The Paladins' Quarters

James crept out of the corridor from Elizabeth's closet. He liked this particular hidden passage because it was a short connection to the passageway that led to the Paladin's Quarters. Like everything in the white columned and marbled Palace, the entry points to each passageway were well-hidden. A passer-by would never know that there was a hidden door.

At four in the morning, the Palace was beginning to stir. James knew that the maids and chefs began their shifts at 5 a.m. Unlike them, the Paladins began their day earlier - by training in arms. He walked briskly parallel to the passageway, careful to keep to the shadows.

He reached the quarters and took the short cut to his own apartments. About twenty metres from his door, a faint whine of a door-hinge stopped him from moving any further. Soft footsteps moved away from South's apartments. James hid in a dark corridor, praying that whoever was walking did not stumble upon him.

There was a louder sound of a hinge and heavier footsteps. Apparently a second person was pursuing the first. He mentally groaned. He had stumbled upon one of South's many midnight guests.

The midnight guest walked right past the corridor where he was pressed up against the wall. She was a short, bespectacled woman. James could not believe his eyes. It was the royal doctor. West's sister, Alice.

To his dismay, South made huge strides to catch up with Alice. Whatever the conversation was, he was not interested to eavesdrop. He slipped out of the shadows and quickly made his way down the corridor towards his own apartments.

Five metres from his apartment door, a voice behind him spoke.

"North?"

His feet stopped at the sound of South's voice.

"When did you arrive?"

"A few hours ago."

"You've been to see the Queen," South noted.

"How -?" James wanted to know.

"You smell like she does."

James tsked at South's nasal abilities. He rounded on David instead.

"And you've been seeing West's sister. The Queen's Physician."

He smirked as David flushed.

"Of all the women in this country, why did you have to choose West's sister? He's a loose cannon where she's concerned."

"I don't like her. Not like that."

"I saw her leaving your room," James said flatly. "You sleeping with her? For God's sake, David. Owen is super protective. Keep your dick where it belongs."

"For a person who reeks of frankincense, have you been keeping your dick where it belongs?"

"Stay out of my business, South," James snarled.

"Your relationship with the Queen is state business, North."

James cursed.

"I will not bring dishonour to the Queen."

"You better remember that. I assume you're back to tell us what you've been up to?" South checked his wristwatch. "l'll see you at the yard."

James nodded and strode on to his apartment. When he was finally inside, he ran his fingers under tables, behind furniture, dismantled his few down lights and reassembled them just to check for bugs.

When he was satisfied that his apartment was bug free, he went and checked the documents and the general placement of things in his study.

Nothing was out of place. Everything looked exactly the way he left it. He reached for the second kitchen cabinet door and took a tonic before changing for training.

The practice yard was a mile away from the Palace. James usually rode out alone but today, he was accompanied by a brooding David. The Paladin of the South clearly had things on his mind but James did not deign to ask.

Clad in light armour and with his practice sword in the saddle pack, James wondered how long it would take before word that he was alive would reach his enemies.

They raced their horses all the way to the tiny grove where they practiced. It was on an incline, on rocky and sandy ground. The east side was covered with trees and the north had slightly muddy soil. This particular spot had been chosen by West for training precisely because of the terrible terrain.

At an agreed upon distance from the practice yard, both Paladins leapt off their horses and began to spar. Smoothly, James pulled his sword out of the saddle pack just in time to parry South's downward slash.

A spear jabbed him in the heel and he did a half somersault to get away from the spear tip. Smiling at the other end of the spear was East who seemed a little winded. James acted quickly. He knew that the spear would be troublesome and it would make it difficult to reach East.

He feinted a swing before letting his sword loosely cut upwards to break the spear that East was wielding. The sapling that East used to hold his spear tip was severed in half. James knew that even the sapling could be used to injure. So he loosened his arms to make it easier to swing the sword faster to get nearer and nearer to East.

