Tenacious

Khitan envoy is a superstitious man. His stars told him this course of action would end in war. It did not matter however, since war was inevitable. With a hungry wolf at the helm of Goryeo nothing less than ripped throats could be expected. He was sent to remedy that. Thankfully there were people of like mind.

Marching the length of his tent since he had not been admitted into the keep of Kangs - a whole lot of good that would do to anyone, he thinks with a skeptical little laugh - the man holds out the missive he had received. Over the paper that was written in a sharp that wielded the brush as if it had been a blade, he looked at the man put into restraints at the corner. A yellow green soothing salve slapped to a side of his face and one of his arms wrapped in foul smelling bandages, he was secretly glad that the man was still awake and alert despite his condition.

He waves the piece of parchment as if it meant nothing. It truly meant nothing. And fixes his eyes on the injured man.

"Tell me the story again."

The man groans. His aide, tasked with keeping the man alive gives him a particular look. One of his shoulders raise in a shrug.

"Why would you need to hear of the monstority again, my lord?" The aide asks.

"To make up for the lack of presence there," Li replies annoyedly. He was used to having better aides, people who were of like mind with his scheming. This time, the most treasured of the lot had to be sacrificed in the first stage of the game itself. With a sigh he repeats to himself.

"The princess stepped into an arrow meant for the General and fell. The man got his bearing quickly enough and cast an enchantment on the next arrow - you say? Plunged it into the earth and started that blasted fire out of nothing? That blasted fire has cost a season's worth of losses to the esteemed lord Oh's coffers …" his brows knot. "But the princess was untouched despite being in the center of the flames?" He hums, falling into thoughts. "So it is her then. I should have guessed on my own."

"What is there to guess, master?"

"There is no enchantment that would make fields combust themselves," Li's mouth twitches distastefully. "No, this General of North is not that simple a man. Nor is his emperor I presume. It is wickedly clever, to saddle up a promising weapon like him with his sole weakness. Together they'd make an invincible pair - apart -" his lips curve, his eyes glitter. "They'd make an incredible opportunity."

The envoy drags his eyes back to the parchment.

"Bring me papers and ink. Information as sensitive as this shouldn't be kept to one person for long. We need to extend hands to friends - closest at this precise moment are those in Naju."

"But hasn't our host been rather clear about this in the letter ?" The aide points to the parchment held in the envoy's hands. The man's expression turns foul.

"If General Kang thinks he could remedy the damage his little tantrum made by hiding in the rooms of his -" he swallows a foul word, his mouth turning sour. It was one thing to think of the princess, young and beguiled in terms less than flattering but he wouldn't make the mistake of calling her a slight where he knows he could be surrounded by the rabid monarch's eyes and ears. "Besides, he should know that while he hides - the world keeps turning."

The aide is more of a gossip than any other. He knows exactly what the envoy had swallowed without saying.

"Do you think they are lovers - master? The princess and her guardian?"

Li shrugs. A dry chuckle bubbling from his mouth.

"It is no secret in the North. The girl is only ceremoniously promised to Silla. And Silla has the habit of picking up capital's cast offs after all. I wonder what the emperor actually believes his prodigal General is doing with his baby girl. It might be a funny scene to watch - when their pretenses are torn. No man could toe the line forever when the girl has a face and a body like those…"

A guard from his party bids to enter the tent, permission is promptly granted when he boasts the silver gray scroll that he carries, sealed with the Ohs' sea serpent. The man is red in the face, unaccustomed to the dry and punishing temperatures of Northern winters.

"Light a fire," Li commands distastefully. "Bloody mountains - what do they expect by keeping us freezing our butts off outside their damned wall! That Kang Bastard…" his voice trails off as he tears off the seal on the scroll. His face brightens at the missive. "No matter on which side of the river," he says, rebounding the missive, casting the silver sea serpant seal into the newly built fire "Like minded people often find each other."

"Master?"

"Bring over our storage carriage," he tells the aide. "Do you think it could carry me over a few yards to Naju without our esteemed host being roused from his lover's bed? This meeting with lord Oh should not be delayed."

*

He leaves his guard at the foot of mount Naju, wanting no witnesses to his exchange with lord Oh. Lord Kang had been disappointing with his loyalties, despite Li clearly giving the man a chance to further his ambitions - he had shown no interest in rising to the opportunity. The Grand residence of the Oh clan is impressive enough. Master Li is dreaming of a few treasures of his own by the time he crosses the last step into the pagoda tearoom. After all, he had information on who was to be blamed for their massive losses - not something lord Oh would take without a reward of equal proportion.

Lord Oh sits behind his desk, face hidden behind the scripture he reads. Master Li hears the unmistakable sound of swords being drawn as he enters. Fury seizes him. Were all Goryeo men lacking of sensibility? Here he was all ready to give Ohs the perfect leverage they wanted to take down the last scion of Kangs and claim Shinju for their own through their monarch himself - and the welcome him with drawn blades?

"Is this how you welcome me Lord Oh?" He asks loud enough that his voice echoes in the mountain, carried away with wind to his waiting guards. "With blades drawn?"

The seated man gives leave of only those words. Master Li never sees him rising, his eyes instead blinded by the flash of his drawn blade. It sinks into him, precise, unforgiving and deceptive. The knife twists and turns and he gasps. Instead of Lord Oh's beady eyes, master Li finds himself looking up at eyes of silver gray, glittering with the cruelty of a knife edge.

"What did you expect then - master Li? A princess to carry away?"

Li collapses splattering blood and the last he hears is a command to the men behind him.

"Take out his guard. Make sure to leave one to tell the tale of Naju Ohs' betrayal. People should hear how cahooting with local lords lead the poor envoy to his death..."

**