Dragon Prince - Chapter Three
Dragon Prince
Chapter Three
“What is that horse like creature?” Hyunjoong asked curiously.
“That is a deer,” Soojin, the older woman from the night before, answered warmly.
“It looks fast, but I doubt anyone could ride it,” the Prince mused.
“No I don’t think anyone could,” she agreed.
“If the person was very small or the deer very big, they could,” he gazed around curiously and then winced as the wagon bounced over a particularly rough area, bouncing him into the air.
On the bench beside him, Soojin laughed. “It is much like riding a horse highness, you will get used to it.”
“Can I drive?” he asked looking pointedly at the reins in her hands.
“No,” she replied immediately, keeping her eyes on the horses she was guiding.
“Your horses only know part of the way anyway,” he said with a shrug. “It isn’t like I could get lost when we are following.”
She laughed at his statement. “Why do you say that?”
“They were leading for a while this morning, but then they got lost and the other horses that knew the way came up to take the lead. In fact all of the horses of this clan seem to get lost after only a short while,” he explained.
She couldn’t quite decide if he was serious or not and she laughed even harder then she had the first time. “The horses don’t get lost, nor do the people driving them. It is harder on the horses to be the lead wagon. These aren’t roads we are traveling, this is open country. When in the lead the horses have to pull the wagon through fresh ground. That takes a lot of work. When we are further back, like we are now, the path is already cut and the horses don’t have to work as hard to pull us along it, see,” she pointed to the ruts from the wheels of the wagons ahead of them. “We do this so that all the horses get worked equally.”
Hyunjoong hummed in understanding. The only wagon sort of object he had ever been in had been his carriage that he had ridden in from one city to the next. Now that he thought of it, they had always traveled on nicely flattened roads. They also never allowed him outside of the carriage, and he found it wonderfully refreshing to sit by Soojin as she drove the horses onwards and actually experience the world they were moving through.
Behind the wooden seat a small panel of wood slid open, opening the wagon to them. A sleep messed head poked out of it, squinting at the day light. “Mom,” Hyungjoon whined. “They are doing gross stuff. Make them stop.”
“Youngsaeng needs what they are doing,” she replied with a mischievous smile.
“They did it last night,” the man whined. “Now they are just being gross and touchy and eww.”
“Then I guess you should get up and get to work.”
There was a moment of silence that was ended by a sigh, “I’ll pull a blanket over my head or something,” he grumbled. His head retreated a moment later and the panel slid closed with a click.
“You let two men lie together?” Hyunjoong asked a moment later.
“Yes,” she replied calmly. “Even if we didn’t, Youngsaeng is a special case.”
“Lying with another man is forbidden for many reasons. Maybe that is why the gypsies are so corrupt.”
“You listen to me,” she replied firmly. “There is nothing wrong with being a gypsy. We are no less human than anyone else.”
“You are human, but humans that will bring no good to society. At best thieves and murders.”
She laughed bitterly. “Oh how little you know,” she told him. Leaving their conversation there, she whistled sharply and a young boy on horseback rode up to the side of the wagon. “Sound the call, we break for a meal.”
The boy nodded and lifted a small horn at his waist. He lifted it to his lips and he inhaled before beginning to blow. The horn produced a loud clear note that carried through the air. As the boy rode off, still sounding the note, the wagons began to stop and people began to leap off and out of them to stretch their legs. Hyunjoong couldn’t help but smile and do the same.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
There was a total of sixteen wagons in the clan, including the one he had spent all night and then most of a day on. Shortly after his guards had agreed to his wishes and let him leave with the gypsies he had been taken and placed in the care of Soojin. It was strange that he ended up with what appeared to be the very family that took him in the first place. Even more peculiar was the fact that the woman whom he had spent most of the day riding next too, actually appeared to be the leader of the clan for all intents and purposes. If she wasn’t the leader she was very high in the ranks.
