Dragon Prince - Chapter Six
Dragon Prince
Chapter Six
“Father, why are all of those people in chains?” the young prince asked.
“They have done a bad thing,” the King replied, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder as they stood together on the inner wall of the castle and watched the guards march a line of prisoners from the dungeon towards the town square.
“What bad thing have they done father?” the child, who was no older than ten summers, asked, staring intently at the brightly dressed people in chains.
“They are gypsies,” his father said, as if that itself was enough to condemn them. “They have burnt a village to the ground.”
“What about the people in the village father?”
“Dead. They killed them all. My men got there too late to stop them,” the King replied gravely.
“Even the women and children?”
“Yes.”
“Why would someone do that father?” his son asked looking up at him.
“Hyunjoong,” his father replied, kneeling so that they could look eye to eye. “Son, there are evil people in this world that do evil things. We don’t know why these people do evil things but we do our best to stop them and protect all of the good citizens.”
“What will happen to the evil people father?” the young boy asked.
“They will pay for what they have done.”
“How?”
“They will hang today,” the King replied, rising and turning his eyes back onto the line of prisoners.
“We will kill them?”
“Yes. They will die for the evil they have done.”
“The women and children too?” Hyunjoong asked.
“Yes my son. They are evil. They must die. You will understand when you are older,” his father told him.
The young boy nodded at his father’s words and looked at the prisoners marching below them. In the line was a young boy no older then he was and as he watched the young boy lifted his head and their eyes locked for the briefest moment…
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
Hyunjoong opened his eyes slowly just as light was beginning to appear over the horizon. The dream, or memory, for that is what it truly was, was still fresh in his mind as he sat up and stretched his body. He rose, turning the memory over in his mind and as he began his routine of stretches, he pondered through something he had forgotten for a very long time.
By the time Jungmin returned from catching their breakfast, Hyunjoong muscles were loose and he had pushed the dream from his head. “Preparing for your escape?” Jungmin asked.
“No,” Hyunjoong answered honestly.
The other man shook his head and nudged the bundled ball under a blanket that was Hyungjoon with his toe. “Don’t know why you aren’t, I would,” he said as he set his catch aside and stirred the fire.
“I am not in any danger and like I told you yesterday, I won’t leave until I get my answers,” Hyunjoong answered.
“Well, as far as I am concerned that either makes you really stubborn or really stupid,” Jungmin replied, stabbing one of the fish through with a stick.
“Food?” Hyungjoon asked groggily as he sat up and blinked.
“Yeah come cook it yourself,” Jungmin said with a grin. “You too little prince. You can cook for yourself,” the young man held out another stick and a fish for the prince.
Hyunjoong stepped forward and accepted the items, aware that he was accepting a peace offering of sorts. “You’ll have to show me what to do. I have never cooked like this before.”
Jungmin gave him a questioning look. “Didn’t they train you to be a knight and all of that junk?”
“Yes, but I was not allowed to leave the palace or the city without an escort so my father never saw the need for me to waste time on skills I didn’t need,” Hyunjoong answered simply.
“And you never ran away as a boy?”
“Of course I did, but our adventures could never take us outside the castle. We had plenty of places to explore inside the grounds and kitchens are always easy to get into,” the prince answered.
Jungmin shook his head. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been able to eat from a real kitchen for as long as I could remember. Do it like this,” he instructed and then spent the next couple of minutes showing the prince exactly what to do, as a half asleep Hyungjoon did the same thing.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
It wasn’t until the afternoon that the rest of their group returned. The first warning was the war horse. She lifted her head, flicked her ears and nickered happily. A moment later, Youngsaeng stepped through the trees, followed closely by Kyujong.
“Hey girl, did you miss me,” Youngsaeng called to her. She tossed her head and he laughed and moved to stroke her head as she nudged him gently.
Jungmin and Hyungjoon’s smiles were brilliant as they welcomed the pair with thousands of questions. Kyujong laughed and answered the few that he could while Hyunjoong was content to sit and simply watch them, allowing their conversations to wash over him. Youngsaeng appeared tired, but much healthier then he had been only twenty four hours previous. The most noticeable difference about him was that the silver collar was gone from his neck.
“Let’s go home,” Youngsaeng declared.
There was agreement all around and the men began preparing their horses for travel. Hyunjoong aided Jungmin in the process until he was shooed away. After making sure the fire was well and truly out, he simply watched them.
Youngsaeng was the first into the saddle, since his horse had calmly stood and allowed him to put all of her tack on her. Kyujong swung up behind him and relaxed against his back with his arms wrapped securely around Youngsaeng’s waist as if he planned to do nothing but sleep the entire ride back.
