Dragon Prince - Chapter Ten
Dragon Prince
Chapter Ten
It didn’t take nearly as long as either man would have liked to find the Gypsy camp. By the time Hyunjoong was actually becoming comfortable riding the dragon in silence, he could make out the lights of the camp fires beneath them. It didn’t seem like they had gone far enough to be safe and to be sure he glanced behind them. Sure enough the slaver’s fires were glowing specks in the distance. They were a ways away, but not nearly far enough.
Youngsaeng began a lazy circling pattern, allowing them to drift in a circle, slowly losing altitude as they went. After the third pass he angled his wings and they changed course for a specific fire out of the many they could see. The dragon closed his wings part of the way so that they almost fell through the air, opening them and flapping backwards at the last moment to stop their forward momentum. When his feet hit the ground, Hyunjoong only felt the smallest of jolts before the dragon folded his wings neatly.
“Youngsaeng!” was the immediate exclamation from the fire. A moment later Kyujong had run over and thrown his arms around the dragon’s neck in a strange form of a hug. A warm chuckle flowed through the gathered men’s minds and the dragon’s head lowered to press against the man’s back as if returning the gesture.
‘I am fine,’ he reassured them.
“Good I was worried. I knew you were running low and-” Kyujong bit off his words sharply as he looked up to the man still seated on the dragon’s neck. “The prince,” was all he said as if he didn’t know what else to say about it.
‘Yes the prince,’ Youngsaeng replied. His head rose and swiveled so that he could look at the man on his back. ‘Get off now, before I remove you myself,’ Youngsaeng ordered. Hyunjoong glared almost challengingly, but slid off his neck anyway. When his feet hit the ground, the prince released a noise of surprise and fell promptly onto his butt.
Jungmin’s chuckled, amused, as he moved forward and grabbed the prince’s arm to help him up. “Youngsaeng’s body is a little bit chilly. Your legs probably went numb without you realizing.” Hyunjoong nodded in understanding as he climbed to his feet.
“Jungmin,” Soojin said as she approached them. “Take the prince to our wagon. He is not to leave it and you are not to leave him unguarded. If he resists then you are to bind him.” She shifted her gaze to the young man he was speaking about. “I am sorry, but the situation has changed.” Hyunjoong nodded his understanding and she offered him an apologetic smile. “Hyungjoon go with him.” Both of her sons gave her mock salutes as they took up positions on either side of the prince and marched him off towards the wagon.
Youngsaeng’s golden eyes watched him go, before he turned his gaze back to Kyujong. ‘Do you still have some stored?’ he asked.
The man who was still standing with a hand pressed to cool scales, nodded. “I’ll go get it,” he told the black dragon before running towards their wagon. When he was gone, Youngsaeng turned his attention back to the woman beside him.
‘Slavers, to the north. It took us less than a half hour to fly here. I estimate that they could be here in just under three hours if they push their horses. I don’t know if they will try to retrieve us or if they even know which way we went.’
Soojin nodded. “I will see to it that anyone who is not keeping watch stays in their wagons. I will add more to the guard to that direction and make it known that we move at first light. Do you want me to get rid of the prince?”
‘No!’ the strength of his reaction to the suggestion surprised even Youngsaeng. ‘No,’ he replied a bit calmer. ‘We can’t let him go now, but he could still be a valuable asset. We don’t know if he will follow in the footsteps of his father and we shouldn’t do anything until we know.’
Soojin smiled proudly. “A wise choice. I will go see to the families now,” she told him.
He watched her walk from the fire and fade into the darkness. By the time she was gone, Kyujong had returned. ‘I’m sorry. I should have come to you sooner,’ Youngsaeng told him.
“You’ve been busy,” the healer said with a shrug. He set a bundle of fabric on the ground and lifted a small vial from it. “How do you want to do this?”
The dragon looked at it for a moment before deciding. ‘Inject it please.’
Kyujong nodded and reached into his pocket. From it he pulled a small wooden tube. Inside it contain several small hollow metal tubes. The end of each tube came to a sharpened edge. Youngsaeng glared at it before lifting a wing. “You know,” Kyujong said as he approached with the items. “It would be less painful if you just swallowed it.”
