To help with the large cast of characters,
I have put together a spoiler-free Dramatis Personae
Osa Len Mountains, northeast of the Ŏklo Estate
They walked for almost a day and a half, following a little stream that trickled through the forest, pausing only long enough to sleep in a hole in the ground made by a felled tree. Its roots, a gray knot as tall as Min La, were enough of a roof to protect them from the frost but not the cold. Min La woke with a deep ache in his left leg that was starting to worry him.
As the noon sun rose yellow on the second day, baking away the crisp chill of the morning, they stopped again. They had nearly run out of food; there was only a little of the sausage left and he was saving that for So Ga. Sitting on a dried, hollow tree trunk, Min La rubbed his knee.
So Ga had gone to the creek to refill their water. Bringing Min La’s back to him, he held it out saying, “Are you alright?”
Min La nodded and took the water. So Ga sat next to him and glanced down at his hand as it worked the muscles around his knee. But he didn’t say anything.
“Will we have to sleep in the open again?” he asked instead.
Min La shook his head. “I expect we’ll find a village today. Or even an inn. After we rest we’ll start moving closer to the road.”
“Is that safe?”
“It’s no more dangerous than anything else.” And he offered So Ga a smile. And then he winced as a spasm of pain shot through his head.
So Ga’s brow furrowed. “Is your head better?”
The blow Min La had received in his fight outside the Ŏklo estate had stopped bleeding almost as soon as it had been bandaged, but by nightfall, he was enveloped in a consuming headache that had been powerful enough to turn his stomach. He’d vomited twice and hadn’t felt relief until So Ga had wrapped his head in a cloth soaked in cold water from the stream. By morning the ache had subsided a little, but the bright light of midday was proving a little harsher than usual.
“Yes,” he answered, and touched the side of his head. It was still tender, but otherwise the situation had improved.
So Ga nodded. “Good. You should eat more. You haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
Min La laughed lightly. “Never mind me, Your Highness. I’ve been through worse.”
So Ga pursed his lips. As he stood up he muttered something Min La couldn’t hear.
“Where are you going?” he asked him.
“I’m getting wood for a fire.” He shot a glance over his shoulder. “So we can cook something.”
Min La followed him around the forest, watching as he gathered weeds and mushrooms. As he did so he explained what they were, giving their names and describing their flavors. Min La stared at him.
Realizing at last that the image of a foraging prince was a little unbelievable, So Ga explained, “The place where the Four Little Palaces were built used to be a large wood. I used to spend as much time there as I was allowed. I would pretend I was Netholom on one of his adventures.”
Min La smiled at the image.
“In a way it was nice,” So Ga went on. “When my father built the Spring Courtyard, he planted our palaces in one of my favorite places. Most of the trees were removed, of course. But sometimes one or two would try to grow back.”
Listening to him talk, Min La was struck by the way So Ga seemed to never have anything to complain about. He couldn’t imagine living his life imprisoned in a small stone palace. He couldn’t imagine being separated from his only living family for almost a decade. He didn’t understand how So Ga was not angrier. How was he not angry at their circumstances? How was he not angry at the mercenaries who had killed everyone he had once known?
In a moment of curiosity brought on, he was convinced, by the blow to his head, Min La nearly asked him. But then he turned and used a stick to overturn leaf piles in search of mushrooms, as So Ga was doing.
At the base of an oak tree he unburied a small cluster of shining blue mushrooms. Min La recognized them as blue caps, popular for their nutty flavor. Their stems were short and fat and the glossy blue caps dotted with spots of white. They looked like fried cakes nestled in a bed of leaves. Reaching for one, he lifted it to his lips.
So Ga appeared suddenly and swatted the mushroom out of his hand. Min La staggered back, stunned.
“I’m sorry,” So Ga said. “Not those ones.”
“These are not poisonous. I’ve seen many people eat them all over Láokoth.”
“Yes, but you have to cook them first. You cannot eat them like this.” Bending, he picked up the mushrooms Min La had dropped. With a smile he added, “They are my favorite. I’ll show you how to cook them.”
They went back to their felled tree and Min La used the sticks to build a fire, lighting it with the iron striker from his bag. While the little flame grew, Min La cut the last of the sausage into thin slices while So Ga washed the mushrooms and leaves he had gathered.
Holding up one of the glossy blue caps, he said, “These grew in the little forest in the Palace when I was child. My mother used to have them fry them every spring and autumn when we found them. They were always one of my favorite things to eat. And I was always so proud when I found them myself and then ate them after the Palace cook had prepared them. It made me feel like a real adventurer.” After a moment of thoughtful silence, he continued. “When I was seven, I slipped away from the maids who were minding me and went into the forest myself. I found a little patch of these mushrooms and sat there in a bed of moss blithely picking them and eating them.” He smiled as he tore the caps off the mushrooms and rinsed them in the trickling creek. “I was sick for a year. They were certain I would die. But I didn’t. Although, ever since…” he gestured to his chest. And Min La at last understood.
