AN: Mild fluffiness abounds.

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Horse-drawn carts clogged the courtyard, filled with the supplies needed to sustain a large group of people for the two weeks it would take to reach the capitol city. The long, wooden wagons were covered in canvas tops emblazoned with the seal of House Jeon. The same emblem could be seen on the tabards of men dressed as handlers and guards. They milled around the horses and carts, checking that everything was in place for their departure.

Mixed in with the uniformed men, slaves stood at the ready. Regardless of their gender, they were dressed in simple, sturdy clothing suited for travel: white linen shirts, brown breeches, and leather shoes. All told, they outnumbered the other members of the travel party by nearly twenty to one. Each wore a leather collar with a line attached to it, hooking ten at a time into a string that would be attached to carts.

Across the empire, similar caravans were preparing to depart for the capitol. Nobles were driving droves of slaves to the auction; to travel to the city without plenty of merchandise would be abnormal. The biggest difference between the other nobles and the Jeon caravan, though, was that every single slave preparing to follow Yoongi to the capitol was doing it of their own free will.

The collars they wore were designed for quick release and could be removed in seconds by the wearer. Secret compartments in the carts were filled with weaponry that could be accessed at a moment's notice and passed among them. They may have been born in the pens, but Lord Junghyun had released them and they, in turn, were dedicated to the cause of freeing their brethren. The Jeon caravan was nothing but an elaborate ruse to smuggle close to three hundred angry, trained fighters into the biggest hub of slavery in the country.

Dotted throughout the group were silver-haired soldiers dressed in well-made travelling clothes to emulate what Nobility would don during such a trek. They sat atop horses that huffed and pawed impatiently at the ground.

Yoongi shifted just as irritably in his saddle. He had barely slept the previous night and it was showing in both his countenance and the bags under his eyes. He rolled stiff shoulders and gazed out across the throng of people under his command, eyes lingering on Six's dark head before moving on to count his "nobles." Hoseok was still unaccounted for and he felt his ire rise even further at the younger general's lack of punctuality.

He found himself looking at Six again, eyes moving to her form unbidden. She was dressed identically to the others, her long hair secured in its usual braid down her back. They had wrapped her dampers in leather so they more closely resembled the collars on the others; only someone looking closely at her might be able to tell the difference.

The bands were an ingenious bit of magic developed centuries ago, before the Kim Dynasty had risen to power. They had been used on members of the Nobility that required imprisonment, to block them from manifesting their magics. While the Jeons had a number of the iron rings stored in their dungeons from ages past, they had not needed to use them for longer than anyone could recall.

Their existence had been, more or less, forgotten until Six's arrival. Her first few accidents were nothing more than minor property damages that were negligible; a book charred when she became frustrated during reading lessons, a strong gust of wind blowing shutters open, furniture knocked over from across a room. It was after lightning had struck a tree in the courtyard on a cloudless day, sending flames and smoke billowing into the sky, that it was decided something needed to be done about her.

It was Alchemist Heechul that had recalled the dampers and suggested it as a way to control her unpredictable outbursts. Six, terrified that she would hurt someone, readily agreed. That had been two years ago and she had worn them religiously since, only removing them to bathe and for short stretches when she was practicing control.

Yoongi wished she could just take them off permanently but knew the others would feel better if her powers were locked up. There had been no one to teach her how to manage her peculiar powers; they were different than the ones that typically manifested in the Nobility. Even after two years of trying, she still didn't have the best grip on them.

Six turned suddenly as if feeling his eyes on her, gazing across the distance with her head tilted to the side in question. His heart squeezed painfully, reminded again that she had managed to weasel her way onto the roster. He'd wanted her to stay behind where it would have been safe. Instead, he had an official order from Lord Jeongguk that she was to go. Not even his rank as head of the resistance army could override the young noble.

It was part of the reason he hadn't slept well. After a catastrophic yelling match, she had gone to sleep in her own rooms and he'd laid awake, staring into the darkness of his canopy in a mix of anger and anxiety.