‘It takes longer for me to be able to use it that way and I don’t enjoy the taste in this form. Just do it,’ Youngsaeng replied.
Kyujong nodded. He located the place where Youngsaeng’s wing joined his body and followed it around beneath the wing. There was a small patch of skin uncovered by scales there and his fingers searched for a place big enough. When he found it he thrust the metal tube into it quickly and Youngsaeng hissed as it pierced his skin. With his other hand, Kyujong inverted the small vial and pierced its lid with the other side of the tube. “Okay,” he said softly.
At his word the liquid inside the vial sluggishly flowed out of it, through the tube and into the dragon. When it was empty, Kyujong waited a moment before pulling the vial off the tube and moment more before he pulled the tube completely from Youngsaeng’s body. He stepped back, allowing the dragon room as its form seemed to begin to shift and shrink.
The healer preferred not to watch the slightly disturbing transformation of his friend. There was something about the shifting and limbs seeming to be sucked into the body that he still couldn’t stand. Youngsaeng had teased him mercilessly about it at first. In fact, all of their little family found it rather humorous that he was capable of cutting a person open to deal with their internal injuries directly, but he was unable to watch a simple transformation.
“I think I’ll just drink it next time,” the sound of Youngsaeng’s audible voice signaled the end of his transformation.
Kyujong rose with bandages and a jar from the pile in his hand. “You say that every time.” He moved around the grinning man, to the place just beside his shoulder. There was a tiny red ring that was threatening to begin bleeding freely at any moment. The healer covered it with a thin layer of green paste from the jar.
“I mean it every time. Of course when I am presented with the choice between the taste and the stabbing, I chose the stabbing every time,” Youngsaeng’s voice was layered with humor.
“Excuse me if it doesn’t taste fantastic,” Kyujong snapped, applying the bandage a little harder then he meant too.
He turned to move back to the bundle of fabric when a strong arm snaked around his waist and pulled him back against a naked body. “I just prefer to get it directly from the source,” Youngsaeng purred in his ear.
“I’m sure you do,” Kyujong answered stiffly, pushing his arm away and continuing to his original direction. He picked up several pieces of clothing from the pile and held them out to the nude man, “Here.”
Youngsaeng accepted them, but grabbed Kyujong’s arm to keep him from moving away. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I was just worried about you,” Kyujong replied.
“Don’t start lying to me now,” Youngsaeng said softly.
“Look its nothing. It’s stupid. I’m glad you are safe,” Kyujong insisted.
“Are you upset that I waited so long?” Youngsaeng asked.
“It was an idiotic thing to do,” Kyujong snapped. “I’m right here. I’m always right here. So we have the new addition of the prince in our wagon. He can’t hurt you.”
Youngsaeng stepped forward and wrapped the other man in his arms. Kyujong protested the hold for a moment before relaxing. “I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind. Our clan is harder to protect now and I don’t want anything to happen to them. I shouldn’t have waited so long.”
Kyujong sighed and raised his head to look at the other man. “Apology accepted.”
“Good,” Youngsaeng said with a smile. “I can take you flying when we are further away from the slavers. I know you like that.”
Kyujong shook his head. “No, it’s not safe to do that anymore. It probably wasn’t in the first place,” he lifted a hand and touched the other man’s bare throat. “Your Link is gone.”
Youngsaeng smiled sadly. “It is sort of hard to keep it on when my neck is expanding.”
“I’ll make you another one,” Kyujong promised.
“I’d like that,” Youngsaeng forced the other man’s head up with a finger. “I am sorry Kyujong.”
“I know,” he replied, offering him and accepting smile. Youngsaeng nodded and then leaned in a pressed their lips together.
Kyujong pulled his head backwards sputtering. “Someone will see,” he hissed. “You know the rules.”
Youngsaeng grinned. He lifted his hand and made a sweeping motion with it. Their fire went out with a hiss as if water had just been dumped on it, bathing them in darkness. “There,” he said lowly, “now no one can see.”
Kyujong sighed, before allowing himself to be pulled into another kiss.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
“You have been very quiet,” Soojin said conversationally the next afternoon.