Hyungjoon eventually won out the battle of saddling his horse with a bit of help from Jungmin and both men swung up onto their horses as Youngsaeng laughed and shook his head. “Come on Prince,” Jungmin reached down and offered the prince a hand up. Hyunjoong accepted it, and settled comfortably behind the man.
“You can call me by my name,” Hyunjoong told the man in front of him.
“So glad I have your permission, your highness,” Jungmin said with a smirk.
Youngsaeng scowled at the pair and nudged his horse forward, taking the lead back out of the forest. “Whose idea was it to bring the prince with us?”
“Mother’s,” Jungmin called, as he and Hyungjoon both fell into line with their horses. “The way she figures it, your presence keeps Myungki more or less in line. With you gone, she didn’t have the time to keep a constant watch on the prince to be sure he didn’t try anything.”
“He isn’t stupid enough to try to kill the prince,” Kyujong replied.
“I’m beginning to think she was more worried about him doing something and the prince killing him,” Jungmin said lightly.
“Our prince?” Hyungjoon said with a laugh. “He can’t even cook fish, Myungki would have been fine. Besides what if we did something to him?”
“Then mother would have had our hides and that would be worse than death,” Jungmin cringed.
“Very very good point,” Hyungjoon agreed.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
When they reached the edge of the forest, they could clearly see the clan wagons circled up and waiting for them. By the time they arrived at the edge of the encampment there were already cries of greeting rising from everywhere. Kyujong slid from the saddle and muttered something, before he slipped through the people and disappeared.
“Jungmin,” Youngsaeng called as he pulled up alongside him. “I’ll take the prince back to our wagon. I’m sure you and Hyungjoon have things you need to attend to. Soojin will want to move as soon as she sees that I am well.”
Jungmin nodded. “Down you go prince.” Hyunjoong easily slipped from the back of the horse and walked to Youngsaeng who stopped his mount. The man didn’t offer his hand but the prince didn’t need it. He placed his foot in the stirrup and gave a small hop, seconds later he was settled behind Youngsaeng. The man in front of him nodded to the other two who grinned and waved, before turning their horses and heading to the place where the animals were kept.
As Youngsaeng, with the prince behind him, moved through the camp, people constantly called out greetings to him. He offered nods to most and smiles to some, but he talked to none of them. In no time at all they were standing outside the wagon that Hyunjoong recognized as theirs. Before he could slide off the horse, Youngsaeng turned and caught his arm.
“Don’t think that I don’t know exactly what you are capable of and exactly what you are after,” he hissed. His eyes flashed to black and then back to a warm brown. “The moment I can figure out how to turn you over to your guards who are undoubtedly following us and still keep our people safe from your father, I will. If I so much as think you are threatening someone here, I will not hesitate to deal with you.”
Youngsaeng released his arm but his threat still hung in the air between them. “Give me the source of your magic and I will leave your people in peace. My father will not harm you,” Hyunjoong told him.
“Get off my horse,” Youngsaeng growled.
Hyunjoong waited a moment later before he swung down from the horse. As he landed on the ground, Soojin came around the wagon. “Youngsaeng,” her smile was warm. “It does my heart good to know that you are alright,” she said as she patted his leg affectionately. “We will be leaving at once. How are you feeling?”
Youngsaeng offered her a playful smile. “I was just healed from a nearly dead state and already you want to put me back to work. What sort of horrible person are you?”
“Oh enough of that young man,” she laughed and slapped him on the leg.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” he laughed and turned his horse as she sighed. With another smile he and his horse moved away at a gentle gallop.
“Now,” Soojin said turning to face Hyunjoong. “I hope my sons behaved well enough. They are prone to passionate moments where they forget all manners among other things. Don’t let anything they said bother you. Come on,” she slipped a hand on Hyunjoong’s arm. “Let’s get you safe and warm where you can rest.”
She guided him into the wagon and he obediently climbed up at her insistence. “You’ll be safe in here. I’ll wake you when we stop for the night,” she told him warmly as she shut the door. Hyunjoong glanced around the closed in space lit only by a few glowing crystals. Her words and motions had left no doubt in his mind that he was to remain here until she removed him. The only thing he didn’t know was, was it for their protection or his?
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
Nearly a week of hard riding and following the trail of marks that only they and those in their tight circle would recognize, had led them to the other two members of their team. When Yunho and Jaejoong had ridden up at mid morning, they had expected the men to be saddling their horses and getting ready to proceed. Instead Junsu and Yoochun had been bent over a map arguing.
