The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park Read Free Book Online Page A

except our father. We could not keep such an honor and responsibility from him."

    "Of course," the King answered at once. His voice grew thoughtful. "It is good that you feel such a duty to your father." Something about the way he said this reminded the other two that the King himself had no father, and for a moment the room was filled with a heavy silence.
    "Well, then," the King said briskly. "It's agreed. Enough talk—let's go outside."
    And he led the way through the palace, through room after vast room filled with wondrous treasures—jade carvings, ivory statues, enormous chests inlaid with mother-of-pearl. They saw no other people, except an occasional shadowy servant or a guard standing motionless by a door.
    At last they reached the royal gardens. The King pulled something from his pocket and tossed it into the air, and the three boys at once began a rousing game of kick-the-shuttlecock.
    The "cock" was a coin, wrapped around and about its central hole with strips of paper. The ends of these strips formed tassels that fluttered gaily and made a pleasant sound as the cock was kicked by the
side of the foot. The object was to try to keep the cock off the ground as long as possible without using one's hands.

    The King proved to be a wizard at the game. He juggled the cock inside his foot, outside, on his knee, and back again, ten, twenty, thirty times without missing. After they had kicked the cock among them for a while, the King gave a solo demonstration. Kee-sup counted out loud for the King while Young-sup clowned around, trying to distract him. The rest of the afternoon passed without any thought or talk of kites or kingship. The brothers departed from the palace with a promise to come again soon.
    On the way home Young-sup couldn't stop himself from enthusing over the splendor of the palace and the fun they had had. He did not speak of the honor that had been bestowed on him, although the thought never left his mind and seemed to float beneath his every word.
    Soon, however, he noticed his brother's quietness.
    "What is it, brother? Didn't you have a good time? Aren't you glad that the King was so pleased with the kite?"
    Kee-sup nodded absently. "I wasn't thinking about
all that. I was thinking about how good he was at kicking the cock." He stopped walking and turned his head to look at the imposing wall of the palace in the distance behind them. Then he turned back and walked on, speaking almost to himself. "Shuttlecock ... a game you can play when you have no one to play with."

Chapter Nine

    The brothers reached home just before dinner. As usual their mother served her husband and sons first; she and the girls would eat later. And as usual the meal was eaten in silence. It was considered good manners to give one's full attention to the food. So it was not until after eating that the boys had a chance to speak to their father.
    They sat side by side on the floor in their father's room. Kee-sup told him how pleased the King had been with the kite and that they had drunk tea with him. Then he told of the King's plan for the New Year kite competition. He did not mention their growing friendship with the King; instinctively, both boys felt their father would have disapproved. He would have said that the King was their ruler, not their friend.
    When Kee-sup finished speaking, their father folded his arms and looked over their heads, staring at nothing. The boys waited.

    At last he spoke, addressing Young-sup. "You are to fly the kite. Was this commanded by the King?"
    Young-sup hesitated. "I—I'm not sure, Father. No, it was not exactly a command. More like a request."
    His father nodded. "His Majesty knows well the teachings of the master Confucius. In his youthful enthusiasm he may have forgotten."
    His voice held a tone Young-sup had heard many times before. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, as if to quell the rising dread in his heart.
    "Always the eldest son represents the family. When you