Just as he was about to strike the shield-raising East, the ground gave way and he fell five feet into a trap. His sword scraped against the walls of the trap as he fell face first.

"That was unfair," he called out, winded. "We never laid traps before."

"Training changes all the time. It was Owen's idea," David chortled from above.

James saw East and West both smiling down at him. James' ego smarted.

"Where have you been? I assume you're back to tell us?" East asked.

"Are we going to talk here or in Council?" James panted in return.

"Here," South said. "I assume you've briefed the Queen?"

"Only briefly."

"Well?"

"Corea is resource-rich."

"You spent three weeks getting high on drugs?" West laughed.

"Listen, man. Do you remember the useless iron ore? The very one that the Corean geological experts declared unfit for use?" James decided to sit down at the bottom of the trap.

"Yeah," West replied.

"As iron, it's useless."

"Man, we've been down this road," West complained.

"It. Is. Rich. In. Rare. Earth. Elements," James enunciated patiently.

"What's that?" East asked.

"The stuff they use to make semiconductor chips and all the latest high-tech stuff."

"We have it?"

"A few mega tons of it."

"Where?"

"As of now, in the North. Maybe with time, surveyors will find more veins of it in your regions."

"Is it expensive?"

"Yes."

The looks of excitement on his three friends' faces mirrored the same excitement he had when he had first found out.

"One shipment is enough to cover five years of our annual budget," James told them.

"Fuck you!" David exclaimed.

"No thanks, I'm straight," James replied modestly.

"Fuck me!" David said under his breath.

"Someone wants you dead," East surmised. "Someone connected to the geologists."

"Precisely. My ancestral lands are full of the stuff."

"Who?"

"Someone far enough down the line. Someone who knows about the rare earths."

"How do you know?"

"The gathering I had in my residence was for all the High Lords of the North. Not one of them or their many sons stayed away."

"Who is it?" West asked impatiently.

"I'm not sure. All I'm sure of is this - it was hard to find Alexis and the CIA wasn't forthcoming. Do you remember who was the liaison we had with the CIA concerning both Alexis and the iron ore?"

"Manderly," East growled.

"Bloody hell," West swore. "He's security clearance is airtight."

"Not airtight enough. He's our mole," James said succinctly.

"Anyway," James continued. "One of my men found out that there was strange shipments from some of the Northern provinces. The very same provinces that export low-grade iron ore. So, a few of my men and I went undercover."

"Was this right before the great explosion at your residence?" South asked.

"To tell you the truth, that explosion - although it took me by surprise, was the perfect cover for my absence. I took my best men with me and we went to Harbin and Osaka. That's how we found out about the rare earths and the high prices they command."

South dropped his sword to cross his arms, "How did you find out Manderly's our mole?"

"Lord Kimberley, one of the two lords who was smuggling rare earths out of Corea is his brother. I asked questions when I arrived back room Harbin and he sang."

"You used your reputation as the ruthless Paladin," South concluded.

"Why torture someone if you can use fear against them? Torturing is messy."

James did not find it strange when the other three nodded in agreement. They had to carry out their share of torture while serving Edward, the traitor King.

"What should we do about this? Report to the Queen?"

"You three do that. I'm going North. I need to check on my people and to open my family vaults."

"Family vault?" West asked indignantly. "The crisis is here in the capital."

"Oh, haven't you heard? I need a ring. I just got engaged," James told them airily waving his ring less hand, looking like a diva. "And i won't tell you about how amazing the proposal was until someone gets me out of this hole."

The Palace Cafeteria

Owen knew something was up the moment Alice avoided his gaze. They both worked at the Palace but in completely different capacities. He was West, and she was the Royal Physician.

Most of the time, she returned to the Royal Albert to continue working, studying and lecturing like other doctors but sometimes, Alice was here at the Palace.

And on some days, like today, they made a point to meet at the Palace cafeteria where all the other staff ate. Even though Alice was his sister, Owen still found it hard to schedule time to meet per their parents' orders.