Hyunjoong, who was sitting silently beside her hummed in response, then sighed. “I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?” she prompted. When he said nothing she smiled, “My children say that I make a very good listener. Sometimes it helps to voice what you are thinking about.”
“My father doesn’t have slaves,” he said suddenly. “We have servants but every one of them is paid.”
“Are they?” Soojin asked simply, keeping her eyes on the terrain in front of them.
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.
“Do you personally hand them their money?”
“Of course not.”
“Do you personally order someone to hand them their money?”
“No,” he responded again.
“Then how do you know that they are paid?”
The prince longed to say that he just did, but he knew that wasn’t the truth. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “But my father doesn’t have slaves to use for personal pleasure.”
“Have you been to every room of your castle?” Soojin asked.
“No, but it doesn’t matter. I know what kind of man my father is and he is not the kind to keep slaves or kill without a need,” Hyunjoong said confidently.
“Perhaps,” Soojin agreed simply. “Perhaps it is hard to truly know someone who has raised you. Perhaps you have only seen the things he wants you to see.”
“I am not stupid,” Hyunjoong replied with a scowl.
“I wasn’t saying you were, but the king is not stupid either,” Soojin replied. “Micha alone has taught you more than you would have ever thought in only a week, and she is only six. Perhaps there were things he wasn’t allowing you to learn. You already know there were things he didn’t allow you to experience.”
Hyunjoong scowled and glared at the scenery around him. He didn’t know which was worse, the fact that he couldn’t think of anything to refute her or the fact that she might be right.
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That evening, the clan finally arrived at the next village. Hyunjoong was ushered into the wagon and forced to stay there until they had moved well beyond the city a day later. It had been a boring time that he had spent in thought and with every thought he wasn’t sure he liked where they led.
He had never been the sort of person to take things at someone else’s word. In fact he had been the opposite; he had always longed to find the truth of their words before he accepted them. However, the more he thought the more he discovered that there had been things that he had simply accepted. How was he, as a child, supposed to test the truth about a creature he had never seen and probably would never see?
The discovery of this thought spiraled into another until his thoughts became so convoluted that he couldn’t sort them out. By the third morning of these troubling thoughts, he came to the decision of what to do about them. For now he would simply trust his senses. For now, he would listen and watch the people and things that he was surrounded by. That would be the only thing that could tell him a truth that he could trust.
It was time, he decided shortly, that he allowed his guards to catch them. Now that he knew what Youngsaeng was, he was certain that the magic the man possessed was the reason his expertly trained guards hadn’t caught up with them yet. It was time to lead them right to him.
With that in mind, he went back to the way he had been when he had first been captured, asking questions and creating Links with Micha. If Soojin ever tired of his compulsion to ask about nearly everything, she never showed signs of it. Instead she answered every question to the best of her ability. Micha, for her part, was more than willing to continue to show him how to create the intricate pieces, proving him with plenty of cord in different colors. Every now and again, he would take a small piece of cord and drop it off the wagon. The colors were chosen in a specific pattern and it was the best hope he had of allowing his guards to follow him.
Hyunjoong found it refreshing to have someone who never seemed to get frustrated with his curiosity. His teachers at the palace had always only put up with it to a point, and then they had told him, without exception, to be silent. He learned more in the few days that he spent in Soojin’s company then he had in the years of his tutoring.
The prince was constantly surprised by the people that had taken them in. He had thought that since he had discovered what seemed to be their best kept secret, he would be chained to the wagon at the very least. However things seemed to change very little. He was free to spend his days where he chose and Micha still came to visit him often. If he wasn’t with Soojin, then he was accompanied by Jungmin and Hyungjoon constantly. He didn’t mind their company and had grown to enjoy it over the days that they were near him.
Kyujong he hardly ever saw and when he asked about it Jungmin and Hyungjoon had laughed and told him that Kyujong spend most of his time making some sort of potion or medicine or something of that sort. He was always free by the evenings but during the day he rarely emerged from the wagon.