“What do you mean you lost them?” Yunho asked, trying to remain calm.
“I mean yesterday we knew they were there. They were camped here,” Yoochun pointed to a spot by the edge of the tree line, a few miles from where they were camped. “They had broken everything down and were going to stay the night. This morning we rode out to check on them and they were gone. Just gone.”
“Like they left sometime during the night?” Yunho asked.
“No,” Junsu shook his head. “Like they just disappeared. There aren’t any trails leading away. They just stop and there is nothing more.”
Jaejoong bent over the map. “They can’t have just disappeared. They are just gypsies. Even if they had dragon magic they couldn’t move that many people, but they don’t even have that.”
“Look,” Yunho said decisively. “They have been on the road for a little over a week and they were forced to leave abruptly. They have avoided all towns so far, so they have to be running a little low on supplies. They are going to have to stop. These are the closest towns,” he pointed at several on the map. “We will split up and head to them. We will keep in touch by the King’s Messengers.”
“This is a shot in the dark,” Jaejoong replied angrily.
“What else can we do?” Yunho replied.
“Changmin’s life is on the line,” Jaejoong hissed. Junsu and Yoochun both looked stricken.
“It’s not your fault,” Yunho told them firmly. “Yes Changmin’s life is on the line. That is why we have no time to waste.”
“Why don’t we all head to this town?” Junsu said pointing to the map. “This is the direction they were heading. We can alert the other towns through the King’s Messengers and keep them on the lookout for the clan. If they show, we change directions to intercept where ever they are.”
Yunho pondered for a moment. “That is just as good as us going separate ways, at least this way there will not be a delay in us uniting if the prince is close.”
“Let’s go then,” Jaejoong declared. He stood and strode confidently to his horse where he swung up into the saddle. The other men nodded and Yoochun rolled up the map before slipping it into a tube.
Once the other three were mounted, Yunho nodded to Junsu. “Lead the way,” he ordered.
The younger man nodded and nudged his horse forward at a gallop. A moment later the other three were following his lead toward the best chance they had to not only save their prince, but rescue one of their own.
Chapter Seven
Masterlist
AN: I am so totally stressed out right now due to all of the projects and papers that are all coming do. It is irritating me that I have had no time at all to write for fun. So I decided to post this for you because your comments always make me smile. Hope you enjoyed it. ^_^
Chapter Six
“Father, why are all of those people in chains?” the young prince asked.
“They have done a bad thing,” the King replied, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder as they stood together on the inner wall of the castle and watched the guards march a line of prisoners from the dungeon towards the town square.
“What bad thing have they done father?” the child, who was no older than ten summers, asked, staring intently at the brightly dressed people in chains.
“They are gypsies,” his father said, as if that itself was enough to condemn them. “They have burnt a village to the ground.”
“What about the people in the village father?”
“Dead. They killed them all. My men got there too late to stop them,” the King replied gravely.
“Even the women and children?”
“Yes.”
“Why would someone do that father?” his son asked looking up at him.
“Hyunjoong,” his father replied, kneeling so that they could look eye to eye. “Son, there are evil people in this world that do evil things. We don’t know why these people do evil things but we do our best to stop them and protect all of the good citizens.”
“What will happen to the evil people father?” the young boy asked.
“They will pay for what they have done.”
“How?”
“They will hang today,” the King replied, rising and turning his eyes back onto the line of prisoners.
“We will kill them?”
“Yes. They will die for the evil they have done.”
“The women and children too?” Hyunjoong asked.
“Yes my son. They are evil. They must die. You will understand when you are older,” his father told him.
The young boy nodded at his father’s words and looked at the prisoners marching below them. In the line was a young boy no older then he was and as he watched the young boy lifted his head and their eyes locked for the briefest moment…
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
Hyunjoong opened his eyes slowly just as light was beginning to appear over the horizon. The dream, or memory, for that is what it truly was, was still fresh in his mind as he sat up and stretched his body. He rose, turning the memory over in his mind and as he began his routine of stretches, he pondered through something he had forgotten for a very long time.
By the time Jungmin returned from catching their breakfast, Hyunjoong muscles were loose and he had pushed the dream from his head. “Preparing for your escape?” Jungmin asked.
“No,” Hyunjoong answered honestly.
The other man shook his head and nudged the bundled ball under a blanket that was Hyungjoon with his toe. “Don’t know why you aren’t, I would,” he said as he set his catch aside and stirred the fire.
“I am not in any danger and like I told you yesterday, I won’t leave until I get my answers,” Hyunjoong answered.
