After a good discussion and a few arguments about the course of action, they all decided that going through the river. It would be wet and dangerous, but it was better than running into the thieves that lurked on the particular road they had been thinking about taking. No one ever made it off of that road without getting killed or robbed. The river would also shorten their journey by four miles, and that was a very good thing, with their time constraint now. 

They started across the river, which wasn’t very deep, watching out for snakes and other predators. Xero kept his bow ready to strike any creatures that would try to attack them, and Seogoong had strapped the Crimson Sword onto Byungjoo’s back to keep it far away from the water. If it had any power in it, the creatures would feel it and try to take the power for themselves, and the drive to gain the power would cause a battle that the human travelers would likely lose.

While they were crossing the river, Byungjoo smiled back at Hansol. “Are you okay? I know that riding double . I wish there were another way.” 

Hansol shook his head. “It’s fine. If you rode by yourself, there would be the chance of you falling off, with your injury. It’s better if I’m here to catch you, if something happens, don’t you think?”

Byungjoo was quiet for a long moment, thinking about it. “Yeah, that’s true. By cut doesn’t feel the greatest, and if I were riding alone, I could spasm or something, fall into the water and that would be it. Despite the injury not hurting too much, I know that it’s not only a graze…damn it.” Hansol noticed that he didn’t comment on Hansol saying he would catch him. That comment hit too close to home, and he had too much pride to comment on it. 

Hansol tightened his grip on Byungjoo’s slim waist, causing the younger man to shiver. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Injuries can be very dangerous, even if they aren’t deadly, in the first place.” He didn’t receive a reply, so he changed the subject. “So, why does everyone know who Xero is? He sounds like he was quite the coveted…guy.” He narrowly escaped calling Xero a , knowing that Byungjoo and Sanggyun were friends of Xero’s.  

Byungjoo frowned, sighing. “Yeah, he has been. His situation is different from those slaves that we freed yesterday. He was a street rat, orphaned at a young age. I still don’t know what happened to his parents, because he won’t talk about it, but he had to make money to live. He supported himself by selling his body and stealing. I don’t think many of his buyers were very nice to him.” Byungjoo said the word ‘buyer’ as if it had a nasty taste, spitting it out. “He would still be out there, if it wasn’t for Jenissi taking him in.”

Hansol nodded again, knowing that the poor life on the streets was mostly the kingdom’s fault, and he wished that he had the power to change it. “Was Jenissi a…buyer? Did he touch him?”

Byungjoo laughed softly, the sound coming out bitterly. “Yes and no. He was the last buyer. Jenissi was still a mercenary, at the time, and he bought Xero and took care of him. Xero learned to trust him and they have a strong relationship, because of it. To answer your question, he has never touched Xero in that way. He’s a really nice guy, and wouldn’t do that. However, he was easy