So Ga brought everything to Min La by the fire. They used a hot stone to cook the mushrooms and then ate them with the sausage wrapped in the tender leaves. It was a surprisingly satisfying meal.
“Do you know,” So Ga said, cleaning his hands in the creek while Min La buried the fire in mud. “That mushroom has different names everywhere, but it is particularly prized in Luntov. Do you know what they call it there?”
Min La shook his head.
“The blue prince.”
As soon as they began to walk again, Min La’s knee began to throb. They would need to stop again soon or he wouldn’t be able to walk at all.
It was like the old man had said after he’d pulled him from the pile of bodies in Hin Dan, he would never quite be symmetrical. Only when he had to walk for days on end did his bad knee start to bother him. And, he assumed, the fight hadn’t helped. Twice he paused to rub the muscles above his kneecap. So Ga said nothing.
Despite the pain in his leg and the ache in his head, Min La was distracted by So Ga’s story and the sight of the little parcels of medicine in the bag that Ona Lín had given to them. He thought of the strange look of sorrow she had had in her eyes when she had been listening to So Ga’s chest. Though the prince was small and weak, he didn’t seem sickly enough to warrant such a sad reaction. Looking at him now, Min La didn’t think he looked like he was in any danger.
“What did she mean?” Min La asked.
So Ga turned to him, blinking in surprise. Then he looked away. “What did who mean?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
He sighed. “My ailment is an old one. I’ve always known it cannot be cured, but merely managed.”
“You’ve always known?”
“My father had several physicians see me in secret, but none of them were able to do anything more than manage the symptoms. After the Little Palaces were built, I think he finally accepted it.”
“Why in secret?”
“He was concerned that if one of his children was known to be physically damaged in some way, it would harm the strength of the Sona House.”
Min La considered that in silence, then with a frown he said, “That’s a very tolibin way of thinking.”
“Perhaps. But it’s not entirely wrong.” So Ga smiled suddenly, taking his water out of his bag. “You now know a secret that my father has never allowed anyone to know outside my little palace.”
“But if it can be managed you can still live a long life.”
So Ga nodded and sipped some water. “Hin Lan used to say that.”
“Who?”
“My old tutor.”
As the sky was turning blue, they found themselves upon an old dirt path. It was still clear, but no longer maintained. Min La suspected it hadn’t been used in several months. Following it, they found a small village. The road turned around a clutch of leaning maples, then dipped a little into a small valley. As it slid down into the valley, several wooden structures appeared along its curving length. In the distance, up an incline, other little structures were visible. Between the trees they saw still more. Sections of the forest had been cleared for planting, and a stone well hunched in the center of everything.
But there were no people. There also wasn’t a single candle or lantern anywhere.
The cleared patches of forest were already partially overgrown with weeds, the road, in disrepair, guttered in mud patches and hollows.
“I think it’s abandoned,” So Ga said, surveying the little village with wide eyes.
“Von Ol Ŏklo’s handiwork, I assume,” Min La murmured.
“Do you really think so?”
Min La motioned. “This whole village was probably part of one of the Houses he absorbed. The village itself was cleared or relocated. Or…”
So Ga stared at him. “Or?”
At that moment, Min La’s knee gave out under him. He staggered and fell, half-kneeling, on the muddy road. So Ga helped him stand and then supported him with his shoulder under his arm.
“I just need to rest,” Min La said before So Ga could ask.
“Rest where?”
With a grim smile, Min La motioned broadly, “You choose.”
So Ga didn’t spend much time thinking. He simply led Min La to the closest structure. The little gate was still open — So Ga closed it behind them — and the front door was not bolted in any way. As they made their way inside, both silently offered apologies for their trespass.
The interior of the little house, eerie in its stillness, seemed to have been abandoned abruptly and not that long ago. Though coated in a layer of dust, it had not yet been taken back by nature or ransacked by mountain bandits. Blankets, tables, cups and bowls all sat in their places around the interior as if the occupants had simply stepped out for the day. Were it not for the coating of dust, that’s exactly what they would have assumed.
So Ga found cushions near a low table that sat crookedly before the cold stove at the center of the little house’s main room. He helped Min La sit and then went back to close the door and find candles. The dark had gathered quickly and it was already difficult to see, as the moon and stars were also shrouded.
Thinking of So Ga’s medicine, Min La told him to light the stove. The prince seemed relieved by the thought of a fire. There was already wood in a pile nearby. Before long the room was well-lit and warm and little pot of water was simmering while So Ga portioned out a small dose of the medicine Ona Lín had given to him.
