Moonstones and Madness

Eighteen

            Prince LeiSang-shuik, the most noble heir apparent, lord of the southern islands, sat cross-legged behind a low black lacquered table. Frowning, he shuffled through some scrolls before peering over his half-moon glasses at the men assembled before him. "Why am I seeing you three here at this hour?"

"Highness, there was an incident at the matches today. We seek your advice." The Training Master from the prince's own yard bowed repeatedly.

"Which incident? The ill-fated races that injured five competitors and killed two horses? Or are you talking about the flash-bomb at the hand-to-hand match?" The prince picked up the report his people delivered an hour earlier. "How is the investigation progressing?" He pointed to the Captain of the Guard.

The man bowed twice and delivered his report without lifting his eyes any higher than the second step of the dais. "Two suspects fled the scene. One jumped into the river so we expect he drowned. The other is still at large but the hounds picked up the scent heading into the hills and are close on his trail." The captain swallowed hard. "It's likely the detonator relied on crystals instead of clockworks so not likely a student rivalry or even the bookmakers trying to influence the odds."

"And the intended victims, what do we know about them?" The prince gave Minister Go an expectant look.

His father's most trusted advisor bowed before reporting, "Im Kwang-jo has been with the Sun Temple for five full years. This is his second appearance at the matches. His family are local but not courtiers. His father is a spice merchant and his mother comes from the south. Park Junseo hails from Illidan where his father serves as a physician. He is Knight-Master Min's grandson and shows every sign of following those illustrious footsteps. Like my son, he has a training contract at your cousin's forge. He is the youngest competitor this year." Minister Go paused to see if this answer passed the prince's test.

"The same boy the Dowager made a point of meeting on opening day?" The prince waited for confirmation.

"Park Junseo says his Grandmother Min is a childhood friend of her majesty." Minister Go's information came as a surprise to the others.

"Even so, how could a young boy be enough of a threat for someone to pay to knock him out of the matches?" The prince peered intently at each of the men the gestured to the one with whom he was most familiar.

"The Sun Temple certified his mastery so he competes as a 5th Dan," his training master grumbled and looked pointedly to his senior companion.

"So far in hand-to-hand Park Junseo is two, one, and one with one more match left in the round-robin. Not likely to be in the finals. He is already in the b-division in fencing, so at best, a fourth there. Even with the bonus he earned with the javelin it's very unlikely he will make the final six. I can't rule it out entirely because I don't know how the bonus points will be weighted." Minister Go smiledapologetically.

The training master made a sour face and blurted, "The boy can hardly sit a horse so I can't imagine why anyone would think he was a real threat. If the scoring wasn't so complicated anyone with ten fingers would know that." One glance told him this was the wrong audience for his complaint.

The guardsman shook his head. "We don't know if the device was directly aimed at the competitors, or meant to disrupt the championship for some other reason."

"What is your security plan for the rest of the games?" The prince focused his full attention on the captain.

"We are doubling up our men and reducing the number of entrances. The sniffer dogs will be out in force and we have crystal adepts at the main events." His voice started to fade in the face of the prince's scowl.