"Okay... Ready, guys?"

"Ready!" Sanghyuk and Jaewhan whispered as the elder got up from the ground, making his way to the barred cell door. He put on his widest smile and tilted his head, raised one of his shoulders slightly. "Excuse me~" He waited, and when nobody came he raised his voice slightly, altering the pitch to make it a little higher than normal. 

After a few more attempts, a fat, greasy looking guard waddled down the steps into the dungeon, a deep scowl carved into his pudgy features. He seemed weighed down by his armour and his reddish brown beard was littered with crumbs and spots of jam. "What?" He demanded "Stop making all that racket damn it! Some of us are trying to sleep down here!"

"Sorry," Jaewhan pouted, "We're just so hungry down here..."

The guard scoffed loudly "Yeah, well, you should have thought of that before your friend over there decided to screw the crowned prince." He let out a booming laughter and Wonshik felt his fingers and toes curl. That bastard. Sanghyuk caught him and raised an eyebrow, telling him silently to hold his tongue as he came to stand next to his eldest friend. "Please?" Jaehwan's eyes widened "just a 'lil bit?"

"I said no!" The guard growled as he finally lost his temper. He reached through the bars and grabbed the younger man by his collar with his meaty fingers, yanking forward so his chest was pressed against the cold steel. "Shut up, goddamn it! Or I'll make sure you don't get fed for a week!"

Jaewhan grunted as he was thrown to the ground and Sanghyuk jumped back, hiding his hands behind his back nervously, eyes blown wide. "Another peep and you'll all regret it!" The guard snarled as he his heel, lumbering back up the stairs while muttering curses and insults under his breath.  Wonshik watched him go with wide eyes before he cleared his throat. "Did you get them, Sanghyuk?"

"Yes," the boy breathed, drawing a ring of iron keys from behind his back. He couldn't help but smile as he crawled over to the elder, scrambling to find the key that fit the lock of Wonshik's shackles. Jaewhan kept close watch. "I can't believe that actually worked," he remarked, shaking his head as he glanced nervously down the hallway. Sanghyuk's jaw dropped slightly "I always come up with good ideas, I'll have you- Aha!" There was a dull click and Wonshik's eyes widened as the cuffs around his wrists loosened, exposing his red, chaffed skin. 

He rubbed them and got to his feet gingerly "Phase one, completed. What next?"

"Next we have to find the key that unlocks the door and sneak out without getting caught," Sanghyuk whispered, moving back towards the bars and trying to take an educated guess at what key would fit the lock. Jaewhan cocked an eyebrow and shrugged "Should be easy." Nobody missed the sarcasm in his tone. Wonshik came to stand beside him as they flanked their friend, watching him at work. 

After a few moments, a loud thunk echoed round the cell and Sanghyuk let out a triumphant cry. "Ssh!" Jaewhan and Wonshik hissed, glancing round wildly as if the guard would appear out of nowhere. Luckily, he didn't and Sanghyuk managed to pull the door open without making a sound. "Come on!" He murmured.

"Where are we even going?" Jaewhan asked as he slipped out into the corridor "We can't go back to the house. There will be a manhunt as soon as they realise we are missing!"

"We should go to the king," Wonshik told him firmly, pressing his back up against the wall and beginning to move against it tentatively, motioning for the others to follow "We should alert him of what is happening before we go and find Taekwoon and the others."

"What about Lord Woobin?" Sanghyuk asked.

"He had better hope I don't find him."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"We have just recieved word from the messenger we sent with the princes' carriage, my lord."

"And?" Woobin turned slightly from the window, index finger resting on his upper lip thoughtfully.

The man who had entered the room gulped, his spine becoming erect and palms beginning to sweat. "The sleeping draught has worked," he breathed "The first part of our plan is complete"

"And the carriage will change course towards Ju-guem Ledge?" 

"Already done, my lord. The royal brats will be at the bottom of the gorge by dawn. Finally, after all your years of waiting..."

"Good," Woobin cut in, his mouth twisting into a cruel smile. He had waited years. Playing the diligent advisor, pretending to care about the princes (that was easy though. They were all so desperate to win everybody's approval they were willing to do just about anything) "That is just... excellent."

"The messenger will arrive in the morning with the bad news."

There was a long pause before the man spun on his heel, linking his hands behind his back with a small chuckle "I suppose I should start writing my speech, eh?"

The guard grinned and nodded "Will that be all, sire?"

"Yes. Tell nobody to disturb me until they have that message. I want to be sure that they are out of my way forever."

Well done, boys!!!!!!

Ju-guem Ledge= Death Ledge (the story isn't set in Korea but the Korean sounds better, in my opinion)