The silence of the night seemingly had a voice of it's own, and for the first time since they left the capital, the soldiers found themselves being thankful for the snow under their feet, effectively quietening their steps as they advanced to the enemy camp.
According to their intelligence, a small camp was nearby and they set out late night hoping to nab them like they did twice before. This mission was largely unknown to most of them, the twenty participants being chosen by the higher ups themselves.
Suho held up his wrist, all of them halting as the signal. A message passed between him and Namjoon through their eyes and Suho advanced forward, stepping down the incline slowly. All the men gathered, watching his path intently, their gaze moving to the tiny yellow dot at the bottom. After a few minutes, their leader appeared again, hurriedly walking towards them.
"There are three tents like we thought, they aren't too big so one tents might only have three to four at most. Two of them just went of to the frozen lake nearby to get ice, finish the lone wolf by the fire first then you all wait for us while we knock out those two. Try to capture them alive if possible. Understood?", he asked.
It had been more than a week since the injury and Jihyo had confirmed that Namjoon was fit enough to resume his activities. Hence, he had insisted to be a part of the mission, missing all the action. Being one of the most valuable commanders, Suho had agreed immediately.
They had planned this for days, checking and rechecking incase there were any major chances of it failing. It was decided to keep this under wraps, letting minimal amount of people know about it. The men participating were carefully selected and it was decided that the troop would leave when everyone was asleep and the operation would be carried out and completed before the sun rose.
On confirming that his message had been passed, the trope made their dissent. When they were close enough, their archer peeked out from behind a tree, knocking an arrow in his bow, pointing it towards the man beside the fire. Just as he was about to shoot, another head popped put from a tent, the man coming and sitting beside him.
The archer looked towards Namjoon whose palm was spread. Not yet. And so they waited with drawn breaths, growing increasingly paranoid and hoping that the two others wouldn't show up before they had rid themselves of the first one.
To their relief, his companion stood up and left back to his tent. They waited for a moment after he had disappeared and Namjoon gave the signal. The arrow was shot, slicing through his neck, the body dropping with a low thud without a sound.
As expected none of the sleeping ones noticed it, Suho motioning Namjoon to get moving to do their part. They crept across the boundaries, careful so their shadows wouldn't be cast on the tents and disappeared among the trees in the darkness, leaving the others in their wait.
It didn't take them long to find the two men, who were so busy with breaking the ice with their axes, that they did not notice the two soldiers closing on them until it was too late. Suho placed his dagger on one's neck from behind, one slash enough to put his to sleep forever.
The other noticed him, revealing his own weapon from the folds of his cloak only to be smashed on his head with a log of wood by Namjoon from behind. Nodding to each other, they lifted him up and sped back, surprised to hear cries and yells as they neared their destination. Dropping him behind a tree, they jumped into the flare.
It wasn't long enough that the rebels realized that they were at the losing end, a lot of their men fell to the skilled warriors, chaos reigning due to the absence of their commander. "Retreat!" one of them yelled at last, the other following the cry without hesitation.
The soldiers were about to follow when Namjoon signaled them to stop. They paused, looking at him questionably to which Suho only smiled. "We have the person we want" he said, signaling towards Namjoon who was busy pulling the unconscious man to the view.
Back at the camp, the leader became sort of an attraction, hands tied, gagged and pushed through the crowd towards the small prison like area where capture enemies were kept. There were gasps and murmurs as he passed them since no one was informed beforehand about the operation leading to astonishment.
The leader was pushed into the enclosure after his gag was removed, "Stay here quietly. We'll deal with you later", Suho snarled at him, walking out with others in tow.
"What happened?", Jihyo questioned as she stepped out of her tent. "They caught a rebels leader in an encounter. We didn't even know they were going to do something like this. They left yesterday night, when everyone was asleep", Minho, who stood nearby answered. "Why did they not tell anyone?" she asked.
"Maybe because of the spy? Whoever that man is, he's very good at concealing himself. Our previous missions were successfully sabotaged by him. Hopefully now that we have our hands on one of them, he will spill something".