He hesitated a moment before lifting a hand to beckon her over. As she approached the side of his horse, he reached a hand down toward her. A huge wash of relief crashed over him as she slipped her hand into his and squeezed with a soft "Hey," barely heard over the din caused by the crowd around them.

"You look better than I feel," he returned, dismounting and reclaiming her hand. From the corner of his eye, he caught a couple curious glances from those around them as he tucked an errant strand of her hair behind her ear. His and Six's relationship wasn't a secret; they just rarely showed signs of affection in public. It would have been potentially startling to the others to see it.

"That wouldn't be hard. You look like you've been dragged behind one of these carts for the better part of a mile." She reached up with her free hand and smoothed his bangs from his forehead. "You'll sleep better tonight."

"You can't be sure of that." Yoongi glanced around again, frowning when he still didn't see Hoseok.

"Unless you plan to lock me out of your tent, yes, I can."

Yoongi felt more tension leave his shoulders. "I wasn't sure if you would want to..." he started, licking his lips.

"You know I never stay mad for long." She brought his hand up and kissed it. "I'm sorry for springing it on you so suddenly."

With a sigh, he touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "I'm still not happy about it," he admitted. "Going to Lord Jeon was a dirty move. How in the world did you convince him to order it?"

She merely smiled in response and shrugged slightly. "We made a fair trade."

Yoongi felt a curl of something unpleasant in his stomach, eyes narrowing. "What exactly did you trade?" What could she possibly have given the lordling that would have been of enough value that he would have been convinced to contradict the general's orders? A dark voice in the back of his head growled out a reminder that the first time she had wanted something from him, before they'd become lovers, she'd attempted to trade him sex for it. There was a roil of something sinister through him at the thought of her offering her body to the young lord. He had to remind himself firmly that they weren't exclusive and, if that had been her trade, it wasn't his business.

"Ow! Yoongi!" she hissed suddenly, yanking away from him. "That hurt." She rubbed her hand, frowning up at him.

He blinked rapidly and winced. He hadn't noticed how hard he'd been squeezing her fingers, lost in his unexpected jealousy. He murmured an apology as she glowered at him.

"I traded him knowledge," she snapped, shaking out her hand. "What did you think I did? Suck his cock under the alchemy table?"

"Keep your voice down," Yoongi grumbled, glancing around. "Wouldn't be the first time you'd made that kind of offer." He regretted the words the moment they left his lips but it was impossible to take them back.

She huffed, folding her arms across her chest. She seemed to struggle with her anger for a moment, staring daggers at him. He waited silently, trying to look as apologetic as he could. Finally, she sighed deeply and rubbed her forehead with a hand.

"I don't know what's gotten into you lately," she murmured. "You're becoming mean."

Reaching out, he took both her hands in his, twining their fingers together. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." He tugged her forward until they stood so closely together that their clothing brushed. Freeing his hands from hers, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. He was glad when she didn't pull back, slipping her arms around his neck. "I don't know what's wrong with me lately."

"Hm." She laid her head against his shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, I gave the lord some advice and a gentle push in the right direction."

Yoongi frowned, running his fingers up and down her spine. He caught sight of a couple amused guards that were ogling them. He quirked his brows at them before returning his attention to Six. "And that was worth enough to him to order you to go with us?" He let his confusion into his voice.

"Obviously."

He pressed the side of his face to her head, soaking in the feeling of holding her. It was doing wonders for his stress-level. "Are you going to tell me what this advice was?"

She chuckled, pushing back slightly so she could look into his eyes. "Where's Hoseok?" she evaded instead of answering him.

A prickle ran along his spine at the coy look in her eyes. Did she know about Jeongguk and Hoseok's encounter? He narrowed his eyes at her but, before he had a chance to make accusations, the topic of conversation arrived.

Hoseok hurried up to them, reins of his horse held firmly in one hand. He looked slightly flushed but that could have been due to the already-warm morning. Behind him, also leading a horse, was Jeongguk.

