I WILL FIND YOU.

Chapter 99: Exhaustion

Minda quietly rested his aching body on the bed while Kai drove the carriage. An hour had passed, and Kai looked inside, debating whether or not to wake Minda as promised.

"He looks so peaceful. I should let him sleep." Kai thought as he looked at Minda's face. He knew the ride had been rough on Minda's body and deeply regretted pushing Minda to his breaking point.

"It going to be difficult. If the weather continues to grow colder and his body can't get used to the rough conditions we will have to stay at the border instead of crossing. Except the border during winter is brutal. The winters are frigid and medicine and food becomes scarce. Then there is also the problem of the men trying to kill Minda."

Kai let Minda sleep longer as he thought of all the things that could go wrong in the future. With the weather, the need to continue traveling, and the assassination attempts Kai's heart ached.

"If I keep pushing Minda's body like this I'll break him." Kai quietly mused as he recalled the pain Minda was in. His mind quickly reconsidering How he could help Minda without hurting him.

...

"Why didn't you wake me?" Minda grumbled unhappily as he sat down next to Kai.

"You were tired."

"I asked you to wake me up after an hour. Clearly more than an hour has passed."

"It's only been three hours." Kai said with a light grin. Minda's pouting was adorable making any regret Kai might have had about breaking his promise to wake him up disappear. He raised his hand and hooked a lock of Minda beautiful silvery grey hair with his finger.

"It's best to rest while you can."

"That wasn't the impression I got when you asked me to keep riding a horse even when my hips started to hurt." Minda muttered under his breath. Kai's eyes went wide. He knew Minda was upset that he hadn't woken him up but he didn't expect him to be this upset.

"I'm sorry MinMin. The journey ahead will only get harder. This morning I thought I needed to train your body to prepare you but... Sigh* I'm beginning to think it might be best to let you rest while you can."

"How much worse then now can it be?" Minda curiously asked.

"Well, first of all we won't be able to take the carriage past the border."

"Why not?!"

"We'll be traveling through the mountains in areas only accessible by horseback without any roads. We'll also need to follow Kang's schedule. He might not be as accommodating to our situation."

"What will we do with our stuff if we don't have the carriage?"

"We'll take both horses. One will be for us to ride and the other will carry our luggage." Kai explained.

"I think we have too much stuff even if we do bring both horses."

"You're right. We need to cut down on what we'll be bringing. We'll also have to pack things away in lightweight bags and baskets, not the wooden chests we are currently using."

"Will we be able to get a carriage again after we settle down abroad?"

"We can do anything you want." Kai said.

"What should we do? Should I keep trying to ride a horse all day or stay in the comfortable carriage to rest?" Minda asked.

"A little of both. We'll ride the horse in the morning and you'll rest in the afternoon as long as your body can handle it." Kai suggested.

"I think it's also very important that I try to stay awake all day. No more naps. You can't let me sleep the day away." Minda stated apparently still upset that Kai hadn't woken him up.