Promise- Minsung

Chapter Three

It had taken the men all day to get across the great grassland, and now, all of them were exhausted. Slumped backs, and panting animals, in need of a water break, and a long rest. This was what the royal party now looked like, instead of the strong power house it was supposed to be.

Changbin stopped them at a small village at the base of the mountain. "Here. This will do well," he jumped off his- or Yongbok's- horse, right next to a stream. Minho followed after him, and shouted orders at Bang Chan to instruct the other men and warriors.

"Is there a place where we can buy food?" Hyunjin asked, coming up to join the prince and the group's guide.

"Did you not pack food?" Changbin asked, his eyebrows raised.

Hyunjin shook his head. "No, we did," he licked his dry lips in an attempt to wet them. "But fresh food is always better. Plus," he glanced up at the mountains. "I think we should save our resources. We were not aware of how large these mountains are."

"But," Changbin turned to Minho. "You have passed through this part before? When you were young?"

Minho shrugged. "We did. But we did not go over mountains, and I was too young to remember what happened exactly."

"Ah..."

Over in a different part of camp, Young Master Kim Seungmin was having a minor mental breakdown.

"What? Where is this mountain range on my maps?" he yelped, as he scrambled to look through all his maps at once. "There is not a single indication that there is something here!"

"What do you mean by that?" Bang Chan looked over Seungmin's shoulder at the maps. He glanced back and forth between the real surroundings, and the map. "You're right!" He glanced back and forth some more. "So right!"

Yongbok, who had settled down next to Chan, with his other, light brown gelding, looked up at the two other young masters from his spot on a large, grey stone. "What are you talking about?" a slight scorn could be heard in his voice.

"There are no mountains in any of Seungmin's maps!" Bang Chan told him, turning to him with light dancing in his eyes. Bang Chan was the type to love mysteries, and a love to solve them as well. He was undoubtedly excited with his newest one.

"Really? But Seungmin... you have the best collection in all of the Lee Kingdom. And I heard that those maps were made in the Han Kingdom...." Yongbok tried off, lost in his thoughts as he tried to make sense of the situation in a logical manner. "Was that not true?"

"No! It is!" Seungmin reassured him. "My father had men come here just to get them for me. So why are the mountains not on them?"

Of course, only one man in the entire camp knew the real reason the mountains were not on the maps the Lee men had. And he was not going to tell just anybody. Not yet, at least.

"Alright! Can everyone group up?" Hyunjin yelled, over the chatter of the other people, who were setting up for the night. The chatter died down as everyone began to make their way towards where Changbin was sitting on the dark horse he rode.

"We don't want to leave the camp unguarded, so we will have just a few people go off to the village," Hyunjin informed the camp. "Those people will be chosen by Lord Yongbok, and... Young Master Changbin?" he glanced at Changbin, who nodded at the title.

Yongbok stood up, glaring against the setting sun. He slowly made his way towards Hyunjin, who had turned away from the gathered men, and was heading back to unpack his own things. "I am going? Why me?"

Hyunjin turned around to face him. "Changbin's request." He then started to unstrap the saddle from his horse, as Yongbok turned away, trying to find Changbin in the crowd of tall men.