Members of both the righteous faction and the neutral faction strive to uphold the basic virtues taught by the divine and celestial dragons. The righteous faction also follows the tenants of the great divine dragons and the two celestial dragons. Some clans follow tenants of a specific divine dragon, while others follow several. All follow the tenants of the two celestial dragons.

  Min sat astride his horse as he and Tae road passed the many fields. They’d left the capital at dawn and were now on their way towards the mountains in the north-west provinces. Min had never travelled without a carriage and a company of guards before. It was rather freeing. He knew he had nothing to fear with Tae beside him. They both wore veiled straw hats to hide their faces, and were dressed in nondescript clothes. The scenery was rather monotonous though. Min’s thoughts wandered as they rode.

  “I know we got rather carried away earlier, but I do have a gift for you.” Tae said.

  Min sat up from where he lay beside his lover. He was still exhausted, but he was not going to accept the gift while laying down. He looked at Tae expectantly, waiting to be handed his present.

  “Give me a moment to go grab it.” Tae laughed. He kissed Min’s forehead before leaving the bed. Min watched as Tae walked across the room, admiring his lover’s sculpted body. He was usually underneath Tae and never walked behind him so he didn’t usually get to admire the view like this. Tae had a hell of an ass. If Min wasn’t so content in their current dynamics the sight of Tae’s bare ass would be enough to tempt him.

  Tae returned a moment later, carrying a carved box gently with both hands. The box wasn’t large enough to need both hands. There was a softness to Tae’s eyes that surprised Min. While he knew Tae would put thought into any gift he gave, the way Tae was behaving told him that this was something particularly special.

  Min accepted the box, holding it as gently as Tae had. He set the box on his lap and opened it. Inside there was cushioning and something wrapped in silk. Min carefully unwrapped the silk. His eyes widened as he took in the magnificent white jade flute. Min picked it up, his fingers tracing over the carvings. It was clearly made by a master-craftsman and of the highest quality. Min knew without a doubt that it was a much finer instrument than any he owned or had ever played.

  “It’s beautiful.” Min breathed. He looked up at Tae meeting his lover’s eyes. “This is an exquisite gift and stunning instrument, how… how did you find something like this?”

  “I didn’t.” Tae told him. There was a wariness in Tae’s eyes that concerned Min. He wrapped the instrument backup and placed it in the box again. He then closed the box and set it to the side.

  “There’s more to this gift than a majestic instrument.” Min said. It was not a question.

  “Yes.” Tae answered it anyway, his voice quiet. “I… was entrusted with that particular instrument by someone almost six years ago.”

  It only took Min a moment to realize that would have been at the end of the war.

  “It was a symbol of a promise I made more than ten years ago.” Tae continued. “I promised my friend, lover, and dearest companion, that if he died before me I would continue to live. That flute is a symbol of that promise, he carved it himself. I was to hold onto it until I no longer wanted to follow him in death and learned to love again.”

  Min felt a tear slip out of his eye and down his cheek. Tae was crying as well. This was no simple birthday gift. This was so much more than that. This was the ultimate confession. Min grasped Tae’s hand in his own.

  “What was his name?” Min asked.

  “Hyuk,” Tae told him. “His name was Ahn, Hyuk.”

  The night of his birthday had been one of the sweetest ones he’d ever experienced. He’d been honoured by the gift and everything it meant and symbolized. It was currently packed in his saddlebags. He hadn’t wanted to leave it behind.

  Min remembered seeing several files with that name on it. The man had been Tae’s second in command during the war. He’d been an expert fighter, a master of martial arts, and an incredibly capable soldier. Min realized that the musician his brother had mentioned and then apologizing for must have been this Ahn, Hyuk. If Min remembered the reports correctly, Ahn, Hyuk had died in the final official battle of the war.

  He was glad Tae had brought it up before they left for the Seong clan. The Ahn family were vassals of the Seong family and an integral part of their clan. Ahn, Hyuk would have been raised alongside the heirs of the Seong clan. He and Shin must have grown up together, getting trained by the same masters and taking the same lessons. He would have been among the first members of the clan that Tae would have been introduced to when he’d been brought to the clan. It would have been very awkward to find out only when they were visiting the Seong clan.

  Min had expected to feel some negative emotions, but he didn’t. He didn’t feel jealous that someone else had loved Tae first. He was just grateful that Ahn, Hyuk had been there for Tae. Tae had been through hell, and Min knew he didn’t know everything about Tae’s past yet. There was likely much more that he’d experienced, more hellish memories, than what Tae had told him. The fact that there had been someone beside Tae eased something in Min’s heart that he hadn’t even realized was there. An ache of sorts.