It was her that called for the clan to come to a halt and set camp as dusk fell. It didn’t take long for the clan to circle the wagons in a loose oval. As soon as they were in place, half of the camp began setting camping fires while the other half worked on unhitching the horses, caring for them and placing them and the herd beasts in half of the oval for the night.
Despite the massive task that they had to accomplish, it was complete by the time darkness fell. Hyunjoong followed the men who had captured him nearly twenty four hours ago from the wagon to one of the larger fires. Youngsaeng looked weak but many of the wounds he had were healed. He leaned heavily on Kyujong as they moved to a blanket that was spread on the ground, but neither man seemed to mind. Jungmin and Hyungjoon both were much livelier than the other pair and seemed to flit back and forth doing one task or another.
Dinner was a simple stew that several of the women had prepared along with fresh bread. Although the food was strange, certainly nothing he was used to, Hyunjoong couldn’t say it was bad and he ate his fill. “Why am I not in chains?” he asked as he set his bowl aside.
Jungmin shrugged. “Where are you going to go? If you leave the camp on foot you won’t get far and if you try to steal a horse they won’t leave the camp without the proper command. Besides, there are worse creatures then gypsies out here.”
Youngsaeng snorted in amusement at that. He shifted a bit and moved to rise. As soon as he did so, Kyujong was beside him offering support. “I need to go,” Youngsaeng told him softly.
“I know. I’m coming with you,” Kyujong insisted.
“You won’t be allowed to sit with me,” Youngsaeng replied.
“I will or you will not be there. I will tell them that and they will obey or do without you until you are well again,” the other man replied firmly.
“Alright,” Youngsaeng agreed.
Hyunjoong watched the entire exchange with curious eyes. He was certain that there was something more between the men that he didn’t know about. It was more than just a physical relationship that the men shared. The way Jungmin and Hyungjoon grinned at them before returning to the last of their dinners, made him certain. Together the pair moved from their fire to the largest one in the center of camp.
“Where are they going?” Hyunjoong asked.
“To the fire of the elders,” Jungmin replied. “All of the elders meet there every night with the clan leader and Youngsaeng.”
Hyunjoong nodded. “Your mother will be there and the man that held me before my guards,” he was certain of that fact.
Hyungjoon laughed. “Myungki, the one that held you, won’t be sitting there much longer if she has anything to say about it.”
“She is the leader of the clan then?” Hyunjoong asked.
“Yes. And Myungki is in charge of protecting the people.”
“He fails at his job,” Hyunjoong stated flatly.
“Mom agrees,” Jungmin rose then, his bowl in hand and gathered the Prince’s as well. “We have things to do. I would suggest you stay here where you can be found later,” he said. Hyungjoon laughed and rose as well. In a few moments they melded into the half darkness of the camp and were gone.
Hyunjoong sighed and arranged the fabric of the clothing he had been given to cover him better. They were simple, a much simpler form then most of the clothing he wore. Yet they were brightly colored, soft and durable. He had been given this and two other outfits, as well as been allowed to stow his festival finery in the wagon that afternoon. It was strange to him that for a band of thieves and who knows what else, he had been not only left to roam free but left unharmed as well. He had heard that gypsies did not think favorably on his father and he had assumed those feelings would carry to himself as well.
There was a small giggle to his right and he turned his head. He had heard the quiet jingle of her jewelry as she approached, a young girl no older than six years. “Your hair is pretty,” she told him reaching out a hand to feel it. At the moment it was black and had been twisted into an elaborate mess that his servants called stylish before he had brushed it out this afternoon. Now it simply fell to his shoulders.
“Thank you,” he told her. He reached out to feel her dark hair that was braided and pulled over one shoulder. “Yours is pretty as well.”
She giggled again. “Mother says that you are a prince. She said that you are the son of the bad man and that you are a bad man too. You don’t look bad.”
“I’m not,” he told her calmly. “There are bad men all around us.”
She shook her head. “Not bad, just angry and sad. It’s not good to be angry and sad all the time.”
“No it isn’t,” Hyunjoong agreed.
