Emeralds and Enemies

Chapter Seventy-one

            Wen Hou straightened his robes and took a deep breath before entering the chambers the Crown Prince used for official meetings. He noticed there were at least half-a-dozen guards posted around the room and expected at least an equal number were staying out of sight. Luckily the prince appeared to be in a good mood, or at least until Wen Hou broached the subject of dispatching a regular patrol.

"I appreciate your intervention helped get General Tan out of bind but there is no reason your ragbag trainees need a full squad. Not with the terms of our truce. Remember underage means off limits." The Prince looked to a couple of his advisors who nodded their approval.

"I don't expect foreign mercenaries will care about such niceties. Takimoto might try to play by the rules but I won't bet Minister Go's son, or any of the other's safety, on his good will. Neither should you."

"Just Go San Jin. Surely his family sent more retainers. Why don't you just admit you are worried about your by-blow." The prince's comments drew snickers from a few of the hangers-on.

"My what?" Wen Hou pulled himself up and glared at the ones making jokes at his expense.

"Surely you heard the rumor. Dragon's breath was all people could talk about a couple of weeks ago." The prince tilted his head and studied his cousin a bit closer.

"And no doubt exaggerated more with each telling. But we both know that particular blessing does not follow through the female line so the popular speculation about my student logically suggests our parents were much closer than they ought to have been. Or maybe twins in a previous life?" Wen Hou tried to hide his grin when the prince started to sputter over such a preposterous suggestion. He relented after a minute and said, "Relax. I just wanted you to understand why it is better to ignore such rumors."

The Crown Prince glared around the room at the members of his council who had brought the stories to his attention. A younger looking man backed into the shadows but was prodded forward by one of the hidden guards. The Crown Prince signaled for the man to be removed from the room before the apologies could start. Then he canvased his council for ideas on how to quell the rumors.

The training master stepped forward. "What if we just show everyone how poorly qualified Wen Hou's trainees are? Put them next to some of your champions so everyone sees they are a pack of outsiders and misfits. Then nobody will be talking about possible royal connections from here or from the north." The others agreed with the strategy of dispatching a squad from the Prince's training yard.

While Wen Hou had hope for more, he could not press the matter without seeming ungrateful. When he reflected on it, Wen Hou realized it might not be a bad plan to show the boys how far their training still needed to come and the better opportunities than a has-been commander with a run-down forge. A part of him knew he was selling himself, and the training league, short but it was only a very small part. The first step was to get the team home safely. After that he would have to see what was possible within their contracts.

A troop of trainees from the Prince's own yard met the team and their escort just outside the estate's main village. There was immediate confusion over the command lines. Most of the cadets did not want to recognize their juniors even though some of them had trained together in the past few years.

"Oh great, more people to bully us around," Xuiyang muttered.

"Let them try," Il-don squared his shoulders and nudged his horse forward.

Everyone was still milling around when Junseo stood up on his stirrups and waved over to one of the newly contingent. "Sen Dou is that you?" he called and then inched his way over to where a trainee had just dismounted.

"I didn't know you would be part of the precious cargo we were assigned to guard." Sen Dou teased his occasional sparing partner.

Junseo rolled his eyes, "You know just how much I enjoy horseback journeys." Sen Dou chuckled then introduced some of the other members of his troop. Junseo performed the same courtesy for the closest team members.

"I don't think Go San Jin's guards will let him come over but he is our eldest member and General Tan's heir for the estate," he waved to San Jin's group and was acknowledged by both his friend and the family guards.

"So, way more precious than you." Sen Dou smirked.

"Absolutely. I am just a healer's son from the country trying to get ready for the next round of matches."

"If you say so. Now would you like to explain to my senior how we came to meet in the palace training yard? He seems to be worried about the way we are fraternizing," he nodded in the direction of a young man with a deep frown.

"Oh sure." Junseo signaled for Hae-sung to come take charge of Rufus who was getting restless with all the new riders around him. Junseo took a hold of the head stall and firmly told his horse to behave before he walked over to meet the junior officer. Sen Dou watched this display with amusement. Junseo explained over his shoulder as he walked, "Rufus probably has more combat experience than this whole group combined so he doesn't take to strangers."

"A true veteran, then," Sen Dou took a closer look at the horse.

"He does his best to keep me out of trouble. That is when he isn't dumping me in the nearest mud puddle." Junseo made light of some of their earlier struggles but then schooled himself into a proper military attitude for meeting a superior.

He explained how he had occasion to practice northern forms at the palace with Sen Dou and that the team treated him as their usual spokesman.

"If you can't spot Scout Jia or Manager Doak you can bring instructions to me and I will make sure the team is on it. The Go family guards also know me well so if there is anything for them, I can help out there too."

"Sen Dou is my second so you can relay things through him," the junior officer looked down his nose.

"I will keep that in mind," Junseo said coolly. Once they were out of earshot Junseo explained the core formation would not be changed with the new arrivals. He then predicted how the Prince's troops would be deployed. Then he wished Sen Dou luck and got back to his place.

Sen Dou was grateful for the heads-up Junseo had given him so he could prepare his squad to be sandwiched between the cadets and the training team they had come to protect. When he heard some grumbling, he reminded his group they needed to earn the right to ride on point.

When one of the cadets overheard this exchange, he added in some his own experience from the first patrols. "I was sure I knew what I was doing but a veteran barely managed to stop me from riding right into a trap. This all might seem a bit of a lark to you now but trust me, this is nothing like your parade grounds." He then made a point of checking the tension on his bow.

Sen Dou nodded his thanks. He vaguely remembered the young man from the year before. There seemed to be nothing left of the carefree joker he once knew so he had to wonder what had happened out on patrol and if this was what real combat did to a fellow. He looked around and noted the serious demeanor of the Go family guards and most of the other adults. The man Junseo pointed out as being the main scout was riding with the youngest members of the group. He had a determined cheerfulness did not mask the alertness with which he was scanning the surrounding. Sen Dou followed his example with a tight smile and an eye out for trouble. Trouble did arrive but it waited until just before dawn of the next day.