He saw Youngsaeng even less frequently and it seemed as if the man was avoiding him and nearly everyone else. Jungmin and Hyungjoon didn’t seem too worried about it and beside the occasional frown or displeased look in the evening, Kyujong didn’t either. It seemed to be understood to everyone that whatever the man was doing was far more important.
The only questions that were never answered were anything considering Youngsaeng’s existence as a dragon. Hyunjoong could never be sure if his questions were never answered because the people he asked did not know the answer, or if they were simply unwilling to tell him what he wanted to know. Either way with every question that was turned away, Hyunjoong found himself growing more and more curious.
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Four days after they had stopped to resupply another town was on the horizon. Soojin explained that this was one of their regular stops, one that they used primarily as a place to trade what they could make for what they could not. Hyunjoong had asked her questions until he was not only satisfied with her answers but had extracted the promise to allow him to experience the market of the town with his new guardians.
“When will we get there?” he asked.
Soojin glanced at him and smiled at the eager way he sat on the edge of his seat. “We will arrive outside the gate in a few hours. It will be evening before you will be allowed to enter.” Hyunjoong sighed, disappointed and rested back in his seat and she laughed. “We can’t push the horses just because you are eager to get there,” she told them. He scowled but knew she was telling him the truth. Then he sighed, he wouldn’t want her to push the horses just for his sake anyway.
They fell into a comfortable silence and remained that way until Youngsaeng rode up on his horse half an hour later. “Youngsaeng?” Soojin questioned, worry filling her voice.
“Something isn’t right. I’m hearing strange things. I feel unsettled,” Youngsaeng told her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I don’t know, I just know that there is something very wrong. I think it is with the village ahead. I wish I could fly safely,” he cursed quietly.
Soojin offered him a sympathetic look. “We will make camp at the next spot I can find then some of us will ride ahead. If it is safe, we can bring the rest of the clan.”
Youngsaeng nodded. “He comes with us,” he told her without looking at the prince.
Soojin nodded. “He can ride double with you.” Youngsaeng nodded again and urged his horse forward without another word. Hyunjoong watched him go, wondering if he had just been given a strange opportunity or a form of a curse.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
It didn’t take long for Soojin to find a suitable location and circle up the wagons. Once that was finished she divided her men among the party going out and the one staying behind. Myungki had agreed to remain behind after a brief argument with Soojin and an argument mirroring theirs had gone on between Youngsaeng and Kyujong that resulted in the healer climbing on the back of Jungmin’s horse after securing a large bag on the back of Hyungjoon’s.
Youngsaeng had been too busy scowling at the healer, who was obviously going against his wishes, to comment on the prince climbing onto the back of the horse behind him. They set out shortly after that, Soojin among her children and a handful of armed warriors.
“You aren’t going to get a weapon so if it comes to it just jump off the horse and hide,” Youngsaeng said shortly.
“Or I could jump off the horse and disarm an enemy,” Hyunjoong suggested. Youngsaeng released a noise but didn’t give his opinion on the suggestion.
“What is wrong with the village?” Hyunjoong asked, trying to strike up a conversation.
“I don’t know. Use your imagination. I’m sure you can come up with something.”
“How could you hear the village this far away? Is that part of being a dragon?” Hyunjoong asked.
“You have two choices Prince, you can get off this horse right now or you can just sit quietly until we get there,” Youngsaeng snapped.
Hyunjoong was tempted to offer a retort but he bit it off. He didn’t really want to offend the man that suggested he be brought with them in the first place and he was curious to see what had happened to unnerve Youngsaeng enough to give a warning.
He spent the time on the back of the horse imagining exactly what it was that Youngsaeng could have heard that would have been enough for him to issue a warning. With every scenario his mind created, the ideas got wilder and wilder. Yet when they arrived at the village gates the things he had created in his mind were nothing compared to what his eyes saw.
Chatper Eleven
Masterlist
AN: Sorry that this is a little late. My schedule has been brutal and I have barely had time to be online let alone do anything else. I am beginning to catch up to myself so I don't know if the next chapter will come out this weekend. I will try really hard to get it out for you guys. I am also working on a new project because the idea won't leave me alone. It is going to be something written whenever I get a chance and another attempt at using the first person. We shall see how this goes.
