Welcome to Lesou

3

The dinner was over and the faculty had left the room when the name calling started.

"Does the lonely little northern lord have a new recruit for his court?" a sharp featured boy asked from the far end of their table.

"Did they send you a country bumpkin to keep you company?" another asked.

Junseo pinched his fingers on his nose and waved the air away from his face.

His exaggerated gestures made the younger boys at the table next to him call out "Ewww, who farted?"

Junseo nodded and winked at Tai Yi. They stood up and walked deliberately out of the hall together. When they got back to the room Junseo changed and carefully hung up his dress robes. He hoped the wrinkles would fall out before he had to wear the outfit to meet his grandfather. He could only imagine the complaints about his rural upbringing if he were less than impeccably dressed. He looked over at his roommate who was digging a hole into one side of the pile on his bed.

"Do you want to explain what was going on back there or do I just wait for the gossips to find me tomorrow?" Junseo really wanted to hear Tai Yi's side of things but knew he would be told more than one version of the story by this time tomorrow.

Tai Yi stood stock still then sighed heavily and sat on the lopsided pile on his bed.

"My father and my older brother have been missing for two years. I was named Lord Presumptive for Psyonan Province just before I was sent south." The young boy paused and licked his lips nervously. "You do know that since the last war of succession one of the Lords of the northern provinces has to stay here as guarantors, here in Leuso?" Tai Yi looked over at Junseo who nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"Usually, a Northern Lord would have their own quarters at the palace and manage their estates through their own agents but I have a Council of Regents and they want me in school. I like classics so this place was recommended and this frees up the other Lords."

"So, you are a hostage in more than one way," Junseo tried to make a joke but it fell flat so he tried to correct himself, "That sucks, I mean about your family and all, but I don't get the other boys."

"There is always a bit of curiosity and fear when a Northerner shows up in the south. I was dealing with the usual nonsense all right until our etiquette instructor insisted we had to use our full names and titles and show the proper degrees of respect to each other." Tai Yi looked close to tears from the memory.

"Let me guess. Your former roommate thought he was the top dog but turned out to be a yappy mutt?"

"He said The Psyonan Lord Presumptive Jong Tai Yi was too long a name for someone so short so he started calling me LP and soon everyone else in the class was doing it."

"Then other people wanted in on the joke, right?"

"Yeah, and it got meaner so I finally tried to stand up for myself but got thumped in the process. It would have been okay except it happened on the day one of my regents came to check up on me so the next thing you know I was assigned a bodyguard from the palace and the boy I fought with, and my roommate, both got expelled from school."

"Do I need to worry about this bodyguard of yours?" Junseo asked only half joking.

"Well, since you did a pretty good job of keeping the usual tricksters away from me at dinner, and you have serious connections with the school, they will probably let things slide." Tai Yi grinned.

"So is the library open in the evening or am I just going to have to fake it in tomorrow's ethic's class?" Junseo pulled out the only piece of paper he had kept from the stack his uncle had given him. "It says this week's reading are from the second volume of Wisdom of the Sage. I only know up to the fourth cantos well and I am not familiar with the commentary listed here. It seems to be some sort of translation?"

"If they are regular textbooks, you can probably find them in the senior's common room on the second floor. You can just borrow what you want from there. I don't think the other boys will be studying tonight."

Junseo thanked Tai Yi and headed out to look for the books he needed.

After his new roommate left Tai Yi stared at the door and tried to piece together what he had learned about the new boy. He had never met anyone with so much easy confidence. The way Junseo had fixed the drafty window with no fuss but turned around and asked for help with his robes from a stranger said he knew how to take care of himself. He had to be both strong and skilled to have earned so many crystals. If he knew even a few of the Cantos and commentaries in their original Shen, he had to be smart. The way he had dealt with the bullies in the dining hall had been more than clever. Junseo put them in their places with a single wrong step. Clearly had most of the servants, and now the junior class, on his side. All within six hours of arriving at the school.

So many other boys Tai Yi had met would have tried to trade on their connection with the Headmaster and would have made a point of sitting with the senior class. At the very least, they would have made mention of their brutal saddle sores to gain a little sympathy. Instead, Junseo had wanted to know about Tai Yi's situation and took in the story without judgement. He was not sure what this all added up to especially with that ring.

Tai Yi knew wearing a phoenix ring was a rare privilege. Even here in the south it was not done lightly. He just wished he could remember what the rising configuration meant. He knew it was important. Tai Yi needed to solve that puzzle before he could put anything about his new roommate into the report he had to send back North.

It would only be fair to warn Junseo that he would be investigated once word reached the Regents. This was another reason the boys in his classes now stayed well away. Tai Yi tried not to let his loneliness overwhelm him. He also tried not to hope too much for something different.

Tai Yi was asleep by the time Junseo got back from the reading room. Having a bit of privacy for putting the balm he needed on his saddle sores was good. His roommate's reaction to his ring was enough to make him wary of letting the boy see the way the flame birthmark had emerged from the old scar on his inner thigh.

Junseo sighed when he looked at the sores realizing he had added a few more scars to his collection. This made him grin a bit since everyone knew Princes could not ascend to the throne if they had physical scars or obvious blemishes. He might be a few scars safer but not safe enough to keep wearing his crystals so he stowed them all away in their special jar.

He had noticed the scorch marks on the talisman he used to cover the dragon torque and remembered the warmth that had filled him when he first viewed the city. While there was some comfort he was on the right path, he also knew it was not without its dangers. He wondered where he could find a reliable shaman to renew the talisman or if it would even be possible to disguise a dragon heart stone this close to the beast's lair.