Small fingers reached out and touched his neck. “You are naked here.”
He touched his own neck. She was correct, his jewelry had all been some of his finest and he had taken it off and stored it safely in the wagon, or as safe as it could get in a camp of thieves. “I am.”
“It’s not good to be naked there. Everyone needs something there,” she declared firmly. Then she turned and scampered away. Intrigued, Hyunjoong turned and watched her as she moved through the shadows to the next fire over. There he could just make out her stooping down and digging through a bag of some sort. A moment later she straightened and made her way back, her little fist clutching something.
When she reached his side again she knelt and reached up to his neck. Her hands fiddled with a catch as she hooked something around his neck. “There,” her voice was filled with triumph. “You have one too. It’s not very good, but mother says I will be very good some day.” She giggled again. “Bye Prince,” she called before she turned and scurried away for good.
He watched her return to her fire and settle beside the people there before his fingers moved to his neck and slipped along the item there to the back of his neck. There he found a simple clasp that he unlatched to pull the item free. It was simple, soft colored cords, braided and knotted in a pattern. Although the work was a bit sloppy and obviously done by hands not yet matured, he could see a delicate pattern there. With a smile, he hooked the small cord back on his neck and it settled there, tight enough that he could feel it around his neck.
“I see you met Micha,” Jungmin said lightly as he stepped into the firelight.
“Yes, she gave me this,” Hyunjoong replied, lifting a hand to touch the cord. “There is significance to this, isn’t there?”
“To be a part of the clan, a person receives a handmade necklace from someone in the clan. Once you have, you are a part of the clan, a part of the family. It’s just a ritual and she probably had no idea why you didn’t get something right away like normal. It means nothing,” Jungmin told him firmly.
Hyunjoong knew instantly that he was wrong. It meant something, he simply hadn’t figured out quite what it meant yet.
“Come on,” Jungmin said lightly. “It’s time for bed and if you don’t want to sleep on the ground where anything can get you, you had better come.”
Although he had never slept on the ground and was curious to know how that would feel, he supposed that now would be an awful time to try it out. Instead Hyunjoong nodded and climbed to his feet. Jungmin turned, and the prince followed as he silently led the way.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
“It has been a day,” Yunho said firmly. “The King is due back any minute and it is finally just us. You will tell me what the prince is up to,” he didn’t need to voice the implied threat.
Jaejoong smoothed a map out onto the table. “He is on the trail of something. There was something that he had to find. A puzzle that needs to be solved.”
“And that gave you good cause to leave him in the hands of gypsies?” Yunho growled, slamming his hand on the table.
“He thought he was fine and I could see that he was fine. We both know he can take care of himself. Besides we can ride out and retrieve him anytime we like. We know the gypsy paths and stopping places,” he gestured at the lines on the map spread before him.
“It was foolish and I never should have let it happen,” Yunho snapped.
“Then why did you?” the question was simple but loaded with challenge.
“Possibly because the man holding a sword to his throat was already twitchy and Hyunjoong wasn’t exactly being cooperative with our rescue attempt,” Yunho snapped.
The door opened and Changmin, the youngest of their group, slipped in. “The King has returned, and he would like to see us,” he said. His face was pale.
Jaejoong crossed the room and took a firm hold on the young man’s upper arm. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
“He is really mad Hyung,” Changmin replied.
“As he should be since his son is missing,” Yunho said with a glare. He led the way from their private quarters down a short hall and through another to the King’s personal quarters. When they arrived, the guards outside knocked once on the door and they were given permission to enter.
“Where is my son?” the King asked calmly as the three men entered and dropped to one knee before him, heads bowed.
“He was taken by gypsies, my lord,” Yunho reported.
The King rose from his chair and stepped forward. “And why, exactly, do they still have him?”
“I judged it to be too much of a risk to retrieve him at the time,” Yunho responded calmly.
“So you simply left him with a band of thieves, rapists, and murders?”