"M'lord," Yoongi greeted, giving Jeongguk's horse a hard stare. "You're not trying to come, too, are you?"

"Only as far as the edge of the village," the younger replied. "I felt it right that I see you all off, since you're going in my place."

"I'm sure the troops will appreciate that," Yoongi said evenly.

Six pulled away from him and walked over to Jeongguk. With a cheeky smile, she brushed at his shoulders. "How did you manage to get straw all over your tunic, m'lord?"

The young man turned a bright shade of pink and tried to look down his back. "I tripped in the stables," he said quickly.

"You really must be more careful," she continued, sweeping her hand down his back to rid him of the rest of the dry, brittle grass.

Yoongi shot a look at Hoseok but his lower general was busy double-checking his horse's tack. He saw, for just a flash, a dark, bruise-colored spot on Hoseok's neck before it was hidden by the collar of his tunic. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking. "Yes, we can't have our lord falling down in such places," Yoongi stated blandly to hide his amusement. At least he now knew what had made Hosoek late.

"Now that we're all accounted for, let's get this caravan moving. We only have two weeks to get there and a long way to go." He looked at his small group of friends with a thin smile. "Song, you know where to hook up?"

She nodded, gave him a mock salute, and disappeared between the wagons. As soon as she was out of sight, Yoongi swung himself up into his saddle. He didn't wait to see if Hoseok and Jeongguk did the same before nudging his horse into a light walk, moving to the front of the gathering.

He gestured to the other silver-haired members of their troupe as Hoseok and Jeongguk pulled their horses up next to him.

"Move out!" he hollered, pointing at the open gates of the castle.

With a lurch and a jangle, the first cart's horses strained against their harnesses. It was slow going as each cart had to exit one at a time. Strings of slaves-turned-soldier marched behind their carts, laughing and jostling each other in their excitement to embark on a mission that was months in the planning.

Yoongi caught Six's eye as she tromped past with her cart and he found himself smiling as she blew him a kiss. He made a show of snatching it from the air and pressing it against his lips, which just made her roll her eyes at him. The women on the string with her broke into peals of laughter and teasingly threw their own kisses his direction. Not wanting to dampen anyone's spirits, he flailed around in his saddle as if dodging them. The antics of their normally stoic general sent the women into further guffaws.

Once the last cart had passed through the gate, the three men urged their mounts into motion. The young lord waved at the townsfolk that gathered along the edge of the road to gawk at the procession. They yelled well-wishes at the soldiers, knowing full well that it was an army that marched by, not a slave-train.

The carts did not stop at the edge of the village, continuing on down the wide road that lead generally northward. The three men at the rear, however, reined in their horses so the generals could bid goodbye to their lord.

Yoongi reached across the distance and clasped Jeongguk by the forearm. "Look for us in a month's time. I'll send a messenger ahead if I can."

He felt the tremble in the young lord's grip though the lad was doing his best to appear confident. "Safe travels, General Min. Take care of our people and bring them home."

An awkward tension settled over them as the noble turned his attention to Hoseok. Yoongi had the distinct impression that he was invading what should be a private moment and, with a slight cough, turned his horse and trotted it after the receding carts.

He glanced back as he reached the tail-end of the caravan just in time to see Hoseok tilting the young lord's face up by the chin, pressing a gentle kiss to the other's lips. He looked away quickly, biting his lip to keep from smiling.

He had a feeling Six was behind whatever breakthrough the two had experienced, given her words from earlier. Despite his own attempts to knock some sense into his friend, Hoseok had left their conversation adamant that he was going to try to pretend nothing had changed.

A moment later, hoof beats met his ears and Hoseok pulled up next to him. They met eyes for a second before Hoseok licked his lips and looked down at his horse's mane.

"Not a word," the younger general muttered.

Yoongi reached across and pat his friend on the shoulder. "I wasn't planning on it."

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AN: If I stick with the order in which the first 8 chapters were posted, next chapter will be Namjoon.  Whatcha think?