Leo stiffened as Wonshik touched his stomach. Close, too close. Don't touch there. He screwed his eyes shut and let out a muffled whimper as the other man dragged him to the space behind the curtain- so if it was pushed open, they wouldn't be detected right away. Wonshik cussed under his breath and removed his hand from Leo's mouth in order to grab the hilt of the dagger at his belt. The prince bit his lip and began to struggle once more. But Wonshik held him fast by tightening his grip. 

"W- What-"

"Ssh!"

Leo huffed and twisted slightly, seeing Wonshik fiddling with something  "What's stopping me from letting them kill you and going back home?" Wonshik sighed heavily and rolled his eyes "We are going back home, Taekwoon." They could both hear the commotion outside gradually getting louder; yelling, crates being kicked over and emptied, horses whinnying in fear, and the crackling of fire. Somebody was shuffling round outside and Wonshik covered Leo's mouth once more- he couldn't risk him doing anything to expose them. It would get them both killed if he were to yell for help. And if the thieves recognised him as a neighbouring prince, Hell, they would probably abduct him and sell him to another kingdom as a political hostage, or maybe worse. 

He wouldn't let that happen.

The shuffling got louder and the curtain fluttered slightly, causing Wonshik to tense and step back, relinquishing his grip on Leo's stomach and holding the dagger up in defense.  

The fabric shifted once more and was pulled back. They heard voices now.

"Are they in here?"

"Yeah, he'll be hiding the prince, won't he?"

"We need to get them and go. Have you got the supplies?"

"I grabbed everything I could see."

"Good, we need to get the prince and take him to the King before it's too late."

Wonshik growled and twisted so he was covering the frightened prince, looking over his shoulder and raising his weapon ready to slash down at the attacker from behind. Bastards. Leo blinked back tears as he looked back seeing a hand appear and somebody step forwards into the tent. 

Wonshik swung his dagger down with a feral cry.

"Oh my God!"

The soldier froze as the figure screamed and threw themselves on the floor with their hands cupping the top of their head. "J- Jaehwan?"

Upon hearing his voice, the elder jumped up, all fear forgotten, and smacked Wonshik hard "You almost killed me, you !" Leo took the oppurtunity to bite the hand round his mouth and pull away, tripping and stumbling to his knees. He scrambled to sit up and saw everybody staring wide-eyed at him as Wonshik cradled his now injured hand. "You bit me!" He cried, as if that was the biggest issue right now. 

"You wouldn't let me go," the lost prince shrugged as he got back to his feet, brushing himself off. 

Hakyeon couldn't help but smirk slightly at his little brother; he really hadn't changed that much. "We have to get moving. We managed to get some supplies and two horses before the others were taken. There were so many of them..."

"It was a hoard," Sanghyuk explained "They're rampant in this half of King Gongchan's country. We hid in the shrubbery before they could find us- we fought some off but-"

"Great," Wonshik nodded affirmative, grabbing Leo's wrist and striding towards the exit "We'll start off now and rally what men are left."

"There aren't any left," Jaehwan cut in, lowering his head and causing the younger to stop in his tracks.

Hakyeon gulped and his eyes flickered to Leo, who's jaw had dropped in shock "We only had a small camp. The last of them was killed stopping them reaching here." 

"I shot the bastard after that," Sanghyuk grunted, raising his bow. The quiver on his back was empty. "We're on our own."

Wonshik cursed under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. What were they supposed to do now? No men, not enough horses, no supplies... the mission to find Woobin and get Prince Taekwoon home to Nydlica seemed a lost cause. "We'll have to get to King Gongchan's palace and appeal to him for help," Hakyeon told them all desicively "It is our best option now."

"But... Is it a good idea to let him know the prince is alive?" Sanghyuk questioned. Jaehwan nodded in agreement. Who knew how he'd react? Taekwoon- or Leo's- amnesia would cause too many probems. "He'll be a little overwhelmed, don't you think?"

Leo listened silently as they began to bicker over what to do. He pulled his wrist out of Wonshik's slackened grip and moved over to where he had been sleeping, packing up all his things neatly and putting them in his little satchel. He ran his hands through his long hair, trying to neaten it before he took a small piece of string from his pocket and tied it at the base of his neck, a few locks escaping and falling into his face. He really had to write to the Father at some point.

"It's our only choice!" Hakyeon argued. Wonshik bit his lip and sighed "He's right, guys. Taekwoon will be safer at the king's palace. From there, we can get word to King Hongbin and organise reinforcements-"

"But Prince Taekwoon!" Jaehwan snapped back "He's already beyond scared straight of us, can you imagine what he'll be like at a palace?"

"I'd appreciate it if you did not speak for me, sir knight," Leo suddenly interrupted, getting back to his feet and slinging his satchel over his shoulder. "You are both right." Everybody turned with wide eyes as he came forward, holding his head high for the first time since they had first met him. "We clearly need support but he's right- I don't feel comfortsable with you- we've known each other for a not more than a day." Wonshik was about to argue but stopped himself. Leo took a deep breath and shook his head "Look, the point it, the sooner you all take me to wherever you are; fix whatever is wrong with me, the sooner I can see the Father again, right?"

Nobody gave a verbal answer. It dawned on them that at some point they would have to tell Leo about what had happened to their parents; how the man who had killed his mother had tried to kill him and that his father, real father, was also dead. Sanghyuk sighed and gave a small shrug "We need a plan then, some way nobody will know he's the prince."

Everybody thought for a moment.

"I could disguise as a servant?" Leo suggested "Or a squire maybe?" That seemed more likely since it was clear Wonshik wasn't going to let him out of his sight. He had many questions he wanted to ask him anyway. But Jaehwan shook his head "They'll recognise your face, your highness."

"Then I will cover it- I'll wear a hood, like the monks at the church."

Wonshik couldn't help but laugh at his naivity, slinging an arm over Leo's shoulder. "That will arouse more suspicion," he chuckled. The prince growled and shook him off "Well, I do not see any of you coming up with anything!" 

"What about a soldier?" Sanghyuk asked "Like, we take one of the dead soldiers' uniforms and dirty his face a bit-"

"I am not letting you put my lov- Uh, I mean the prince in a dead man's coat!" Wonshik shouted, cheeks reddening at his slip up. Luckily, Leo didn't seem to have noticed.

"I've got it!"

They all looked to see Hakyeon snap his fingers and turn to them all with a large smile. "I have the perfect plan."

Okay, angels, call it. What's his plan gonna be??????

Also, some of you may remember, I entered the National Young Writer's Contest a while back. Sadly, I didn't win. The winner was a sort of 'Sixth Sense' style piece and the runner up was a poem about the sensation of waking up. But I am happy to have been one of 20 finalists out of 4000 entries across the UK. The winners worked hard and I am really happy for them ^^

Thank you to you all for reading and subscribing- hope you're enjoying it so far. Virtual group hug!!!

<3