“Aah, it’s so hot!” Eunhyuk whined from his position in front of the carriage, as it was his turn to drive Heechul. The entire group responded with their groans of agreement. Henry slumped forward on his horse and let out a tired screech into the horse’s mane. Everyone was so tired, even Heechul in his carriage didn’t have the energy to tell him off.

Leeteuk heaved a heavy sigh and turned his horse around to face the group. “Maybe we should take a break, dehydration and exhaustion aren’t good for us.” Shindong nearly screamed his approval, along with Sungmin’s weak cheer behind him. Leeteuk snapped his horse into motion and led the party along the road.

He turned left into a quiet grove by the river, letting the bubbling of the brook lead him to a tranquil spot where the group could rest. Donghae toppled off of his horse and immediately dragged himself into the river, Eunhyuk following close behind. Kyuhyun got off more elegantly, but still threw himself into the water.

The mage sighed at the youngsters and went to help Heechul out of his carriage. The young lord grumbled, but allowed himself to be led to the water’s edge. “Jungsoo, how long will we be resting?”

“Hopefully, not long, I want to get to the capital as much as you do.” Leeteuk replied. “But we should let the kids play a bit longer, they need to take a load off.”

Heechul scoffed. “When are you going to tell me how old you really are?”

“When you find someone and get married.” Kyuhyun snorted from the riverbank and Heechul shot him an icy glare. Leeteuk laughed heartily and smacked Heechul on the back. “Let’s just say that I could be your grandfather several times over, all right?”

Donghae’s mouth actually fell clean open. “You’re that old, hyung?!”

Leeteuk playfully flicked the younger on the forehead with a dimpled smile. “No, you’re just that young, and for a mage, I’m actually quite young.” Without looking at him, Leeteuk whacked Heechul on the back of the head, who was giving him a funny look. “Don’t you look at me like that Kim Heechul, I will disintegrate you.”

Heechul blew a raspberry at the mage and quickly dodged his swipe, laughing as he rolled away. Leeteuk snorted and leaned back on his hands, content to observe the younger men as they played in the river. Unbeknownst to Leeteuk, Shindong had snuck out of the river as he was fighting with Heechul and had slunk behind him.

Leeteuk let out a screech of surprise as the butcher hefted him high above his head, howling with laughter. A cheer went up from the younger members as Shindong leaped into the water with the mage still in his arms. The eldest surfaced with a gasp, spluttering and spitting out water like a leaky fountain. “Shin Donghee!” Leeteuk thundered. Shindong screamed in terror as the water rose around Leeteuk, swirling around him like a hurricane.

The river waters crashed down on the butcher, sending him far downstream. Shindong came up with a jolly laugh and a bright smile. “Water fight!” he sang, and then promptly ducked under the water again. Everyone waited in a tense silence for him to come back up.

All of a sudden, Sungmin screamed as Shindong shot up and did a magnificent belly flop, splashing the man with a huge torrent of water. Siwon let out a loud laugh and then leaped onto Kyuhyun’s back, dragging the young king down into the river. Everything after that was just pure chaos, Leeteuk and Donghae managing to drag Heechul into the water with them with a yell of triumph.

Heechul spluttered furiously and splashed Leeteuk in the face with a fierce war cry. Leeteuk retaliated with a spurt of water and the two oldest members went under the water, screeching and howling like little kids. The rest of them resumed their war and began splashing and spraying the river water at each other.

Eventually, Leeteuk grew tired and dragged himself out of the water. “Alright kids, let’s get out and dry off!” Everyone agreed and sluggishly got on the riverbank. Leeteuk picked up his staff and murmured a spell that sent out a gust of wind, quickly drying off the sopping wet men in seconds.

Henry let out a giant laugh and opened his mouth wide, the wind puffing out his chubby cheeks like a chipmunk’s. “Keep it going hyung, this is fu-u-u-un!” The other men laughed at the youngest's actions.

When they had all been aired out, the men leaped back on their horses and started toward the capital with a renewed vigor. Kyuhyun rode near the back with Henry being the one to bring up the rear. "Henry," Kyuhyun said. "Tell me the truth."

Henry frowned. "Hyung, what did I say to make you think I wasn't being truthful?"

"When you told me the river route was the safer way." The servant froze and stared down at his hands. Kyuhyun sighed and tightened his grip on the reins. "I've traveled almost every road in this country, I think I would know what route was safer."

Henry kept his head low and avoided eye contact with the king. "If you knew, then why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I didn't realize just how close the Nams were to the castle." Kyuhyun gritted his teeth. "Even on foot, they would've been able to escape if the Nams were where they were expected to be."

"But the worst part is that I can see the logic behind Ryeowook's decision." he choked out. "We promised each other to put the kingdom first, since there were more people involved, and that's exactly what he did."

"He didn't want to!" Henry comforted. "Ryeowook-hyung told me to leave right after he told me his decision, but I stayed outside the door instead."