“Well, as far as I am concerned that either makes you really stubborn or really stupid,” Jungmin replied, stabbing one of the fish through with a stick.
“Food?” Hyungjoon asked groggily as he sat up and blinked.
“Yeah come cook it yourself,” Jungmin said with a grin. “You too little prince. You can cook for yourself,” the young man held out another stick and a fish for the prince.
Hyunjoong stepped forward and accepted the items, aware that he was accepting a peace offering of sorts. “You’ll have to show me what to do. I have never cooked like this before.”
Jungmin gave him a questioning look. “Didn’t they train you to be a knight and all of that junk?”
“Yes, but I was not allowed to leave the palace or the city without an escort so my father never saw the need for me to waste time on skills I didn’t need,” Hyunjoong answered simply.
“And you never ran away as a boy?”
“Of course I did, but our adventures could never take us outside the castle. We had plenty of places to explore inside the grounds and kitchens are always easy to get into,” the prince answered.
Jungmin shook his head. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been able to eat from a real kitchen for as long as I could remember. Do it like this,” he instructed and then spent the next couple of minutes showing the prince exactly what to do, as a half asleep Hyungjoon did the same thing.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
It wasn’t until the afternoon that the rest of their group returned. The first warning was the war horse. She lifted her head, flicked her ears and nickered happily. A moment later, Youngsaeng stepped through the trees, followed closely by Kyujong.
“Hey girl, did you miss me,” Youngsaeng called to her. She tossed her head and he laughed and moved to stroke her head as she nudged him gently.
Jungmin and Hyungjoon’s smiles were brilliant as they welcomed the pair with thousands of questions. Kyujong laughed and answered the few that he could while Hyunjoong was content to sit and simply watch them, allowing their conversations to wash over him. Youngsaeng appeared tired, but much healthier then he had been only twenty four hours previous. The most noticeable difference about him was that the silver collar was gone from his neck.
“Let’s go home,” Youngsaeng declared.
There was agreement all around and the men began preparing their horses for travel. Hyunjoong aided Jungmin in the process until he was shooed away. After making sure the fire was well and truly out, he simply watched them.
Youngsaeng was the first into the saddle, since his horse had calmly stood and allowed him to put all of her tack on her. Kyujong swung up behind him and relaxed against his back with his arms wrapped securely around Youngsaeng’s waist as if he planned to do nothing but sleep the entire ride back.
Hyungjoon eventually won out the battle of saddling his horse with a bit of help from Jungmin and both men swung up onto their horses as Youngsaeng laughed and shook his head. “Come on Prince,” Jungmin reached down and offered the prince a hand up. Hyunjoong accepted it, and settled comfortably behind the man.
“You can call me by my name,” Hyunjoong told the man in front of him.
“So glad I have your permission, your highness,” Jungmin said with a smirk.
Youngsaeng scowled at the pair and nudged his horse forward, taking the lead back out of the forest. “Whose idea was it to bring the prince with us?”
“Mother’s,” Jungmin called, as he and Hyungjoon both fell into line with their horses. “The way she figures it, your presence keeps Myungki more or less in line. With you gone, she didn’t have the time to keep a constant watch on the prince to be sure he didn’t try anything.”
“He isn’t stupid enough to try to kill the prince,” Kyujong replied.
“I’m beginning to think she was more worried about him doing something and the prince killing him,” Jungmin said lightly.
“Our prince?” Hyungjoon said with a laugh. “He can’t even cook fish, Myungki would have been fine. Besides what if we did something to him?”
“Then mother would have had our hides and that would be worse than death,” Jungmin cringed.
“Very very good point,” Hyungjoon agreed.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
When they reached the edge of the forest, they could clearly see the clan wagons circled up and waiting for them. By the time they arrived at the edge of the encampment there were already cries of greeting rising from everywhere. Kyujong slid from the saddle and muttered something, before he slipped through the people and disappeared.
“Jungmin,” Youngsaeng called as he pulled up alongside him. “I’ll take the prince back to our wagon. I’m sure you and Hyungjoon have things you need to attend to. Soojin will want to move as soon as she sees that I am well.”
Jungmin nodded. “Down you go prince.” Hyunjoong easily slipped from the back of the horse and walked to Youngsaeng who stopped his mount. The man didn’t offer his hand but the prince didn’t need it. He placed his foot in the stirrup and gave a small hop, seconds later he was settled behind Youngsaeng. The man in front of him nodded to the other two who grinned and waved, before turning their horses and heading to the place where the animals were kept.