“It’s the same they gave me in the Palace,” he said with a smile. “And those are the finest physicians in the world.”
They had also found a barrel of grain only half empty and an assortment of dried herbs. It was enough for the night; tomorrow they could buy meat somewhere closer to the road.
While Min La ate, he watched So Ga tent himself over his pot of steam. His deep breaths were even and smooth. Even Min La’s knee felt better in the little warm room.
“Are you glad to have a roof again?” Min La asked him with a smile.
So Ga’s covered head nodded.
Min La found himself remembering Nŏl and Hino Son. They hadn’t been apart from them for more than two days and already they felt like they were a fragment of another life. At least to Min La. He had had the strange sensation when they had parted that he would never see them again. It made him wonder where this path would lead him after Osa Gate, which was a thought he had not time to think in many days. Nor was it one that he liked remembering. The path they were on was difficult enough; there was no point in making it even more complicated by considering a future of endlessly diverging possibilities.
His brother-in-law used to say that no action should ever be taken unless the next ten were already planned. But then Să Han, Min La’s brother, would disagree.
“One must only be certain of the next step,” he would say. “But do not lift your foot unless you know exactly where you will put it down.”
“Do you miss them?” So Ga asked suddenly, emerging from under his blanket, his face pink and shining.
For a startled moment, Min La wondered if he had heard his thoughts and was asking about his family. But then he realized that So Ga meant Nŏl and Hino Son. And he wasn’t sure how to answer. On the one hand, it was a relief not to have to keep their secrets from them. On the other hand—
“What do you think he’ll do?” So Ga asked. “Nŏl, I mean, about his House?”
Min La shook his head. “Hopefully he’ll clean it. But he’ll have to be careful. He can do anything he needs to within his own House. But if his actions touch the court—”
“My father might have to intervene.”
“He’s smart,” Min La said with a nod. “He knows how to be careful.”
So Ga dried his face and stood to take the pot outside.
“We, too, will have to be careful,” Min La added. “The closer we get to the mountain road, the closer we are to Koda lands. With the silver mines in their care, I expect they’ll be guarding that part of the forest very closely.”
So Ga did not answer. He stood frozen in front of the closed door holding the pot with both hands.
“What is it?” Min La asked.
“Do you hear that?”
The question sparked through him like lightning. He reached for the lantern and snuffed it before So Ga had even finished uttering the last word. With the stove closed, it offered little illumination and so the room was blacked by shadow. They held their breath and listened.
In the distance, voices. They grew louder as they approached, the casual chatter of men on patrol. Min La recognized the sound of boots, and the occasional metallic ping of armor. With a whisper, he called So Ga back.
Carrying the pot, he returned and knelt next to Min La.
“Put that down.”
So Ga stared dumbly at the pot in his hands, then he quickly planted it near the stove, sending its contents into a tumult of waves that sloshed over the sides.
“Take this,” Min La said, pushing the bag of medicine into his hands. He also tucked the mercenary’s knife into it. “Hide it.”
“What?”
“We cannot run. We are in the middle of territory that Koda must patrol regularly.”
“But their land is on the other side of the road.”
Min La shook his head. “We can’t run. But if you do as I say, we can get out of this.”
So Ga swallowed, his pale face a shade whiter.
“So Ga,” Min La said, gripping his arm. “Just do as I say.”
At last So Ga nodded, and turned to find a hiding place for their bag in the little house. Min La tried to take account of anything else they might have on them that could give them away. The bag had been given to them by Ona Lín, which would betray a connection to Ŏklo. The knife was a recognizable relic of the mercenaries, but their own bags were safe.
With a start he gripped the chain around his neck. “Wait!” he whispered sharply.
So Ga stopped and turned.
“Your seal. Here, take mine.” As Min La spoke, he took off his brother’s medallion and held it out to him. “And your seal. Hide them.”
So Ga nodded, wrenching the thick golden chain out from under his golt. Taking Min La’s silver medallion, he gathered both into his fist and disappeared into a back room of the little house.
As the sounds of footsteps drew nearer, Min La reached for the stove and opened the door a crack, allowing the fire’s illumination to spill into the room. After a moment So Ga returned.
“There was a place under a board. I buried them.”
Min La nodded. “Remember, speak as little as possible. Do as I do. And now help me stand.”
As he did, the door of the little house burst open and three men, armed and wearing cloaks of deep yellow, stepped into the warm, glowing room.
“Well,” said one of them, as he took in the scene before him and the two young men standing at its center. “What do we have here?”
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honestly obsessed with the name drop of "Blue Prince"
I really enjoy the chapters where min la and so ga get to learn more about each other. This chapter in particular really connected alot of dots for me, like with the title.. will those mushrooms play a big role in the future?