He watched as she brought her tray to his table, sat down and slumped her shoulders.

"Long day?"

"Thirty-six hour shift with two hours break. What about you, oppa?"

"Same," Owen replied, thinking of the pile of documents provided by the CIA that had to be sifted through for discrepancies in information. South called it 'a mountain of lies' and Owen privately agreed with him.

So far, they had found out the same few people signed the documents that had discrepancies on them. Manderly was only a small needle in the haystack - albeit an important needle, in his capacity as the vice-director of the CIA.

"How's your health lately? Have you been taking the chicken essence?"

"Yes," Alice avoided his gaze.

"You haven't."

"Have you?"

"No," Owen chortled. To his surprise three months ago, four crates of chicken essence had arrived at his quarters from their parents. He had split the chicken essence with Alice - giving her more on the pretext that she was still recovering from being tortured by the traitor King.

"What's wrong?" He asked when Alice started stabbing her tofu with her chopsticks. She usually ate voraciously and had to be reminded to slow down but today, she was playing with her food. Owen found that intriguing.

"Can't tell you. Patient confidentiality."

"I could find out easily," he said.

"Don't throw your Paladin weight around," she replied acidly.

He smirked.

"Oppa."

"What is it? I haven't got all day."

"One of your friends asked me out," she finally looked at him directly in the eye. Owen was taken aback by her gaze.

"Why are you glaring at me like that? Who is it?" Owen tried to think of all his friends in the West. He had a lot of friends and at this moment, he damned each of them for hitting on his sister.

"I want you to promise not to kick up a fuss, not to hurt him nor block his career in any way."

"I cannot make such promises. A friend of mine, you say?"

"I'm serious. If you even raise a squeak or a peep, I will report to eomma and appa about your situation with your mistress," she said delicately.

Owen gasped audibly.

"You wouldn't dare."

"I would. I've been keeping your secret from them all this while. Do you want to test my resolve?"

"No," he replied quickly.

"So do I have your word?'

"Are you going to accept him?"

"Hmm, maybe," she shrugged.

Owen made a sound as though he was in pain.

"Can't I even rip one of his testicles? Whoever he is? You only need one testicle to function, anyway."

"Yes, his testicles. About that -," Alice began loudly, drawing the stares of Palace staff around them.

Owen could feel his own eyes bulge. His sister just smirked at him.

Right then, Alice's phone rang. She left immediately, leaving her tray for him to clear. As usual.

A Shop in Seoul

A woman walked purposefully down the dark lane. There was only one shop open at this hour in the evening. The other shops sold fresh produce, seafood and groceries. This particular shop was for the intellectual. It opened and closed late.

The woman entered the shop without stopping to look at the books in front. She seemed to know exactly where she was going. She walked past rows and rows of books - mostly old dusty books. Three rows before the shop ended and the storeroom began, she stopped and picked out a book.

The shopkeeper paid her no mind. He was busy eating a late dinner. When she left, he walked towards the book and picked out the note written in it. He sat down heavily at his table and made a call.

Like always, the receiver was always picked up after three rings. The shopkeeper knew from practice that the Prince had a routine. Picking up after three rings was one of his many routines.

"Yes?" Came the cold, dry voice.

"He was seen at the border leaving Seoul towards the North."

"So he came to the Palace," the voice said.

"It would seem so."

The shopkeeper was not surprised at the click at the other end. The Prince never liked to hear conjectures, only real news. He settled down and made himself a cup of coffee. It was nice being a shopkeeper. The customers were few but he was paid well. Very, very well.

The North Residence

James stood looking at the remains of his ancestral seat. The entire wooden structure was still smouldering after three weeks. He wasn't surprised. There was a lot of wood down in the cellars and even lower in the torture chambers.

The torture chambers had been used a lot by his distant ancestors. Right now, he used it to store his family's collection of wines. He pursed his lips. Alcohol was highly flammable. It was probably the reason that the entire foundation in this wing blew up when the explosives went off.