As Youngsaeng, with the prince behind him, moved through the camp, people constantly called out greetings to him. He offered nods to most and smiles to some, but he talked to none of them. In no time at all they were standing outside the wagon that Hyunjoong recognized as theirs. Before he could slide off the horse, Youngsaeng turned and caught his arm.
“Don’t think that I don’t know exactly what you are capable of and exactly what you are after,” he hissed. His eyes flashed to black and then back to a warm brown. “The moment I can figure out how to turn you over to your guards who are undoubtedly following us and still keep our people safe from your father, I will. If I so much as think you are threatening someone here, I will not hesitate to deal with you.”
Youngsaeng released his arm but his threat still hung in the air between them. “Give me the source of your magic and I will leave your people in peace. My father will not harm you,” Hyunjoong told him.
“Get off my horse,” Youngsaeng growled.
Hyunjoong waited a moment later before he swung down from the horse. As he landed on the ground, Soojin came around the wagon. “Youngsaeng,” her smile was warm. “It does my heart good to know that you are alright,” she said as she patted his leg affectionately. “We will be leaving at once. How are you feeling?”
Youngsaeng offered her a playful smile. “I was just healed from a nearly dead state and already you want to put me back to work. What sort of horrible person are you?”
“Oh enough of that young man,” she laughed and slapped him on the leg.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” he laughed and turned his horse as she sighed. With another smile he and his horse moved away at a gentle gallop.
“Now,” Soojin said turning to face Hyunjoong. “I hope my sons behaved well enough. They are prone to passionate moments where they forget all manners among other things. Don’t let anything they said bother you. Come on,” she slipped a hand on Hyunjoong’s arm. “Let’s get you safe and warm where you can rest.”
She guided him into the wagon and he obediently climbed up at her insistence. “You’ll be safe in here. I’ll wake you when we stop for the night,” she told him warmly as she shut the door. Hyunjoong glanced around the closed in space lit only by a few glowing crystals. Her words and motions had left no doubt in his mind that he was to remain here until she removed him. The only thing he didn’t know was, was it for their protection or his?
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
Nearly a week of hard riding and following the trail of marks that only they and those in their tight circle would recognize, had led them to the other two members of their team. When Yunho and Jaejoong had ridden up at mid morning, they had expected the men to be saddling their horses and getting ready to proceed. Instead Junsu and Yoochun had been bent over a map arguing.
“What do you mean you lost them?” Yunho asked, trying to remain calm.
“I mean yesterday we knew they were there. They were camped here,” Yoochun pointed to a spot by the edge of the tree line, a few miles from where they were camped. “They had broken everything down and were going to stay the night. This morning we rode out to check on them and they were gone. Just gone.”
“Like they left sometime during the night?” Yunho asked.
“No,” Junsu shook his head. “Like they just disappeared. There aren’t any trails leading away. They just stop and there is nothing more.”
Jaejoong bent over the map. “They can’t have just disappeared. They are just gypsies. Even if they had dragon magic they couldn’t move that many people, but they don’t even have that.”
“Look,” Yunho said decisively. “They have been on the road for a little over a week and they were forced to leave abruptly. They have avoided all towns so far, so they have to be running a little low on supplies. They are going to have to stop. These are the closest towns,” he pointed at several on the map. “We will split up and head to them. We will keep in touch by the King’s Messengers.”
“This is a shot in the dark,” Jaejoong replied angrily.
“What else can we do?” Yunho replied.
“Changmin’s life is on the line,” Jaejoong hissed. Junsu and Yoochun both looked stricken.
“It’s not your fault,” Yunho told them firmly. “Yes Changmin’s life is on the line. That is why we have no time to waste.”
“Why don’t we all head to this town?” Junsu said pointing to the map. “This is the direction they were heading. We can alert the other towns through the King’s Messengers and keep them on the lookout for the clan. If they show, we change directions to intercept where ever they are.”
Yunho pondered for a moment. “That is just as good as us going separate ways, at least this way there will not be a delay in us uniting if the prince is close.”
“Let’s go then,” Jaejoong declared. He stood and strode confidently to his horse where he swung up into the saddle. The other men nodded and Yoochun rolled up the map before slipping it into a tube.
Once the other three were mounted, Yunho nodded to Junsu. “Lead the way,” he ordered.
The younger man nodded and nudged his horse forward at a gallop. A moment later the other three were following his lead toward the best chance they had to not only save their prince, but rescue one of their own.
Chapter Seven
Masterlist
AN: I am so totally stressed out right now due to all of the projects and papers that are all coming do. It is irritating me that I have had no time at all to write for fun. So I decided to post this for you because your comments always make me smile. Hope you enjoyed it. ^_^