Since most of the royal guards had gone with his elder brother to escort the regent to the border, Yi Hyun had to take several soldiers from Anju and even personally supervise the prisoners. To avoid delays along the way, they were placed on carts covered with barred cages, with women and men separated. The Mongol was transported separately, with strict care taken that his hands remained bound at all times.

  “Your Highness,” a quiet female voice called to him during one of the halts. As the road was long, the prince allowed the prisoners to be released from the cages in the morning and evening so they could attend to their needs.

  “Yes?” Yi Hyun turned, expecting to hear yet another inappropriate plea for mercy.

  Inappropriate, since the case had not yet been handed over to the investigators and it was far too early to speak of sentences.

  “What will become of us now, Great Prince Dojun?” The girl stood with her eyes lowered. Her clothes were crumpled and soiled, her braid loosened, yet one could still recognize the young daughter of the magistrate.

  The prince felt a reluctant pang of pity. She had surely been accustomed to the comfort of a wealthy household, not to the life of a criminal.

  “There will be an investigation, and the court will decide the punishment,” he replied, trying to soften his voice. “Your father is accused of complicity in the murder of a royal inspector and of smuggling. I do not believe it will come to execution, but he is unlikely to keep his position. I expect exile or enslavement.”

  “Oh…” The girl bit her lip and bowed her head even lower, her hair veiling her eyes. “Thank you for answering me.”

  “If there is anything you know, young lady Kwon, you may lessen your punishment,” Yi Hyun advised.

  “I knew nothing of this,” the girl’s voice trembled. “When the embassy passed through, I usually stayed with relatives or visited the mountain temple of Pohyon-sa. Father did not wish me to… To let them—”

  “You are cold,” Yi Hyun noted. He unfastened his cloak and draped it over the girl’s trembling shoulders. She was so slender that she nearly vanished within the warm wool. Instead of gratitude, however, she suddenly burst into tears. Not quite knowing what to do with that, Yi Hyun hastily withdrew.

  It was not the only roadside exchange that stayed with him.

  The weather shifted constantly. At first, sunshine accompanied them. The farther south they rode, the warmer the air grew. But not far from the capital, frost caught up with them again, a blizzard rose, and the guards even had to cover the cages with scraps of cloth so the prisoners would not freeze to death. Yi Hyun was riding around the caravan to make sure everything had been done properly when he heard the Mongol’s voice.

  “And I thought I wouldn’t make it to Hanyang this year,” the man said with a sneer.

  The words, spoken in Chinese, were clearly meant for the prince’s ears alone, since no one else could hear them. However, Yi Hyun ignored the assassin’s pointless remarks.

  “Hey, Great Prince,” the Mongol called more directly. Though the title was used correctly, the mocking tone made Yi Hyun grimace. “Do you regret not becoming the heir?”

  “I fail to see how that concerns you,” Yi Hyun snorted and nudged his horse, intending to continue his inspection.

  “What if I help you obtain the title?” The Mongol lifted his left eyebrow; the scar crossing his face pulled grotesquely.

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  “You?” Yi Hyun wrinkled his nose in contempt. “You’ll be executed in a month or two. Such jokes won’t help you.”

  “I can do more than it seems,” the man retorted, remarkably calm for one condemned to die. “Give me a couple of dogs, Great Prince, and I will show you a trick that will help you ascend the throne.”

  “I will instruct the interrogators to be sure to ask you about it,” Yi Hyun promised and finally rode away from the cage.

  Yet afterward he caught himself more than once wondering what sort of trick the Mongol could have meant. Dogs? How could dogs aid a politician? Especially when the Crown Prince had already been appointed and there was no turning back.

  And two days later, Yi Hyun had no time at all for prisoners or dogs.

  They arrived at the capital. Yi Hyun entered the palace — without an edict, but with the golden sword — and was able to savor his father’s wrath in full.

  “You proved incapable of accomplishing even such a trifle!” the king thundered. “And of course he was delighted to laugh at me. Ha! So many years of preparation, so much effort… I even allowed the queen to adopt you. And what do I receive? You bring me some old sword?!”

  “It is the sword of the Ming emperor,” Yi Hyun said quietly, staring at the floor. He had no idea what might provoke his father further. It seemed like everything.

  “Of Sejong the Great himself, for all I care!” the king slammed his fist onto the seat. His voice echoed through the empty council hall. “Do you maybe have an army to march with? No? Then that sword is no more useful than a rusty poker in the kitchen. Hyun, how could you allow Yun to outmaneuver you? Did we not agree that you were to be the heir?!”

  “The Prince Regent does not heed others’ advice,” Yi Hyun muttered. He too felt wounded. Making excuses for his own shattered hopes felt profoundly wrong.

  “I had hoped I would not need to bargain with Councillor Kim again,” the king wrinkled his nose. “But now that his grandson— Did he threaten you? Blackmail you? The old intriguer knows how to apply pressure. Confess what happened between you.”

  “I did not even speak with Councillor Kim,” Yi Hyun assured his father. Perhaps he should have mentioned the ghost after all?

  “Hyun-ah, Hyun-ah,” the king shook his head. “I know the old man did not travel north. He could have sent someone in his stead. A nephew? No, that one was seen at a festival just the other day…”

  “May I ask a question, Father?” Yi Hyun ventured, sensing that the king’s anger was ebbing.

  “Speak, my son,” allowed the king.

  “Did you not say the country needed a Crown Prince?” he began cautiously. “And even if it is not I, will not my elder brother manage the role? I remember his circumstances, but he is liked by the people and sufficiently educated and intelligent to—”

  Those who accompanied them in Anju, as well as those who served them there, had congratulated the new Crown Prince with genuine warmth.

  “Not intelligent, but cunning!” the king cut him off, flaring again. “What do I care whom he pleases? The people, or that accursed regent. Ha! He should have known he was defying my will when he left the palace. And what then, will he dare assume responsibility when he returns?”

  “I am certain he will deeply regret having upset Father,” another attempt to appease the king failed. The king clicked his tongue in irritation.

  “Hyun, when I forbade you and your brothers to quarrel, I did not mean that you should shield from me the one who stole your title,” he said. “Unfortunately, Yun is driven by the same greed as his grandfather. They all want my throne, do you understand? It shows in his eyes, in his voice. I have watched such men for a long time, and I know… I hoped he would restrain himself and live quietly, but you see what he has done.”

  Yi Hyun remembered the night, the pavilion in the middle of the lake, his elder brother calling himself a monster. Back then he begged in a mad voice to be chained and kept from the throne. And Yi Hyun had not taken that warning seriously enough.

  “You no longer need to defend him before me, Hyun,” the king continued. “If he stumbles, report it to me at once. I will not reproach you for betraying fraternal duty when the future of the entire country is at stake. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, Father,” Yi Hyun bowed, concealing his turmoil.

  The king wanted to depose the newly appointed Crown Prince? That could not fail to insult the Qing Empire. Yi Hyun did not know what the right course was, he needed time to think.

  Outside, the ground was slick. The recent snowfall had dusted the palace with a thin white veil. Descending the high stone steps from the throne hall, Yi Hyun recalled another strange conversation about titles and power. He did not place any real hopes in it, but nothing prevented him from satisfying his curiosity.

  With a gesture, he summoned Eunuch Noh and ordered:

  “Find me two dogs.”