Chapter Ten
It didn’t take nearly as long as either man would have liked to find the Gypsy camp. By the time Hyunjoong was actually becoming comfortable riding the dragon in silence, he could make out the lights of the camp fires beneath them. It didn’t seem like they had gone far enough to be safe and to be sure he glanced behind them. Sure enough the slaver’s fires were glowing specks in the distance. They were a ways away, but not nearly far enough.
Youngsaeng began a lazy circling pattern, allowing them to drift in a circle, slowly losing altitude as they went. After the third pass he angled his wings and they changed course for a specific fire out of the many they could see. The dragon closed his wings part of the way so that they almost fell through the air, opening them and flapping backwards at the last moment to stop their forward momentum. When his feet hit the ground, Hyunjoong only felt the smallest of jolts before the dragon folded his wings neatly.
“Youngsaeng!” was the immediate exclamation from the fire. A moment later Kyujong had run over and thrown his arms around the dragon’s neck in a strange form of a hug. A warm chuckle flowed through the gathered men’s minds and the dragon’s head lowered to press against the man’s back as if returning the gesture.
‘I am fine,’ he reassured them.
“Good I was worried. I knew you were running low and-” Kyujong bit off his words sharply as he looked up to the man still seated on the dragon’s neck. “The prince,” was all he said as if he didn’t know what else to say about it.
‘Yes the prince,’ Youngsaeng replied. His head rose and swiveled so that he could look at the man on his back. ‘Get off now, before I remove you myself,’ Youngsaeng ordered. Hyunjoong glared almost challengingly, but slid off his neck anyway. When his feet hit the ground, the prince released a noise of surprise and fell promptly onto his butt.
Jungmin’s chuckled, amused, as he moved forward and grabbed the prince’s arm to help him up. “Youngsaeng’s body is a little bit chilly. Your legs probably went numb without you realizing.” Hyunjoong nodded in understanding as he climbed to his feet.
“Jungmin,” Soojin said as she approached them. “Take the prince to our wagon. He is not to leave it and you are not to leave him unguarded. If he resists then you are to bind him.” She shifted her gaze to the young man he was speaking about. “I am sorry, but the situation has changed.” Hyunjoong nodded his understanding and she offered him an apologetic smile. “Hyungjoon go with him.” Both of her sons gave her mock salutes as they took up positions on either side of the prince and marched him off towards the wagon.
Youngsaeng’s golden eyes watched him go, before he turned his gaze back to Kyujong. ‘Do you still have some stored?’ he asked.
The man who was still standing with a hand pressed to cool scales, nodded. “I’ll go get it,” he told the black dragon before running towards their wagon. When he was gone, Youngsaeng turned his attention back to the woman beside him.
‘Slavers, to the north. It took us less than a half hour to fly here. I estimate that they could be here in just under three hours if they push their horses. I don’t know if they will try to retrieve us or if they even know which way we went.’
Soojin nodded. “I will see to it that anyone who is not keeping watch stays in their wagons. I will add more to the guard to that direction and make it known that we move at first light. Do you want me to get rid of the prince?”
‘No!’ the strength of his reaction to the suggestion surprised even Youngsaeng. ‘No,’ he replied a bit calmer. ‘We can’t let him go now, but he could still be a valuable asset. We don’t know if he will follow in the footsteps of his father and we shouldn’t do anything until we know.’
Soojin smiled proudly. “A wise choice. I will go see to the families now,” she told him.
He watched her walk from the fire and fade into the darkness. By the time she was gone, Kyujong had returned. ‘I’m sorry. I should have come to you sooner,’ Youngsaeng told him.
“You’ve been busy,” the healer said with a shrug. He set a bundle of fabric on the ground and lifted a small vial from it. “How do you want to do this?”
The dragon looked at it for a moment before deciding. ‘Inject it please.’
Kyujong nodded and reached into his pocket. From it he pulled a small wooden tube. Inside it contain several small hollow metal tubes. The end of each tube came to a sharpened edge. Youngsaeng glared at it before lifting a wing. “You know,” Kyujong said as he approached with the items. “It would be less painful if you just swallowed it.”