“Yoochun and Junsu are tracking them as we speak. We will begin looking for ways to safely extract him immediately,” Yunho replied.
“You will not. You will take an army and free him from them, being sure that every last one is dealt with,” the King hissed.
“But we guaranteed their safety,” Changmin declared his head rising in shock.
The King moved so quickly that they didn’t see the dagger that danced out and sliced a thin line across Changmin’s cheek. Blood beaded forth and trickled lazily from the line. Strong fingers curled under the young man’s chin and tipped his face up. The other two men tensed beside him. “You guaranteed the safety of my son. Your lives for his. Don’t make me cash in on that,” the King said softly, dangerously.
“Retrieve my son, no matter the cost,” the King ordered. Together the other two men rose to their feet and bowed stiffly. Changmin rose as well as the King guided him upward, a firm hand still on his chin “This one stays with me. Know that the longer you take to find my son the longer he sits in my dungeon and I can’t always be sure of what my guards may do.”
Changmin’s eyes were wide as he realized the implications of the King’s words. Only Yunho’s firm hand on Jaejoong’s arm, kept him from doing something rash and potentially stupid. “You would hurt someone who has served you for so long?” Jaejoong accused.
“I would never hurt someone who has not failed in his duties. Of course the longer my son is missing the more assured I will become that he has failed in those duties,” a smile spread across the King’s face. “I suggest you hurry.”
“We will find him and bring him back with haste,” Yunho said firmly. He caught Changmin’s eyes. “We will bring him back.” Changmin blinked and then nodded slightly. “Come,” Yunho said firmly to the man beside him. With a firm hand he guided Jaejoong out of the room.
Despite his role as leader, it was all he could do to keep Jaejoong from turning and dashing back into the room with fury unleashed as the King’s voice echoed, “Take him to my personal dungeon.”
Chapter Four
Masterlist
AN: So this little baby is slowly starting to get rolling. It takes a bit to really getting going, so please hang in there. I promise to try and keep it as interesting as I can for all of you. Let me know what you think and Happy Easter to everyone!
Chapter Three
“What is that horse like creature?” Hyunjoong asked curiously.
“That is a deer,” Soojin, the older woman from the night before, answered warmly.
“It looks fast, but I doubt anyone could ride it,” the Prince mused.
“No I don’t think anyone could,” she agreed.
“If the person was very small or the deer very big, they could,” he gazed around curiously and then winced as the wagon bounced over a particularly rough area, bouncing him into the air.
On the bench beside him, Soojin laughed. “It is much like riding a horse highness, you will get used to it.”
“Can I drive?” he asked looking pointedly at the reins in her hands.
“No,” she replied immediately, keeping her eyes on the horses she was guiding.
“Your horses only know part of the way anyway,” he said with a shrug. “It isn’t like I could get lost when we are following.”
She laughed at his statement. “Why do you say that?”
“They were leading for a while this morning, but then they got lost and the other horses that knew the way came up to take the lead. In fact all of the horses of this clan seem to get lost after only a short while,” he explained.
She couldn’t quite decide if he was serious or not and she laughed even harder then she had the first time. “The horses don’t get lost, nor do the people driving them. It is harder on the horses to be the lead wagon. These aren’t roads we are traveling, this is open country. When in the lead the horses have to pull the wagon through fresh ground. That takes a lot of work. When we are further back, like we are now, the path is already cut and the horses don’t have to work as hard to pull us along it, see,” she pointed to the ruts from the wheels of the wagons ahead of them. “We do this so that all the horses get worked equally.”
Hyunjoong hummed in understanding. The only wagon sort of object he had ever been in had been his carriage that he had ridden in from one city to the next. Now that he thought of it, they had always traveled on nicely flattened roads. They also never allowed him outside of the carriage, and he found it wonderfully refreshing to sit by Soojin as she drove the horses onwards and actually experience the world they were moving through.
Behind the wooden seat a small panel of wood slid open, opening the wagon to them. A sleep messed head poked out of it, squinting at the day light. “Mom,” Hyungjoon whined. “They are doing gross stuff. Make them stop.”