Though the higher ups were hush-hush about the whole situation, it did not take long for the piece of information among the others that there was a spy, a traitor among them. Everyone suspected everybody and when personal rifts surfaced, the common allegation was that the person was a traitor.
"Why don't YOU know anything about it? Aren't you also one of the commanders. Don't you deserve to be aware of such operations too?", Jihyo said, gently running her palm up and down his arm.
"You're right. I should have known" he muttered with a frown. "Then go ahead and speak to them sweetie. You are fit to be among them" she said, pushing him lightly. "Don't I get a kiss before I leave?", he asked. Jihyo giggled, pushing him harder, "Once you join them, I'll give you all the kisses you want".
Minho nodded with a smirk before setting off towards the commanders cabin. "Oh and Minho, where is he kept? That man?" she called out after him. Minho simply pointed to the left, gesturing with his palm that it was the last building in the corner beside the food storage room. Jihyo smiled before waving him off. After one last look at the left path, she returned inside.
"Namjoon we found an important piece of evidence inside one of the tents" Hoseok said as he produced a scroll from a cloth bag. "It has a message for him". When he turned it over, the red seal bearing the symbol of the lion was seen, confirming their suspicions. "It's the logo of the neighboring kingdom", he noted. "Read it".
Hoseok cleared his throat and began,
"His Highness, Jeon Jongung commands you and your band to collect together and infiltrate the Song Kingdom. He is well aware of his promise of asylum to you and your people and in turn, you have pledged to be at his service.
You will infiltrate the Kingdom and cause trouble at our shared borders. No one is to know our association. Gather as many natives as you can and do your part in shaking them up. Start riots, burn their villages, attack soldiers enroute to camp and terrorize them. Use their own weapons against them.
Then let the palace make its move".
The clouds of reality settled over them all. The rebels are only pawns. "Ask one of our messengers to deliver this to the palace, meanwhile begin a severe crackdown on these rebels. They will not get what they want", Namjoon hissed.
With a nod, Hoseok slipped the scroll in the bag and exited to give orders. On his way out, he ran into Minho. "Where are you going?" the alpha asked. "Back to the training area, my work is done here" Hoseok answered, walking ahead without waiting for another question to come his way.
"What's up with him?", Minho wondered as he turned around, he caught a glimpse of an old looking bag in Hoseok's hand, sparking his interest. All other commanders came into his view once he entered, standing around the table which had a map on it.
"What's going on here?" he asked. "Discussion about our next step".
"Why wasn't I called for?"
"Because the discussion here is supposed to be kept a secret and we DID call for you. You were busy with the head medic in her tent. Don't you remember that?", Pil do asked. "When did this happen?". "Two days ago" came the repy.
"It was two days ago!" he said, "Why didn't you call for me today?". "There was no point in doing so. You don't take the meetings seriously and come as and when you wish. We know that you are close to the prince but this kind of irresponsibility cannot be tolerated at a time of crisis here. On going through the prisoner's bag we found a messaged from the Jeon King himself, directing them to keep the conflict alive till the winter ends. They will declare a war on us soon after. It will serve as a proof and we might get permission to go all out. This is a serious matter and if you are going to act like this all the time it is best for you to return to the capital. We need men ready for action", Pil do answered curtly.
"I am ready for action too!", Minho protested. "Just tell me what to do". Knowing glances were passed among the commanders. "Fine then, let's go to that bastard and get some information out of him", Pil do growled as the meeting packed up for the day.
"Aargh!" a loud scream resonated in the cell as another whip fell on his bare back. The man lurched forward, spit falling out of his mouth as he coughed. His labored breathing matched the one who was inflicting the pain upon him.
"What else have you planned? Where are the rest of you?", Namjoon asked again. "Tell us" he said, raising his voice.
"Over my dead body" the prisoner spat out, screaming as another whip landed on his bruised back. After hours of grueling, he still refused to speak. "Fine then. You will stay here till you speak. If you do, maybe you will be granted mercy" he hissed, as he locked the cell again and stormed out.