‘It takes longer for me to be able to use it that way and I don’t enjoy the taste in this form. Just do it,’ Youngsaeng replied.
Kyujong nodded. He located the place where Youngsaeng’s wing joined his body and followed it around beneath the wing. There was a small patch of skin uncovered by scales there and his fingers searched for a place big enough. When he found it he thrust the metal tube into it quickly and Youngsaeng hissed as it pierced his skin. With his other hand, Kyujong inverted the small vial and pierced its lid with the other side of the tube. “Okay,” he said softly.
At his word the liquid inside the vial sluggishly flowed out of it, through the tube and into the dragon. When it was empty, Kyujong waited a moment before pulling the vial off the tube and moment more before he pulled the tube completely from Youngsaeng’s body. He stepped back, allowing the dragon room as its form seemed to begin to shift and shrink.
The healer preferred not to watch the slightly disturbing transformation of his friend. There was something about the shifting and limbs seeming to be sucked into the body that he still couldn’t stand. Youngsaeng had teased him mercilessly about it at first. In fact, all of their little family found it rather humorous that he was capable of cutting a person open to deal with their internal injuries directly, but he was unable to watch a simple transformation.
“I think I’ll just drink it next time,” the sound of Youngsaeng’s audible voice signaled the end of his transformation.
Kyujong rose with bandages and a jar from the pile in his hand. “You say that every time.” He moved around the grinning man, to the place just beside his shoulder. There was a tiny red ring that was threatening to begin bleeding freely at any moment. The healer covered it with a thin layer of green paste from the jar.
“I mean it every time. Of course when I am presented with the choice between the taste and the stabbing, I chose the stabbing every time,” Youngsaeng’s voice was layered with humor.
“Excuse me if it doesn’t taste fantastic,” Kyujong snapped, applying the bandage a little harder then he meant too.
He turned to move back to the bundle of fabric when a strong arm snaked around his waist and pulled him back against a naked body. “I just prefer to get it directly from the source,” Youngsaeng purred in his ear.
“I’m sure you do,” Kyujong answered stiffly, pushing his arm away and continuing to his original direction. He picked up several pieces of clothing from the pile and held them out to the nude man, “Here.”
Youngsaeng accepted them, but grabbed Kyujong’s arm to keep him from moving away. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I was just worried about you,” Kyujong replied.
“Don’t start lying to me now,” Youngsaeng said softly.
“Look its nothing. It’s stupid. I’m glad you are safe,” Kyujong insisted.
“Are you upset that I waited so long?” Youngsaeng asked.
“It was an idiotic thing to do,” Kyujong snapped. “I’m right here. I’m always right here. So we have the new addition of the prince in our wagon. He can’t hurt you.”
Youngsaeng stepped forward and wrapped the other man in his arms. Kyujong protested the hold for a moment before relaxing. “I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind. Our clan is harder to protect now and I don’t want anything to happen to them. I shouldn’t have waited so long.”
Kyujong sighed and raised his head to look at the other man. “Apology accepted.”
“Good,” Youngsaeng said with a smile. “I can take you flying when we are further away from the slavers. I know you like that.”
Kyujong shook his head. “No, it’s not safe to do that anymore. It probably wasn’t in the first place,” he lifted a hand and touched the other man’s bare throat. “Your Link is gone.”
Youngsaeng smiled sadly. “It is sort of hard to keep it on when my neck is expanding.”
“I’ll make you another one,” Kyujong promised.
“I’d like that,” Youngsaeng forced the other man’s head up with a finger. “I am sorry Kyujong.”
“I know,” he replied, offering him and accepting smile. Youngsaeng nodded and then leaned in a pressed their lips together.
Kyujong pulled his head backwards sputtering. “Someone will see,” he hissed. “You know the rules.”
Youngsaeng grinned. He lifted his hand and made a sweeping motion with it. Their fire went out with a hiss as if water had just been dumped on it, bathing them in darkness. “There,” he said lowly, “now no one can see.”
Kyujong sighed, before allowing himself to be pulled into another kiss.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
“You have been very quiet,” Soojin said conversationally the next afternoon.
