The meeting between Jaejoong, King Donghae and Cloud lasted through the night. Dara wanted to know what the meeting was all about. She tried to stay up and wait for it to end, but sleep overtook her.

When she woke up, it was already light outside the tent. Outside the tent? She blinked. She was sitting in front of the campfire when she fell asleep. Someone must have carried her inside the tent and laid her on this fur bed. She got up.   She suddenly noticed that someone else was sleeping beside her! Her bedmate was still asleep and covered by the fur blanket from head to toe.

She heard someone whistling a song from outside. From the slit between the flaps covering the tent's door, she noticed Yoochun busily cooking breakfast.

She got a grip of herself and started thinking. There were two tents in the camp. The three men must have shared one of the tent while she and Bom slept in the second tent. Her sleeping bedmate was probably Bom. No one among the men would dare share a bed with her. Even Jaejoong wouldn't do such a thing.

She quietly left the tent to let Bom sleep. The royal airship, the soldiers and the king's retainers and even Donghae were now gone. They must have left after the meeting.

"Good morning! Breakfast would soon be ready," said Yoochun brightly.

"Are you always the designated cook?" she sat beside the fire and began fixing her braid that got messed up while sleeping.

"Whenever I travel with the League. But when I am not with them, Junsu is the one who cooks."

"You don't always go with Jaejoong?"

"I am a blacksmith by profession, Dara. And when some of my clients request that I personally create things for them, I have to go back to Gorge. Jaejoong usually travels with Junsu, Bom and Cloud. I came this time because I wanted to be sure that Jaejoong would come back alive and in good health after his adventure from the past."

A loud neigh behind her caught Dara's attention. She saw five large horses tied to a tree. Yesterday, there were only four horses that served as mounts for Jaejoong and the others.

"Where did the fifth horse come from?"

"King Donghae brought her as a gift for Jaejoong to patch up their misunderstanding. Her name is Sicilian."

Two of the horses were colored black and reminded her of Salamander.

"Do you know what happened to Salamander? He is Jaejoong's favorite horse."

Yoochun nodded.

"He is now enjoying his retirement in the royal meadows. But some of his offspring are here!" Yoochun pointed at the five horses. "Or should I call them his grandchildren? Sorry, not really into horses." He laughed. "But Salamander had been producing the best breed of horses, and his offspring had always been in demand. Though there had been a lot of improvements in trains and air balloons because of magic and science, the horses remain the chosen mode of transportation for travelers. Trains could only run where there are tracks, and air balloons still have the problem of navigating through tall trees and mountains. And you can't just land an air balloon anywhere. And if you ran out of fuel or magic, well, you'd be stranded. While horses after resting and feeding are good to go again. They are still absolutely reliable."

Yoochun gave her a cup full of black liquid.

"One of your teas?" she inquired.

"Yes. A morning tea that will perk you up and get you ready for our travel."

She took a sip of the tea. It was sweet and bitter at the same time and very aromatic.

"Why is Donghae , I mean, King Donghae," she corrected herself, "giving Jaejoong missions?"

"A lot of things has happened since you left. And the best one to tell you about past histories is Cloud." He motioned his head toward the tent where she had slept.

She smiled upon seeing the black cloud lazily drifting on top of the tent.

"Yo, Cloud! Someone needs history lessons!" shouted Yoochun.

Cloud momentarily spun aro