In the middle of the night, Chinua walked with Khenbish towards her tent. Walking on the dark dirt road that passed the soldiers' tents, Chinua kept wondering what urgent message could be so urgent that Tong had to deliver it himself.
"Khenbish, go prepared the horses," Chinua said. "I'm going to see Tong alone."
"Yes, Chinua, "Khenbish said and walked away towards the stable.
Chinua continued towards her private tent and when she arrived, she saw Tong already sitting inside drinking mare's milk.
"Your Highness," Tong said, putting down the bowl.
Chinua said, "Father asked you to deliver the message to me personally. Is there any urgent news?"
Tong said with a smile, "Calm down my dear princess. The reason why His majesty wants to send me to pick you up personally is because in four days, there will be the wedding ceremony of Princess Ankhtsetseg and Prince Geming of Tanggolia."
Chinua sighed, frowned and said, "You really worried me. I thought it was an urgent matter." She thought for a while, and it seemed right for Geming to come back to marry Ankhtsetseg. Three years ago, Geming came to Hmagol to propose to Ankhtsetseg. "So, will the ceremony be this month?"
Tong nodded and said, "Your Majesty is worried that you will not return to the capital if someone else delivers the message, so he asked me to deliver the message in person."
Chinua asked, "Do we have to leave tonight? Or can we wait until tomorrow morning?"
Tong said, "As long as we attend the royal wedding on time, we can set off tomorrow morning." He looked at Chinua. "Why don't you want to leave tonight?"
Chinua sat down at the table opposite Tong and said, "I just made some new friends."
Tong smiled and said, "Who are the new friends?"
Chinua said, "Behrouz and his men."
Tong was shocked and said, "You actually became friends with Behrouz and his men. This is a great achievement, fourth princess."
Chinua said, "It's best to step back and avoid fighting Behrouz and his men, because we all fight with the same determination."
Tong smiled and said, "Learning to step back and apologize will not make you weak but will make you wise."
"Chinua!" Naksh burst into the room, followed by others.
"What's so urgent that you must leave tonight? Khawn asked.
Chinua said, "It's nothing urgent. I was asked to go back to celebrate the royal wedding of Princess Ankhtsetseg and Prince Geming of Tanggolia."
Tong said disappointedly, "Barbaric... you... you...don't you men know that you can't break into the sleeping chamber of Her Highness unannounced."
Zhi looked at Chinua and muttered, "Princess? Chinua is a woman?"
Jeet turned to looked at Zhi and laughed, "You didn't know?"
Drystan laughed and said, "You have been training with her every day for three years, but you don't know."
Zhi said, "I have always thought that Chinua was a young man."
Tong shook his head and said, "You won't bring these barbarians back to the capital, will you?"
"I will only take Khunbish and Khenbish," said Chinua. She looked up at Khunbish and smiled. "Oh, never mind. I'll take Khenbish and Timicin with me, and the rest of you stay to make sure our new friends actually want to be friends with us."
After dinner that night, Chinua, her eight subordinates and Haitao sat in the conference tent. They discussed a peace agreement and plans to improve Salran Hill.
"As we discussed, Hye, Drystan and Khunbish go to Salran Hill to help fortify Salran Hill. I want that to be a stronghold for the villagers to flee to if our neighbors suddenly decide to attack us. Also, while you two scout the area, find a way for the people on the hill to escape in case Salran Hill was overrun," Chinua said. "Also, see if you can find water on that hill."
Hye said, "I have no problem reinforcing Salran Hill, but the water source, it will be difficult because it all depends on luck. The location of the hill sits on a pile of rocks. Normally water sit all the way under that pile of rocks. If we remove part of the hill, the rest of the hill will become unstable and if the rainy season comes, I am worried about landslides."
Chinua said, "See what you can do." She turned to her right. "In terms of training, I leave it to captain Haitao, Zhi, Naskhs and Jeet." She looked at Khawn. "When I come back, you'd better be able to ride a horse and shoot an arrow, otherwise you will be punished by military law."
Khawn nodded and said, "I will not disappoint you."
Chinua turned to Haitao and said, "Captain, have Timicin get ready. Alright, everyone, the meeting is over, you can go and rest."
After everyone left, only Khunbish and Khenbish were left in Chinua's private tent. Khunbish looked at Chinua who was writing and started marking some areas on the leather map. She rolled up the map and handed it to Khunbish.
"Bring this to Hye tomorrow," Chinua said, turning to look at Kunbish. "What's wrong?" She sighed, walked behind the screen, and started to change clothes. "Do you know why I left you and Hye here?"