  He felt nothing but gratitude towards the man who had known Tae well enough to make that kind of promise with him. That promise was likely the only reason Tae had survived, and the fact that Tae felt he didn’t need to hold onto the symbol of the promise himself anymore… was a relief to an anxiety Min hadn’t realized he’d felt. He trusted Tae with his life, but there were moments he wasn’t sure if he trusted Tae with his own life.

  Min had seen Tae suffer from a nightmare once. Tae had gone to bed before him that night. It was the last time Min ever asked him to not wait up for him. It seemed Tae didn’t have them when they slept together. The nightmare and his own knowledge of the internal scars that warriors carried in their minds and hearts was enough to let him know that Tae still suffered. It’d let him see a glimpse of just how broken Tae really was.

  He steered his horse to follow Tae’s as his lover led the way through a village towards what was probably an inn. Min knew enough to be thankful for a night under a roof and with a bed for them to share. There would be more nights where they’d sleep under the stars than in inns after all. Min smirked to himself as Tae talked to the innkeeper. The man’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his skull as he took in Tae’s height. Min dismounted and joined his lover.

  ***

  Tae opened his eyes to see a wooden ceiling. Panic flooded through him. He scrambled up and fell from the raised bed to the floor. Raised bed? Tae took in his surroundings. He wasn’t back in the cell, he wasn’t in the sleeping room, nor was he in the Master's room. The walls were made of wood, there were shutters big enough he could easily crawl through if they were opened. The doors made of wood and waxed paper, and the room that was much too large for him, were the clearest indicators that he was not back at the compound.

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  He scanned the room as his heart began to calm. He was still half tangled in the blankets. Blankets, plural. He used the chest beside the bed as well as the bed itself to get back to his feet. There was a rug under his bare feet. Soft fabric brushed against his skin as he stood and Tae realized he wasn’t in the sack cloth clothing anymore. He grabbed at his hair in a panic again. White. Clean. He wasn’t covered in dirt. There was nothing to hide him from the eyes of others. Wait… clean… someone had washed and dressed him.

  His hands quickly went to his behind, but it didn’t hurt. Only then did Tae realize his wounds had been bandaged. Puzzled, he undid one of the bandages to discover that a salve had been used. He sniffed it before wrapping it back up once he recognized the scent of medicinal herbs. His knife… where was his knife! Tae whirled around seeking it with his eyes. It sat, cleaned, on the chest beside the bed. Tae picked it up, its familiar weight soothing.

  The sound of someone approaching had Tae facing the door again. Dagger at the ready, his back to the wall. He kept the shutters in sight as well. There was a knock on the door before it slid open. Tae watched warily as the man from the cave entered. Relief washed over the man’s face, surprising Tae.

  “You’re finally awake. We’d started to worry.” the man, Eun-U, said.

  Tae just watched the man.

  “We brought some food and tea. Do you think you can eat?”

  Tae nodded. The man gestured and Tae tensed as another person entered the room. It was a woman carrying a tray. Tae immediately relaxed again. She did not walk like the man did, nor how the bandits had, or the others had. She was not a fighter. Tae watched her warily nonetheless. Just because she wasn’t a warrior didn’t mean she couldn’t or wouldn’t harm him. He noted her clothing and the way she differed to Eun-U. She was a servant girl. Only then did Tae remember what Eun-U had promised him.

  The girl set the tray down on a table between the bed and the door. Tae waited until she had left before approaching and kneeling at the table. Eun-U had promised to protect him. It was an oath he couldn't break without losing his martial arts. No warrior would risk that. Eun-U had brought the girl and watched her place the tea and food. If there was anything wrong with it, Eun-U would pay the price for it.

  Tae set his knife on the table and poured himself some of the tea. He took a bite of bread while he waited for it to cool a little. After he swallowed his bite of bread he sipped the tea. He ignored the memory that threatened to surface of the last time he’d had tea. The bread had been soft, it was a foreign feeling. The taste and texture was vaguely familiar for some reason, but he didn’t know why or how. He’d never been given anything like this even as a reward after pleasing the Master. He was very careful as he ate, being sure to go slowly. There was hot porridge, some soup, and lots of bread. It’d been far too long since his stomach had last been full. If he ate quickly it would all just come up again.

  “Good, seems I didn’t need to worry about you pacing yourself with the food.” Eun-U said.

  Tae just nodded again. Sipping his refilled cup of tea. He hadn’t been able to finish anything, but if he ate more now his body wouldn’t be able to handle it. Eun-U had sat across from him at the table. Tae watched the man, trying to get a better read on him. His eyes noted all the scars, the muscles that to the normal eye would be hidden beneath the man’s clothing. He was dressed like a noble. Seems he really was the heir of a clan. The man didn’t seem surprised by Tae’s lack of response and just sat in silence with Tae for a while. Tae tilted his head confused as the man smiled when Tae set his cup back down and pushed it and the food away slightly to signal he was done.