"Namjoon.... you asleep?", Hoseok asked in the dark. He felt some movement on the bed bunk beside his. "No. I keep thinking about the words that the man who led the attack on us while we were coming here" came the reply.
"This has been going on for so long, but frankly speaking, it wouldn't have begun in the first place if his majesty would have paid attention to the people here. When I passed the villages, the inhabitants treated us like aliens, like we were not of their kind when we in fact live in the same kingdom. Do you remember the first time we got the news that the riots were increasing in these areas?", Namjoon asked.
"More than a year ago if I'm not wrong. The heir still has a lot to learn if he is going to take up the throne", Hoseok answered. "The heir? What does the prince have to do with this?", he questioned.
"Ah you don't know too? It seems none of us except Minho were aware about it. Two years ago, the west, including the this region were given to the prince to rule upon. The King wanted to see what his son was capable of. The prince of course was unhappy about it since this region was a lot less popular and did not a lot of yield crops of major importance.", Hoseok said. "Then why wasn't it announced to us?".
"Minho said it was because the King wanted to wait and see what his son would do with the land he was given. He was setting himself up for disappointment. You know the smeraldo flower? That flower only grows on hills which have cool climate with heavy rainfall and grown only during pre-monsoon and monsoon season. It is the only highly profitable crop for trade as it have great medicinal properties".
"I've heard about it. Jimin always keeps talking about it", Namjoon commented. "What about it?". "The prince decided that instead of letting it grow naturally only, the people here should irrigate it".
"So?". Hoseok signed.
"It's a tedious process Joon. They require a lot of water and plenty of cover and dampness. The forests here with tall tress make it possible but when you think about growing it in fields, it's difficult. The people resisted after some time because most of them could not afford to grow it as the seeds cost them more than they could earn. The monsoon crop cycle which they followed was disturbed as it is impossible to grow another crop when the smeraldo is under your care. It also caused shortage in their food supply which could not be met. That is why the riots began", he concluded.
"These people are vulnerable Joon. When no help came from the palace, it made it easy for our enemies to fill their ears. I'm sure they promised help in return for causing the royal family trouble. Had the prince cared to listen, this situation would not have arisen". "How do we stop this then?", the knight questioned.
"We have to convince them somehow. If the prince steps in, it would be much easier. And I doubt if that would happen anytime sooner". Namjoon had no reply for the comment. No matter how much he denied it, he missed his best friend.
He missed the friend who was once a caring and kind boy. Often then he liked to admit, at times like these, he wish he could have that friend back. Because he knew, the Hanuel he knew would fix it in no time.
"How do you know all this?", Namjoon asked. Hoseok chuckled lightly, "Minho told me most of it, but I joined the bits and pieces on my way here. He told me a long time ago but I could not understand it's root till I passed the villages and saw their misery myself. I probably wouldn't have known if that idiot wasn't such a blabbermouth".
"Minho is really close to the prince huh?", he muttered. Hoseok hummed in response, "Do you think he?".
"I thought so before. But he's careless Hobi, we should have received some clues by now. I may be wrong though".
"Maybe he wasn't acting this whole time? Or maybe he isn't the only one? He could be one of them as Minho has come here many more times than any of us present. Even Pil do. He's close to the prince, is familiar with the village crowd that supply us. It could be anyone but my gut tells me Minho would lead us to him. It is possible that we might not have a clue because we are looking in a completely different direction or we might not be looking close enough" Hoseok said.
"Could you keep an eye on him? Find out what he does through the day and to whom he talks to the most", Namjoon requested. "Yes sir", Hoseok replied, earning a small laugh.
Not long after, exhaustion took over his senses and Namjoon felt himself slip into a slumber without dreams.
Thank you sooo much for reading!
Who do you think is the traitor? Are they right about Minho? Let me know what you think in the comment section and don't forget to vote and share!
ALso, I have this feeling that the chapters are getting a little boring :( I can feel it as I write them.
Please bare with me, the plot is just building. I promise the interesting part will come soon!!
See you in the next chapter :)