Hyunjoong, who was sitting silently beside her hummed in response, then sighed. “I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?” she prompted. When he said nothing she smiled, “My children say that I make a very good listener. Sometimes it helps to voice what you are thinking about.”
“My father doesn’t have slaves,” he said suddenly. “We have servants but every one of them is paid.”
“Are they?” Soojin asked simply, keeping her eyes on the terrain in front of them.
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.
“Do you personally hand them their money?”
“Of course not.”
“Do you personally order someone to hand them their money?”
“No,” he responded again.
“Then how do you know that they are paid?”
The prince longed to say that he just did, but he knew that wasn’t the truth. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “But my father doesn’t have slaves to use for personal pleasure.”
“Have you been to every room of your castle?” Soojin asked.
“No, but it doesn’t matter. I know what kind of man my father is and he is not the kind to keep slaves or kill without a need,” Hyunjoong said confidently.
“Perhaps,” Soojin agreed simply. “Perhaps it is hard to truly know someone who has raised you. Perhaps you have only seen the things he wants you to see.”
“I am not stupid,” Hyunjoong replied with a scowl.
“I wasn’t saying you were, but the king is not stupid either,” Soojin replied. “Micha alone has taught you more than you would have ever thought in only a week, and she is only six. Perhaps there were things he wasn’t allowing you to learn. You already know there were things he didn’t allow you to experience.”
Hyunjoong scowled and glared at the scenery around him. He didn’t know which was worse, the fact that he couldn’t think of anything to refute her or the fact that she might be right.
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That evening, the clan finally arrived at the next village. Hyunjoong was ushered into the wagon and forced to stay there until they had moved well beyond the city a day later. It had been a boring time that he had spent in thought and with every thought he wasn’t sure he liked where they led.
He had never been the sort of person to take things at someone else’s word. In fact he had been the opposite; he had always longed to find the truth of their words before he accepted them. However, the more he thought the more he discovered that there had been things that he had simply accepted. How was he, as a child, supposed to test the truth about a creature he had never seen and probably would never see?
The discovery of this thought spiraled into another until his thoughts became so convoluted that he couldn’t sort them out. By the third morning of these troubling thoughts, he came to the decision of what to do about them. For now he would simply trust his senses. For now, he would listen and watch the people and things that he was surrounded by. That would be the only thing that could tell him a truth that he could trust.
It was time, he decided shortly, that he allowed his guards to catch them. Now that he knew what Youngsaeng was, he was certain that the magic the man possessed was the reason his expertly trained guards hadn’t caught up with them yet. It was time to lead them right to him.
With that in mind, he went back to the way he had been when he had first been captured, asking questions and creating Links with Micha. If Soojin ever tired of his compulsion to ask about nearly everything, she never showed signs of it. Instead she answered every question to the best of her ability. Micha, for her part, was more than willing to continue to show him how to create the intricate pieces, proving him with plenty of cord in different colors. Every now and again, he would take a small piece of cord and drop it off the wagon. The colors were chosen in a specific pattern and it was the best hope he had of allowing his guards to follow him.
Hyunjoong found it refreshing to have someone who never seemed to get frustrated with his curiosity. His teachers at the palace had always only put up with it to a point, and then they had told him, without exception, to be silent. He learned more in the few days that he spent in Soojin’s company then he had in the years of his tutoring.
The prince was constantly surprised by the people that had taken them in. He had thought that since he had discovered what seemed to be their best kept secret, he would be chained to the wagon at the very least. However things seemed to change very little. He was free to spend his days where he chose and Micha still came to visit him often. If he wasn’t with Soojin, then he was accompanied by Jungmin and Hyungjoon constantly. He didn’t mind their company and had grown to enjoy it over the days that they were near him.
Kyujong he hardly ever saw and when he asked about it Jungmin and Hyungjoon had laughed and told him that Kyujong spend most of his time making some sort of potion or medicine or something of that sort. He was always free by the evenings but during the day he rarely emerged from the wagon.
He saw Youngsaeng even less frequently and it seemed as if the man was avoiding him and nearly everyone else. Jungmin and Hyungjoon didn’t seem too worried about it and beside the occasional frown or displeased look in the evening, Kyujong didn’t either. It seemed to be understood to everyone that whatever the man was doing was far more important.