Khunbish said, "To ensure Hye's safety."
Chinua stepped out from behind the screen and walked to the bed. "I leave the most important task to you. Anyone can betray me at any time, except you and Khenbish," she said, reaching out and patting Khunbish gently on the side of the face. "Even if there is a sword pointed at your necks, you two will not betray me." She poked at Khunbish's left chest with her finger. "The scar here prove it."
Khunbish looked down at where Chinua's finger was pointing, taking him back to that day. Although he was still a child at that time, he didn't think too much about his own life and death. He only thought about Chinua's safety when he jumped in front of the oncoming sword that aimed at Chinua.
Early in the next morning, Khunbish and Hye watched the carriage slowly drive westward toward capital city of Hmagol. When the two turned and walked back to the barracks, Hye noticed that Khunbish's expression was somewhat gloomy.
"Chinua has her own reasons for not taking you with her," Hye said. "Do not overthink."
Khunbish said, "I understand."
Hye said, "I assume her reason for leaving you behind was to protect me, correct?"
Khunbish said, "It seems that among us, you know Chinua better than anyone else. You saw Chinua's intentions without saying a word."
Hye said, "This is an imperative understanding between like-minded people." He looked at Khunbish. "Although Chinua and I understand each other the most, I can tell that Chinua values you the most."
Khunbish said, "If that is true, then what is another reason why Chinua did not take me?"
Hye smiled and looked at Khunbish. "You didn't know?" he asked.
Khunbish shook his head.
Hye said, "The main reason is for you to protect me, and in my opinion Khenbish and others could do it. The other reason is because of the young lady who danced with you last night."
Khunbish asked, "What does this have to do with her?"
Hye said, "Don't tell me that you cannot see that the young lady is interested in you. Chinua been quite kind to you, considering your desire for a wife."
Khunbish said, "I never said I wanted a wife. This life of mine belongs to Chinua. I swear to our ancestors that I will spend the rest of my life with Chinua."
Hye said, "After getting married and having children, you can still be with Chinua." He patted Khunbish on the shoulder. "As her most trust subordinate."
Khunbish said, "I never thought of leaving Chinua's side."
Hye said, "Khunbish, don't enslave yourself to royalty."
Khunbish turned to look at Hye and said, "My royalty to Chinua will never become slavery because my royalty to Chinua is the pure love of one person for another; without asking for anything in return." He turned and walked away.
Hye watched Khunbish walk down the hill. "I thought Behrouz was stubborn," he said to himself. "There is a sky beyond the sky, and there are even more stubborn people besides stubborn people."
On the second days, Chinua and the others had entered Ntsua-Ntu City. The sounds of the city sounded happy to Timicin's ears. From the moment they entered Ntsua-Ntu, he was smiling. He quickly tapped on the carriage, and the covered window was pushed aside.
"What is it?" Chinua asked.
Timicin said with a smile, "Chinua, I will not accompany you to the palace. I am going purchase a gift for my mother."
Chinua said, "Are you going to celebrate with her early?" Timicin nodded at her. "Well, have fun. See you at the palace on the day of the princess's royal wedding."
Timicin smiled and said, "Thank you for bringing me back. See you at the palace." He broke free from Chinua and the others and rode towards the jewelry store to the east of the city.
Tong asked, "I don't understand why Her Highness wanted to bring him back."
Chinua said, "In ten days, it will be his mother's fiftieth birthday. Timicin has not been home for three years. Let him celebrate with his mother early will be good for his fighting spirit. Moreover, Minister Misheel only has one son, and he probably misses Timicin."
The horse carriage suddenly came to a stop which made Tong jerked forward. Chinua quickly reached out and grabbed the back of Tong's collar to prevent Tong from falling to the floor.
"What's going on?" Chinua shouted.
"Your Highness." The driver pushed the curtain aside. "I'm sorry; I was trying to avoid the other carriage."
Chinua opened the curtains and noticed that the other carriage was too close to them, which meant that one of the carriages had to reverse out of the way so that one of the carriages could pass.
Chinua said, "Since they are our guests, let them through first." Then, Chinua saw the other horse carriage slowly retreating, letting Chinua's carriage go forward first. "What's going on?"
Khenbish drew the horse to the carriage window and stated, "The individual in the other carriage is Prince Geming of Tanggolia. He has requested Chinua to enter first."
Chinua sighed and said, "Khenbish, go thank Prince Geming."