NEFARIOUS

14 / 십사

  Hye could feel her twin brother reaching her mind; it was as clear as fountain water, a familiar whisper clouded her mind. Based on the aghast look on his face, he must have seen what she saw.

  But he immediately ducked his head into the inside- closer to the previous door jail bar- to remain unseen from the crowd.

  What we need is only names, Eun Jae said. Do you see them?

  She squinted at the low light, reaching at the tiny horde of prisoners on the edge of the hall. As she counted, they were nine, well, ten if the enormous man in the center counted. She did not recognize him, though. Even somehow he seemed. . . familiar. A reminder of dark streets of Hanseong and its dangerous gangs.

  For the future use, she noted every part of his face; squared face built of scars, large and widened nose, some missing teeth. As finished, she flicked her gaze on the prisoners. The flickering light on the edge barely gave her enough vision.

  She only caught a sight of two women; one was long-haired and pale as silk, while the other had the hair of men, short and thin. A stamp of humiliating word glued onto her cheek, clear even under the darkness. 개- dog. An indication of owned slave for any passerby.

  The woman was probably slave of a yangban or noble man before she became a criminal.

  She bent toward her twin brother, and looked at him. I cannot see the rest of them, she said. Only three.

  Eun Jae stared at her thoughtfully. Is Minister Gyeong there?

 No, she replied. Kwang Gyeong is there, though. Perhaps he also knows of the Queen's whereabouts.

  It was very unlikely. Hye knew enough that Minister Gyeong wouldn't trust his son blindly to tell such valuable information. He was too careful. But perhaps her twin brother could read Kwang Gyeong's past memories to prove her calculation.

  Eun Jae stared at his side, to the glimmering light of the underground hall. I have a plan, he said in her mind.

+++

  Amidst the crowded underground hall, Kwang Gyeong stood eye to eye to his rival. He had noted every weakness spot on his opponent, for he stole the data of those criminals from his father the night before.

  Of course, he did not want to be humiliated before his father's dogs, especially ahead Commander Suk-Ja himself. If Kwang ever failed to, at least, paralyze his opponent, his father would be shamed on him. Moreover, his reputation as Ministry of War's son would shatter, and no men would bow before him anymore.

  It was none other than Skinhead who snarled at his figure. His criminal records indicated of his thievery, mostly jewels in Jejudo Island, where most yangban lived.

  Kwang Gyeong did not quiet understand how such huge man managed to steal without having caught several times before, but when he thought deeper, Skinhead must have worked with a partner before joining the Bronze Thorns, though the name did not appear in his record.

  Skinhead threw his single-handed sword to the side, its clank sound echoed through the hall.

  "Come now," said Kwang Gyeong dissatisfiedly, "We are just getting started."

  "Don't like swords," Skinhead growled. He made a disgusting grunt sound.

  As Kwang expected, his rival preferred hand to hand combat rather than swordplay. It explained how jaggy his hold onto the sword, in a way of an unskilled person, also how Kwang easily dodged his stroke and slash his face.