“Youngsaeng needs what they are doing,” she replied with a mischievous smile.
“They did it last night,” the man whined. “Now they are just being gross and touchy and eww.”
“Then I guess you should get up and get to work.”
There was a moment of silence that was ended by a sigh, “I’ll pull a blanket over my head or something,” he grumbled. His head retreated a moment later and the panel slid closed with a click.
“You let two men lie together?” Hyunjoong asked a moment later.
“Yes,” she replied calmly. “Even if we didn’t, Youngsaeng is a special case.”
“Lying with another man is forbidden for many reasons. Maybe that is why the gypsies are so corrupt.”
“You listen to me,” she replied firmly. “There is nothing wrong with being a gypsy. We are no less human than anyone else.”
“You are human, but humans that will bring no good to society. At best thieves and murders.”
She laughed bitterly. “Oh how little you know,” she told him. Leaving their conversation there, she whistled sharply and a young boy on horseback rode up to the side of the wagon. “Sound the call, we break for a meal.”
The boy nodded and lifted a small horn at his waist. He lifted it to his lips and he inhaled before beginning to blow. The horn produced a loud clear note that carried through the air. As the boy rode off, still sounding the note, the wagons began to stop and people began to leap off and out of them to stretch their legs. Hyunjoong couldn’t help but smile and do the same.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
There was a total of sixteen wagons in the clan, including the one he had spent all night and then most of a day on. Shortly after his guards had agreed to his wishes and let him leave with the gypsies he had been taken and placed in the care of Soojin. It was strange that he ended up with what appeared to be the very family that took him in the first place. Even more peculiar was the fact that the woman whom he had spent most of the day riding next too, actually appeared to be the leader of the clan for all intents and purposes. If she wasn’t the leader she was very high in the ranks.
It was her that called for the clan to come to a halt and set camp as dusk fell. It didn’t take long for the clan to circle the wagons in a loose oval. As soon as they were in place, half of the camp began setting camping fires while the other half worked on unhitching the horses, caring for them and placing them and the herd beasts in half of the oval for the night.
Despite the massive task that they had to accomplish, it was complete by the time darkness fell. Hyunjoong followed the men who had captured him nearly twenty four hours ago from the wagon to one of the larger fires. Youngsaeng looked weak but many of the wounds he had were healed. He leaned heavily on Kyujong as they moved to a blanket that was spread on the ground, but neither man seemed to mind. Jungmin and Hyungjoon both were much livelier than the other pair and seemed to flit back and forth doing one task or another.
Dinner was a simple stew that several of the women had prepared along with fresh bread. Although the food was strange, certainly nothing he was used to, Hyunjoong couldn’t say it was bad and he ate his fill. “Why am I not in chains?” he asked as he set his bowl aside.
Jungmin shrugged. “Where are you going to go? If you leave the camp on foot you won’t get far and if you try to steal a horse they won’t leave the camp without the proper command. Besides, there are worse creatures then gypsies out here.”
Youngsaeng snorted in amusement at that. He shifted a bit and moved to rise. As soon as he did so, Kyujong was beside him offering support. “I need to go,” Youngsaeng told him softly.
“I know. I’m coming with you,” Kyujong insisted.
“You won’t be allowed to sit with me,” Youngsaeng replied.
“I will or you will not be there. I will tell them that and they will obey or do without you until you are well again,” the other man replied firmly.
“Alright,” Youngsaeng agreed.
Hyunjoong watched the entire exchange with curious eyes. He was certain that there was something more between the men that he didn’t know about. It was more than just a physical relationship that the men shared. The way Jungmin and Hyungjoon grinned at them before returning to the last of their dinners, made him certain. Together the pair moved from their fire to the largest one in the center of camp.
“Where are they going?” Hyunjoong asked.
“To the fire of the elders,” Jungmin replied. “All of the elders meet there every night with the clan leader and Youngsaeng.”