The only questions that were never answered were anything considering Youngsaeng’s existence as a dragon. Hyunjoong could never be sure if his questions were never answered because the people he asked did not know the answer, or if they were simply unwilling to tell him what he wanted to know. Either way with every question that was turned away, Hyunjoong found himself growing more and more curious.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
Four days after they had stopped to resupply another town was on the horizon. Soojin explained that this was one of their regular stops, one that they used primarily as a place to trade what they could make for what they could not. Hyunjoong had asked her questions until he was not only satisfied with her answers but had extracted the promise to allow him to experience the market of the town with his new guardians.
“When will we get there?” he asked.
Soojin glanced at him and smiled at the eager way he sat on the edge of his seat. “We will arrive outside the gate in a few hours. It will be evening before you will be allowed to enter.” Hyunjoong sighed, disappointed and rested back in his seat and she laughed. “We can’t push the horses just because you are eager to get there,” she told them. He scowled but knew she was telling him the truth. Then he sighed, he wouldn’t want her to push the horses just for his sake anyway.
They fell into a comfortable silence and remained that way until Youngsaeng rode up on his horse half an hour later. “Youngsaeng?” Soojin questioned, worry filling her voice.
“Something isn’t right. I’m hearing strange things. I feel unsettled,” Youngsaeng told her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I don’t know, I just know that there is something very wrong. I think it is with the village ahead. I wish I could fly safely,” he cursed quietly.
Soojin offered him a sympathetic look. “We will make camp at the next spot I can find then some of us will ride ahead. If it is safe, we can bring the rest of the clan.”
Youngsaeng nodded. “He comes with us,” he told her without looking at the prince.
Soojin nodded. “He can ride double with you.” Youngsaeng nodded again and urged his horse forward without another word. Hyunjoong watched him go, wondering if he had just been given a strange opportunity or a form of a curse.
‡†‡†‡†‡†‡
It didn’t take long for Soojin to find a suitable location and circle up the wagons. Once that was finished she divided her men among the party going out and the one staying behind. Myungki had agreed to remain behind after a brief argument with Soojin and an argument mirroring theirs had gone on between Youngsaeng and Kyujong that resulted in the healer climbing on the back of Jungmin’s horse after securing a large bag on the back of Hyungjoon’s.
Youngsaeng had been too busy scowling at the healer, who was obviously going against his wishes, to comment on the prince climbing onto the back of the horse behind him. They set out shortly after that, Soojin among her children and a handful of armed warriors.
“You aren’t going to get a weapon so if it comes to it just jump off the horse and hide,” Youngsaeng said shortly.
“Or I could jump off the horse and disarm an enemy,” Hyunjoong suggested. Youngsaeng released a noise but didn’t give his opinion on the suggestion.
“What is wrong with the village?” Hyunjoong asked, trying to strike up a conversation.
“I don’t know. Use your imagination. I’m sure you can come up with something.”
“How could you hear the village this far away? Is that part of being a dragon?” Hyunjoong asked.
“You have two choices Prince, you can get off this horse right now or you can just sit quietly until we get there,” Youngsaeng snapped.
Hyunjoong was tempted to offer a retort but he bit it off. He didn’t really want to offend the man that suggested he be brought with them in the first place and he was curious to see what had happened to unnerve Youngsaeng enough to give a warning.
He spent the time on the back of the horse imagining exactly what it was that Youngsaeng could have heard that would have been enough for him to issue a warning. With every scenario his mind created, the ideas got wilder and wilder. Yet when they arrived at the village gates the things he had created in his mind were nothing compared to what his eyes saw.
Chatper Eleven
Masterlist
AN: Sorry that this is a little late. My schedule has been brutal and I have barely had time to be online let alone do anything else. I am beginning to catch up to myself so I don't know if the next chapter will come out this weekend. I will try really hard to get it out for you guys. I am also working on a new project because the idea won't leave me alone. It is going to be something written whenever I get a chance and another attempt at using the first person. We shall see how this goes.