  Tae’s head jerked up at the sound of footsteps. The door opened without warning and Tae launched himself backwards away from the door. Knife out. A man, obviously a warrior, stood in the doorway. Tae hissed at the man warningly.

  “I thought I ordered no one to enter this room.” Eun-U said. The anger in his voice had Tae bristling. He growled as he crouched, knife between him and this new stranger.

  “My apologies, Sir.” The man said. “But there’s-”

  “Out!” Eun-U ordered. The man hurried from the room hastily closing the door behind him. Eun-U turned to look at Tae. “I’m sorry. That frightened you didn’t it.”

  Eun-U stood and made as if to approach Tae. Tae hissed again. Eun-U raised his hands in surrender.

  “I’ll make sure no one enters this room.” He promised. Tae growled not trusting him. He’d already told people not to enter and they hadn’t listened.

  “Are you alright if the woman who brought the food comes again?” Eun-U asked. Tae tilted his head thinking. He nodded his consent. Eun-U nodded. “The only other person who might need to come in here is the doctor?”

  Tae hissed.

  “Don’t worry. He won’t enter here without me.” Eun-U replied.

  Tae watched silently.

  Eun-U slowly backed his way out of the room. Tae stayed crouched until the door closed behind the man. He slid to the floor. Nothing made sense here, and he didn’t know what to think of the man who had saved him.

  Tae shook off the heavy memory and smiled at the sight of the familiar walls of the Seong clan complex. It had taken a little over a week to get this far. It had been his home from when he’d been sixteen. He’d been half feral when Eun-U had found him. Distrustful of everyone and everything. It had taken time and effort for Eun-U to get him half-tamed. It had taken Hyuk over a month to get him civilized enough to stop jumping at everything and learn to make friends. Only then had he been able to befriend Shin and the others.

  They approached the gates and Tae dismounted. Min followed suit. Tae took off his hat exposing his white hair to the guards.

  “Tae-Hwan!” a familiar voice yelled. Tae turned just in time to return Kyong’s embrace. The man was a bit shorter than Min, which served to remind Tae that Min was taller than most. Kyong was a good half a hand shorter than Min, which put him more than two hands shorter than Tae.

  “Kyong, I’d like to introduce someone to you before we get too carried away here.” Tae said. He pulled away from his friend and reached for Min. “Kyong, this is Lee, Min.”

  Tae purposely used the name that Min had used when they first met. He’d introduce his lover properly later, but he wasn’t going to do that here at the gates. However, he wanted Min to know how important he was by immediately introducing him to people.

  “Chang, Kyong.” Kyong said, bowing slightly in greeting. “Pleasure to meet you, Lee, Min.”

  “Pleasure is all mine.” Min replied, returning the bow. A small smile on his lips.

  “Kyong,” Tae said. “Would someone be able to take care of our horses and packs for us?”

  Kyong gestured and an adolescent boy Tae didn’t particularly recognize rushed forward to take the horses. The guards moved out of their way, and Kyong led them into the complex. It looked like not much had changed here in the past few years that Tae had been in the imperial capital.

  “Unlike you to hand your horse off to someone else.” Kyong commented.

  “Eun-U and the old man would team up to beat me if I didn’t go straight to greet them this time.” Tae replied. “If I don’t introduce Min to them first thing I’ll be lucky if I get fed at all.”

  Kyong laughed. Tae could see the glimmer in his friend’s eyes that told him he suspected the truth, that Min was Tae’s lover. Tae knew that his friend would hold his tongue until Min was officially introduced to the others. He wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. The fact that Kyong didn’t say anything was enough to tell Tae that Shin had kept quiet on the subject.

  It didn’t take long to be outside the manor that housed the clan chief. Tae squeezed Min’s hand before leading his lover inside. He led Min past the garden and up the stairs to the main building. He was glad they’d stopped prior to coming up on the complex to clean up. Min wouldn’t need it, he was stunning regardless, but Tae knew it’d help Min feel better. He suspected that Min was likely as nervous as he had been when he’d been introduced to the imperial family. They entered the main hall and bowed slightly in greeting.

  “Uncle Eun-U,” Tae said.

  “Tae-Hwan,” Eun-U replied. The older man stepped down from his raised platform and hugged him. He was roughly the same height as Min. His dark brown hair streaked with grey. He stepped away after a moment and looked at Min “Who did you bring with you?”

  “This is the person I mentioned in my letter.” Tae told him. Tae stepped closer to Min and laced his fingers in Min’s. “This is chief advisor and imperial prince Han Lee, MinJun, my partner and lover.”