marry some random man and join his harem of women…okay she knew that it wasn't quite like in traditional Joseon times but that was how it felt. She had always dreamed of finding her one true love who was meant for her and her alone. Being caught up in ridiculous court drama and murder shenanigans to rule a throne were not her idea of a romantic relationship. It might have looked romantic on some of those K-Dramas but living it in real life was another matter.
Abby sat next to the small table with the snacks left for her and tried to nibble on a few. She really had no appetite but needed her strength for the coming days. Everything tasted like sand in her mouth which was sad as she had so looked forward to trying traditional Korean food. She hiccupped a hysterical laugh. What could be more traditional than this. As night time neared the maids came and took the tray away and another basin of water for her to wash before bed as they other servants turned down her bedding for sleep. She realized how difficult it would be to sneak away with such constant attention. She would truly have to watch the servants for anything that could give her an advantage to make her escape and try to return home.
Later as the palace around her slept she listened quietly hoping for a chance and it came when she heard the soft snores of the servants outside her room. Peeking out she saw those on night duty had fallen asleep. She felt momentarily sorry for them but also elated. Here was her chance.