Hyunjoong nodded. “Your mother will be there and the man that held me before my guards,” he was certain of that fact.
Hyungjoon laughed. “Myungki, the one that held you, won’t be sitting there much longer if she has anything to say about it.”
“She is the leader of the clan then?” Hyunjoong asked.
“Yes. And Myungki is in charge of protecting the people.”
“He fails at his job,” Hyunjoong stated flatly.
“Mom agrees,” Jungmin rose then, his bowl in hand and gathered the Prince’s as well. “We have things to do. I would suggest you stay here where you can be found later,” he said. Hyungjoon laughed and rose as well. In a few moments they melded into the half darkness of the camp and were gone.
Hyunjoong sighed and arranged the fabric of the clothing he had been given to cover him better. They were simple, a much simpler form then most of the clothing he wore. Yet they were brightly colored, soft and durable. He had been given this and two other outfits, as well as been allowed to stow his festival finery in the wagon that afternoon. It was strange to him that for a band of thieves and who knows what else, he had been not only left to roam free but left unharmed as well. He had heard that gypsies did not think favorably on his father and he had assumed those feelings would carry to himself as well.
There was a small giggle to his right and he turned his head. He had heard the quiet jingle of her jewelry as she approached, a young girl no older than six years. “Your hair is pretty,” she told him reaching out a hand to feel it. At the moment it was black and had been twisted into an elaborate mess that his servants called stylish before he had brushed it out this afternoon. Now it simply fell to his shoulders.
“Thank you,” he told her. He reached out to feel her dark hair that was braided and pulled over one shoulder. “Yours is pretty as well.”
She giggled again. “Mother says that you are a prince. She said that you are the son of the bad man and that you are a bad man too. You don’t look bad.”
“I’m not,” he told her calmly. “There are bad men all around us.”
She shook her head. “Not bad, just angry and sad. It’s not good to be angry and sad all the time.”
“No it isn’t,” Hyunjoong agreed.
Small fingers reached out and touched his neck. “You are naked here.”
He touched his own neck. She was correct, his jewelry had all been some of his finest and he had taken it off and stored it safely in the wagon, or as safe as it could get in a camp of thieves. “I am.”
“It’s not good to be naked there. Everyone needs something there,” she declared firmly. Then she turned and scampered away. Intrigued, Hyunjoong turned and watched her as she moved through the shadows to the next fire over. There he could just make out her stooping down and digging through a bag of some sort. A moment later she straightened and made her way back, her little fist clutching something.
When she reached his side again she knelt and reached up to his neck. Her hands fiddled with a catch as she hooked something around his neck. “There,” her voice was filled with triumph. “You have one too. It’s not very good, but mother says I will be very good some day.” She giggled again. “Bye Prince,” she called before she turned and scurried away for good.
He watched her return to her fire and settle beside the people there before his fingers moved to his neck and slipped along the item there to the back of his neck. There he found a simple clasp that he unlatched to pull the item free. It was simple, soft colored cords, braided and knotted in a pattern. Although the work was a bit sloppy and obviously done by hands not yet matured, he could see a delicate pattern there. With a smile, he hooked the small cord back on his neck and it settled there, tight enough that he could feel it around his neck.
“I see you met Micha,” Jungmin said lightly as he stepped into the firelight.
“Yes, she gave me this,” Hyunjoong replied, lifting a hand to touch the cord. “There is significance to this, isn’t there?”
“To be a part of the clan, a person receives a handmade necklace from someone in the clan. Once you have, you are a part of the clan, a part of the family. It’s just a ritual and she probably had no idea why you didn’t get something right away like normal. It means nothing,” Jungmin told him firmly.
Hyunjoong knew instantly that he was wrong. It meant something, he simply hadn’t figured out quite what it meant yet.
“Come on,” Jungmin said lightly. “It’s time for bed and if you don’t want to sleep on the ground where anything can get you, you had better come.”
