The prisoner who helped prince, stand between him and the soldier “I will carry him and would not fall behind. I swear it” he pleaded to the man on the horse not letting the other soldier approach to them.

The hours rider opened his mouth to disagree but before he could say something the crown prince’s voice was heard, he didn’t know when the man came “let him be carried but if you slowed our pace you and your prince would die. Your body will abandon here for wild animals”

The prisoner shake his head “I won’t. Thank you. Thank you ... ” he said and with his own tiredness he put the almost unconscious prince on his back with others help. On the way he talked to him not letting the prince fell sleep completely “sir. You need to survive. You should not die. Please live for us”

“Why are you asking me to live? You are ... in this situation because of me. You should have ... let them kill me.... You need to return to your village. Your daughter and wife... are waiting for you... if I live how could I say them that you may never get back to them.” South prince tried to talk. He couldn’t believe that even saying a little word would become so hard for him to do. He lost too many men for this stupid war because of his father. He was really responsible for their death. He was forced to be in this war but He believed that if he, himself participate in the battle he wouldn’t let many of them die but he couldn’t do this either. All of the things changed now. He was going to die for sure but he wished his men luck.

The man who was carrying him tighten his grip over the prince legs “don’t say such things. Fighting beside you, even meeting you was my honour. You saved my family’s life. I can compensate this to you only by my life. If you were not there for us we would die long time ago.”

The crown prince was behind the prisoners watching them. He said those words to see what the man would do and in his wonder the man really carried the prince all the way. He didn’t want to kill the prince, not now but he didn’t care if he died in the way with pain. In his idea the man should watch all the people he cared for die first to get his punishment.

He couldn’t hear what they were talking about but could see how his men are loyal to him. He stared at the prince for a while, remembering The way they fight. In all these years there was no one in the land who he could call him his rival but this south prince was great in many ways. If he didn’t use that much of his gift on the battlefield, their fight would take more than what it took. The way his men fought for him and were loyal to him. How he trained his army. All of these made him curious and at the same time jealous. He raised in a way that he could not see anyone better than or like himself and this man made him feel bad. He was the son of emperor and the next emperor of the country but his men were not loyal like this, they were not good in fighting like this.

They get back to the capital first. As soon as they entered the Palace the south prince was sent to a doctor by his order and The prisoners were sent to jail and the crown prince , himself went to see and report to his father.

The doors to the main hall opened and he entered. Being here always made him anxious but at the same time gave him an excitement. The hall was made of wood, gold and stones. In every column there was a golden design, each design was deferent from the other. They were the sign of the remarkable works that each emperor have done. At the end of the hall the emperor was sitting on the golden throne. The empress was also there but her sit was smaller and not golden, her place was a little more simple. He kneeled down before emperor and empress “father. We won the battle and captured the south prince but I’m afraid to say that we lost many man”

The emperor stood up from his sit, walked to him and hold his shoulder “stand up son” he made the man stand “you did great. Losing people in war is inevitable. Prize the soldiers and families of dead ones with rice, meat and salt and gold coins”

“Yes, father” the prince answered “and about the south prince and the prisoners. What should we do about them?”

The emperor get back to sit on his thrown “kill all of them. What else should we do about them! They are traitors”

“My king” suddenly the empress who was silent till now started talking calmly “prince Heo’s mother was a northern girl, from a very decent family and her father was a nobleman too. You yourself arranged this marriage. Killing the son of her would have a bad impact on people . After all, he has his mother’s blood.” He waited to see the reaction of the emperor and when he didn’t say anything she continued “I'm afraid, if you kill the boy your people would think that you don’t care about them. People are dying on the streets and the country is in a chaos. You should not give them an excuse for the riot.”

The emperor was silent for a moment “the chaos in the country will be controlled. We found the source of the rumours and soon the problem will be solved” He played with his beards for some seconds before he talk again “but what you said is right too. We can’t kill him like this but we can’t let this go easily too. If I do nothing, every one think that he or she could do such a thing and get away with it. They commit treason and it’s not a little thing we can’t let them go just like that. The south is responsible for this someone should pay for it” he looked at his son “crown prince what do you think about it? Tell me” of course the emperor never would ask another person to make decisions for him but this man who was standing in front of him was the next emperor so he should be capable of making decisions in these situations. He wanted to see how he would deal with this problem.

The prince first thought about it “how about the ruler. The prince’s father. You have him. Hang him tomorrow and it would become a lesson learned and he is not a low level person. He is the ruler and he began all of this so if he dies the biggest problem will be solved. You will show your power too.”

The emperor moved his head in approval before laughing “I think you are ready to take the thrown. Isn’t he empress? It’s exactly what we should do”

The empress smiled too “yes your highness. he has learned his lessons well. It’s a good plan. What do you think about letting him decide about the prisoners too?”

“oh. Yes yes he captured them he can do whatever he want with them” the emperor looked at the empress “you shall rest my lady. I want to talk to the prince for a while”

The empress bowed to the emperor before leaving. “walk with me” emperor asked the prince after the empress left.

They started walking in the palace while the guards follow them about a meter away “when will you leave to the north?”

“Tomorrow morning. My men are tired from the battle. One night rest would be good for them to gain their strength.” Prince said while looking around.

“I want to talk to you about the fountain of power. I need to ask you do something before you go” The emperor stopped “interrogate the ruler of south. He has the map of the way to the fountain. I don’t trust anyone but you. If it is real we need to find it sooner and destroy it before anyone else could get a hand on it.”

The crown prince listened carefully then remembered his own information “my spies told me that he is planning on going there but I didn’t know he has the maps. It’s place is hidden I thought that there is no map but it seems like I was wrong.”

“Yes. I’m afraid it’s true that there is a map. My ancestors were after finding there to use the power too”

“but my emperor, why do you want to destroy it? Isn’t it better if we find it and use it for our own good.” Hyun asked faced with a worried emperor.

“ we can’t use it. The power in it is darker than any power you know. It would destroy the soul. in my opinion it must be destroyed. If the foreigners or worse if the people who use dark power found there, God knows what they will do.” The emperor said while holding his forehead with his hand “we already have many problems, I really don’t need anymore”

The prince looked at his father trying to give him comfort “don’t worry father. I will find the maps and the place. Let me handle this for you to share some of the burden on you shoulder. How is your headaches?”

The emperor tiredly smiled “they were getting worse but I can tolerate them. You sure can give me strength all the time. You will make a great emperor hyun”