Regular patrols met them at the last waystation. All the adults, including some of the Go family guards, got into a heated debate before most of the patrol headed out.

"What was that about?" San Jin asked one of his guards.

"They thought we should have taken prisoners instead of just leaving the wounded attackers where they lay," the man hunched up and took a step back.

San Jin looked around to make sure they were not overhead before asking, "Does Junseo know we left the wounded?"

"No, he wasn't noticing much of anything when we hustled out of there," the guard shrugged.

"He's not going to be happy." San Jin knew his friend kept to the healer's codes to provide aide to whoever might need it. He thought it was a strange practice to try to heal people who just tried to kill you but Junseo insisted there were clear distinctions to be made between the heat of the battle and rendering justice.

"The patrol wasn't happy either. They need to gather evidence on who was behind the attack, and especially who sanctioned the use of poisoned arrows."

"Haven't we been doing enough of their work for them already?" San Jin let some of his frustration show. The guard laughed with surprise. San Jin got flustered but the man explained it was uncanny how much he had sounded like his father.

"I can imagine what he is going say when we report in," the guard captain said quietly.

"First, we are going to the yard to stable the horses and get a healer for Xuiyang. Right?" San Jin was worried once he was back home it would be a while before his parents let him out of their sight again.

The family guards understood the reasons behind San Jin's request but could not agree. San Jin frowned but knew he had little control over the guard's decision. He paced around the common room muttering to himself before settling the bench in front of the hearth with the rest of their team. They all looked glum but he did not have the energy to cajole them into a better mood. Then a spirit of rebellion took over.

San Jin caught Song-hee's eye before saying quietly, "My guards are going to get difficult when we reach town. Can you guys get yourselves between me and them without being too obvious. If we stick together, the momentum should get us all to our training yard."

"Do you think that is a good idea? I mean your family is not going to like it," Hae-sung shook his head slightly.

"Yeah, well they can wait until everyone is properly squared away. I know they like to worry but I am part of this team now." San Jin held Hae-sung's eye until he got a nod. San Jin used a louder voice to cover their plans by saying, "Now we are close, I think we better send word. Hey, Junseo what do the healers need to know? Can you jot down the essentials for a report to go to the forge?" San Jin looked over where Manager Doak and Scout Jia were consulting with a couple of the veterans and the senior house guards. He got a thumbs up from both sides of the room so sat back an tried to relax.

                                                                                      ***

Scout Jia rode through the night to alert the training yard and the check in with Knight-Master Lie Wen-Hou. He was surprised to find Captain Shiro at the forge where both men had obviously been drinking most of the night.

"It was a good idea, though, don't you think?" The Knight-Master swayed a bit then propped his back against a post.

"I am trying to tell you it is still a good idea." Captain Shiro refilled their cups and then waved Scout Jia over. "Tell him not to quit training the boys. You can't just send them along. Nobody else would give them a chance, or at least not most of them."

"San Jin should get posted easy enough and Junseo can be a healer like his father wants. We can get the other boys into decent enough schools. Scout Jia is good at that sort of thing." Scout Jia stared at his friend with wide-eyes while the man slurred an explanation. "It's not safe for them to be around me. My crazy cousins think I am trying to make my own army to challenge the succession."

"Nonsense. There could be a lot of other reasons for the attacks, and the boys are better off improving their skills." Scout Jia could see his argument was having no effect so he changed tacks. "The contracts say you will see them through the qualifiers so you need to figure out how that will happen. Some of them may need more time now."

His comment caught Captain Shiro's attention, "What happened with the practice tests?"

"They did fine. Its just Xuiyang will need time to recover from his injuries." Scout Jia went on to explain about the poison arrows.

"Takimoto would never sanction and attack like that," Wen-Hou was certain of this fact. The code of honor should make then pull back as soon as they saw how young their targets were and from what Scout Jia described that was exactly what happened until someone else intervened. He seemed to sober up quickly as he probed the story. "Who else knows of this?" He stood abruptly.

"A regular patrol was going to inspect where the skirmish took place. I don't think anyone else brought this news to the city," Scout Jia watched his friend pace up and down and then gather writing implements.

"I want you to deliver some messages to the palace. Captain Shiro is going to take one to the protocol office for me but then I expect he will be busy. I also want Minister Go and Headmaster Kim to be notified tonight. They can decide whether the boys should stay home or come here. You can wait until morning to go to Professor Yip. We need a poison expert to check everyone. Often there is a delayed impact so it is possible Xuiyang won't make it. We can't have San Jin, Il-don and Junseo attempting any heroics. Not like the last time. It is just too dangerous."

Scout Jia was tempted to recount the improvisations and risks the boys had already taken but then thought better of it. He hoped the energy and focus Wen-Hou now displayed would carry off any notions of disbanding the league. Scout Jia was convinced they needed to have more members to create a couple of different teams. He would like to see how some of the others might handle leadership roles. Having a couple of dozen trainees was nothing like the private armies he had heard about through General Tan's guests.

While Wen-Hou wrote out his messages, Captain Shiro dunked himself in the water trough a couple of times. "Isn't that cold?" Scout Jia asked.

"Not enough to get me sober." Captain Shiro went behind the building and made himself vomit. Scout Jia handed him a towel, a glass of water, and then some rice balls he managed to scrounge up.

"Thanks. They will give me a bit of leeway since my message is coming with a dragon seal but it is still bad form to be caught like this." Captain Shiro tried to straighten his cloths but then looked like he might be sick again.

"I thought there was a special powder or something you folks used to reduce the effects of alcohol."

"It only works if you take it a couple of hours in advance but I didn't plan this little event," Captain Shiro shrugged. "He said it was a wake for the Harmony League, whatever that means."

"Hopefully he will change his mind when he sees the boys again." Scout Jia nodded then collected the messages. He could not remember the last time his friend used a dragon seal but it certainly made getting through to the different parts of the palace easier. Still, it took the rest of the night to get all the messages dropped off but at least he did not have to double back to get to the Royal Medical Academy. As chance would have it, he met Professor Yip as the he was arriving. The healer scanned the note then called his secretary to handle his urgent request.

"Can you tell me more about the incident. No, it makes more sense for us to wait for my colleague. What time do you expect the team to arrive at General Tan's residence?"

"They are a good five hours away but should be on the road at first light."

"So, we have until mid-day to get ready. Is it safe to assume you can let us into the training yard before hand?"

Scout Jia had no sooner nodded his answer, than the Professor put him to work gathering supplies.

"Bathes with sea-salts might help at least loosen up some of the poison. It will depend which organs it attacked," the Professor muttered to himself as he more handed packages to Scout Jia. "Right, I think that covers it. We will see when Healer Yang arrives."