Chapter 26: Repercussions

In war there are repercussions to it, whether from the government enforcing higher taxes on the people to pay for the army or in the end when one kingdom must yield to the other that won. The same goes for a coup d'e tat. The one who loses must yield to the other. Usually this meant death to the traitor or death to the current ruler. King Joo-nam had been killed by his son, Yu-hon, who had also lost his life by being killed by General An Joon-gi. By the law of the land, a traitors son and wife had to be killed to ensure revenge would not be taken. This was the crisis that newly crowned King Il had to come to a decision over. To make matters worse, Kan Soo-jin had been apart of the uprising against Il and his family, this meant that the two boys Kyo-ga and Tae-jun and their mother would have to take the punishment that was meant for their father.

First, Il decided to take care of Yong-hi and Su-won's punishment for what his brother had done. It didn't seem fair, but it was the way things had to be done. Not wanting to lose more family, he first moved the two out of Yu-hon's manor, which would be stripped and later sold to another noble family. Su-won would lose the title of Lord and would never be able to regain it back because of the shame he would bare with being the child of a Kingslayer. Yong-hi's poor health meant that she could never work for a living, but that was never an option to begin with. Il brought the two to the palace to ensure they would be taken care of, but also would always be under watchful eyes.

Kan Kyo-ga tell to his face the moment he was brought before the newly crowned King. He begged for his mother and brother's lives to be sparse and that as the eldest he would take his father's son's upon himself. Both his mother and younger sibling had been shocked with his words. These words struck a chord with Kan Tae-jun, as his brother had always been a strong man in his eyes. He always saw his eldest brother as someone who was dependable, trustworthy, and took things upon himself to get things done, unlike himself.

Kyo-ga's words were not going unheard. King Il weighed the pros and cons of what the eldest son of the former fire general was saying. Seppuku was what the boy was suggesting. It was one of many ways that noble families would get rid of traitor lines, along with poisoning themselves. Seppuku was self suicide by thrusting a dagger into knew stomach and disemboweling themselves. It was messy and left a bad taste in the new King's mouth. Instead, Kyo-ga was made to sign an agreement that none in his family were to ever come against those who killed his father. Next, he was to agree to downsize the fire army to the bare minimum for the next decade and that the famine invested area's of the fire tribe were to be given aid. Kyo-ga was also to swear his loyalty to King Il, was given his father's title and that his younger brother was to stay at the palace to study to become an ambassador of sorts.

At first Kyo-ga thought Il was joking, but the serious look and the already written documents made him realize that the new King was very serious in this proposal. Before signing the documents though, he found that there was a clause in them staring that if the Kan family tried to recreate another uprising against the royal family, that the entire Kan family clan would be wiped off out and their names would be stricken from all royal logs. It would be as if they had never existed.

With some trepidation to what the future could bring, Kyo-ga still signed and agreed to the King's

In a building set away from the throne room and courtyard, Yona sat with her mother learning how to do intricate sewing. The needles hurt her fingers every time she got poked by them, but she was trying her best. Ever since the failed uprising she had been staying close by her mother's side. She had nightmares about the soldiers trying to kill her. In her dreams her friends always were killed trying to protect her, even Hak and Su-won! "Mamma?" she began in a questioning tone. "When I get bigger can you teach me how to use your bow? "

Kashi looked at her daughter in surprise. "Where is this coming from sweetie?"

Yona looked at her hands and for a moment didn't answer before looking up at her mother. "I wanna be brave, like you."

Kashi blushed at her daughter's declaration. She never considered herself to be brave. Smiling softly, she touched her daughter's cheek softly with the back of her fingers. "I will, but before you learn that, I will teach you how to be silent."

Yona cocked her head at this. "Silent?" she questioned her mother.

"If you are not silent, then your enemy will always find you." Kashi answered. "Silence is the key to finding your prey but also outsmarting your enemy."

"Like when Hak teases Kiji by calling him a snake and then moving too fast for Kiji to catch Hak?" she asked with a giggle.

"Well, that's one way or looking at it." Kashi agreed with a chuckle of her own.

In the nearby training hard Hak spun his new weapon, a spear with a large blade at the end. He had trained with fake spears for awhile, but this was the first time he had a real blade at the end. Beside him, Kija held a short sword in his humans hand. Mundok wanted to strengthen that arm because it there ever came a time that his Hakuryuu arm became disabled, he would need a second option if he needed to defend himself. The two boys were set against each other in order for one to help the other to gain strength and focus.

After the failed revolt, Jae -ha had gone back with Guen-tae to Chi'shin where he was learning other ways to fight. He was also known to sneak off to neighboring cities or towns before returning to the earth general's major for more training. Guen-tae wrote weekly about how the young teen remind him of himself in his wilder days.

Zeno disappeared completely after the fighting had stopped, however he still left a note either in Funga or Kuuto whenever he was nearby. He didn't believe the Little Miss needed his kind of protection just yet, but stated that he'd protect her and Kouka from afar until she needed him by her side.

Seiryuu or Shin-ah, as Yona now called him, was the silent protector of the group. He wondered around the palace seemingly without purpose. However, he now has a job, protecting Yona, the girl in red who had given him a name. If he found soldiers to be not doing their jobs correctly, he'd report them to Joo-doh. If he found security lacking in an area, he'd report it to Joo-doh. If he found something wasn't where it should be or heard whispers from discontent servants, he'd report it. He made it his mission to ensure Yona and her family were safe and that nothing would ever make her cry again.

Slowly palace life returned to what it had been like before the coup. Servants did their jobs, whether in cleaning or preparing food. Soldiers went about their training, as the guards returned to their posts. Children's laughter returned to gardens and soon after, even the noble families began to return to their daily gossips and conniving ways.

M-Angel: I could probably end it right here, but there are a couple more chapters left before I end this story.