Although he had never slept on the ground and was curious to know how that would feel, he supposed that now would be an awful time to try it out. Instead Hyunjoong nodded and climbed to his feet. Jungmin turned, and the prince followed as he silently led the way.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
“It has been a day,” Yunho said firmly. “The King is due back any minute and it is finally just us. You will tell me what the prince is up to,” he didn’t need to voice the implied threat.
Jaejoong smoothed a map out onto the table. “He is on the trail of something. There was something that he had to find. A puzzle that needs to be solved.”
“And that gave you good cause to leave him in the hands of gypsies?” Yunho growled, slamming his hand on the table.
“He thought he was fine and I could see that he was fine. We both know he can take care of himself. Besides we can ride out and retrieve him anytime we like. We know the gypsy paths and stopping places,” he gestured at the lines on the map spread before him.
“It was foolish and I never should have let it happen,” Yunho snapped.
“Then why did you?” the question was simple but loaded with challenge.
“Possibly because the man holding a sword to his throat was already twitchy and Hyunjoong wasn’t exactly being cooperative with our rescue attempt,” Yunho snapped.
The door opened and Changmin, the youngest of their group, slipped in. “The King has returned, and he would like to see us,” he said. His face was pale.
Jaejoong crossed the room and took a firm hold on the young man’s upper arm. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
“He is really mad Hyung,” Changmin replied.
“As he should be since his son is missing,” Yunho said with a glare. He led the way from their private quarters down a short hall and through another to the King’s personal quarters. When they arrived, the guards outside knocked once on the door and they were given permission to enter.
“Where is my son?” the King asked calmly as the three men entered and dropped to one knee before him, heads bowed.
“He was taken by gypsies, my lord,” Yunho reported.
The King rose from his chair and stepped forward. “And why, exactly, do they still have him?”
“I judged it to be too much of a risk to retrieve him at the time,” Yunho responded calmly.
“So you simply left him with a band of thieves, rapists, and murders?”
“Yoochun and Junsu are tracking them as we speak. We will begin looking for ways to safely extract him immediately,” Yunho replied.
“You will not. You will take an army and free him from them, being sure that every last one is dealt with,” the King hissed.
“But we guaranteed their safety,” Changmin declared his head rising in shock.
The King moved so quickly that they didn’t see the dagger that danced out and sliced a thin line across Changmin’s cheek. Blood beaded forth and trickled lazily from the line. Strong fingers curled under the young man’s chin and tipped his face up. The other two men tensed beside him. “You guaranteed the safety of my son. Your lives for his. Don’t make me cash in on that,” the King said softly, dangerously.
“Retrieve my son, no matter the cost,” the King ordered. Together the other two men rose to their feet and bowed stiffly. Changmin rose as well as the King guided him upward, a firm hand still on his chin “This one stays with me. Know that the longer you take to find my son the longer he sits in my dungeon and I can’t always be sure of what my guards may do.”
Changmin’s eyes were wide as he realized the implications of the King’s words. Only Yunho’s firm hand on Jaejoong’s arm, kept him from doing something rash and potentially stupid. “You would hurt someone who has served you for so long?” Jaejoong accused.
“I would never hurt someone who has not failed in his duties. Of course the longer my son is missing the more assured I will become that he has failed in those duties,” a smile spread across the King’s face. “I suggest you hurry.”
“We will find him and bring him back with haste,” Yunho said firmly. He caught Changmin’s eyes. “We will bring him back.” Changmin blinked and then nodded slightly. “Come,” Yunho said firmly to the man beside him. With a firm hand he guided Jaejoong out of the room.
Despite his role as leader, it was all he could do to keep Jaejoong from turning and dashing back into the room with fury unleashed as the King’s voice echoed, “Take him to my personal dungeon.”
Chapter Four
Masterlist
AN: So this little baby is slowly starting to get rolling. It takes a bit to really getting going, so please hang in there. I promise to try and keep it as interesting as I can for all of you. Let me know what you think and Happy Easter to everyone!