Still, he had to be sure. He walked down the wooden steps leading to the cellars, taking note of the location of the explosives. Most were obviously well-hidden. It meant that there had been an intruder. An intruder who knew the layout of this house.

James couldn't think anyone could enter this residence. Appa was fiercely protective of his privacy. He wondered whether his father had the presence of mind to be interrogated. He decided against it.

He walked back up the stairs and made a point to make a bomb-proof shelter when he had time to renovate. To his surprise, waiting at the top flight of the stairs was none other than appa himself, looking lost.

"Appa? Don't stand there. It's dangerous. I told you to go to Lord Victor's house to stay. I heard you left. You didn't like his place?"

His father, the former Paladin of the North shook his head.

"I didn't like the food he served at his table," he pouted.

"Appa," James said rebukingly.

"Not appa. Adam."

"No, appa," James said patiently. "You're not Adam. Your name is Alan."

His white haired father shook his head.

"James. Listen. House. Adam."

"Who's Adam?"

James slowly led his father out of the burnt structure. His father had found a room that was still intact in the North side of the residence and made it his new room.

"Adam is the housekeeper. He cooks for me sometimes. But you didn't hire him."

James stared at his father alertly. HIs father had never hired anyone and allowed anyone to enter the house.

"I got your attention, haven't it?"

His father laughed like a little child who got what he wanted.

"Do you know how he looks like?"

"He says he's from the North but he doesn't know our ways. He doesn't know who he's related to, even though he says he's a Lee," his father shuffled and stumbled on an uneven plank. James reached out to catch him.

"I showed him the grounds."

"And the house?"

"He explored it himself. I followed him occasionally."

"You pulled off this senile old man act, didn't you?" James asked in admiration.

His father nodded and laughed.

"He poisoned me," his father continued.

James did not react. Unlike the other Paladins, there was a tradition handed down from father to son and James followed it religiously. They took antidotes to all known poisons regularly.

"Did you take the tonic?" He asked his father.

"Of course. Have you been taking yours?"

"Yes."

"You lie."

James rolled his eyes. No matter how, his father always knew when he was lying.

"I was undercover, appa. There was no tonic on hand. I took some this morning before I came North."

"I see. And did you find out enough things while undercover?"

James nodded.

"We're rich," he told his father seriously. "Extremely rich. So watch your back, appa."

"You watch your back too, son. I can take care of myself. You need to focus on protecting the Queen. Never forget that you are North."

James nodded.

"Back to Adam. He sneaked back in a few times during the last few months. I followed him."

"What was he looking for?"

"I don't know exactly. I left a few different things out each time. He was interested in our book of descendants."

"The lineage?"

"Yes."

James was impressed by his father's deviousness even as they walked slowly back to the still-intact North wing.

"And?"

"He's solitary. He stayed at an inn in town whenever he doesn't pretend to be the housekeeper. While you were missing, I told Emmerson to check out that lead."

"And?"

"I've got the address he used to register himself. It's in my notebook."

"Still haven't gone digital, appa?"

"What does an old man need with digitalisation?"

"To move on with the times."

"My time is over, son. The world doesn't make sense to me. The world belongs to you now. I've outlived my usefulness."

"Appa," James reproached him.

"I'm not being maudlin. When you are old, you will understand."

When they finally reached his father's room, James waited for him to rummage through the drawers. As usual, it took a long time for his father to find his belongings.

"I think I put it here," his father muttered.

"I don't think it's in the drawers, appa. What about your coat?"

"Ah!"

He shuffled over and rummaged in the coat pockets.

"Here we go," his father said. "There."

James read the address in a glance.

"It's Samuel's address," he pondered aloud, wondering how the cystic fibrosis man he knew would allow a stranger to use his address.

James decided to put the search off because his father was starting to look lost again. He offered, "Let me cook lunch."

His father readily agreed.

The Palace