*wipes dust off of laptop*

~~       

The prince groans aloud as the sharp heel of the man’s booth connects with his torso. Unable to catch his balance he stumbles onto his knees. Clutching his side, he looks up, scowling at the enthusiastic grin on the knight’s face. He recognizes the man as one of his fath…one of the Overlord’s trusted men, his name, Elen.

The man was in charge of training the new knights and had been one of Kyuhyun’s mentors at a younger age. Kyuhyun had had great respect for Elen, but now, with all the big reveals that had taken place previously, Kyuhyun would himself analyzing everyone in a brand new light.

These men, whom he had trusted, who he practically grew up thinking were as close as family, they were all lying to him, giving him a false identity while smirking at his ignorance behind his back. He wonders briefly if Elen would be so quick to fight him if he knew the slave he was currently mistreating was the young prince he had taught to hold a sword.

Luna jabs her elbow into the side of Elen’s face, catching him on the nose which gives a loud crack under the blow. However, before she can continue demolishing Elen’s face; another knight strikes at her with his sword, causing her to tuck and roll onto the ground.

Seeing that Eunhyuk is also busy fighting two of his fellow knights at once, Kyuhyun decides that it is time enough that he did something other than cowardly hide.

The confidence is barely flowing back into him when Elen grabs his hair, yanking on it so hard that he has no choice but to be physically drawn in the direction of the tug. Elen doesn’t loosen the grip and instead makes a game of roughly shaking Kyuhyun’s head back and forth like a rag doll.

Unable to contain a shriek at the sudden snap his neck gave from the abuse, Kyuhun lashes out with a blind punch which accidentally lands on Elen’s crotch, causing the other man to howl in surprise. Elen’s fist loosens enough and Kyuhyun desperately tugs free, wincing as a few strands are forcibly left behind. It seemed like everyone loved to torture him by pulling his hair! By the time Yesung got his body back, the poor lad would have a bald spot. Standing quickly, Kyuhyun does not give Elen another moment before hitting him square in the jaw.

Immediately after delivering the blow Kyuhyun’s feels Yesung’s hand cramp up in a flare of pain and fire. He has no choice but to shake it childishly as if to cool it down. Yesung’s inexperienced, delicate knuckles are already turning a bright angry red but fortunately the hit was powerful enough to take Elen down. The knight scowls up at Kyuhyun, looking ready to stand and fight again, and then he laughs, the blood from his lip.

            “I can see why the prince kept you around. When I’m done with you I’m going to you ti-“

The tip of a thick leather boot connects with Elen’s head; the strength of it is enough to smack the man’s head into the concrete, sending the man into a complete state of unconsciousness. Kyuhyun looks over at Luna, who just shrugs at him, her breathing a little heavy from the fight.

            “He’s lucky I don’t see a broom stick anywhere or I’d shove it up his and see if he likes being ”

She is frowning angrily at Elen when Hyukjae decides to wave a sword in front of her.

            “You can use this instead” the former knight offers.

Kyuhyun shoots Hyukjae a shocked look.

The first pound against the door, rattles it’s loudly, the sound jolting the occupants out of their conversation. They all eye the door, the noise of someone yelling orders can be heard from the other side. Suzy runs from where she had been sitting in a corner of the room and practically glues herself to Yesung’s left leg.

            “Wh-“ the intruders slam against the door again.

Yesung looks away from the shaking wooden seal that separates them from their enemies and locks eyes with Donghae.

            “It looks like we’re going to have a fight on our hands?” the young slave comments, a small smile on his face even as his voice cracks a little.

Donghae cannot control the wince that rattles his body as the door gets pounded into again.

            “That door isn’t going to hold them off for long” Lovelace grumbles, wringing his hands nervously in front of him. The older man’s eyes flick over to the weapons on display and he wonders whether or not he should arm himself just in case.

Amber doesn’t hestitate before striding confidently over to the display and grabbing a crossbow for herself. Lovelace watches in horror as the heavily pregnant woman readies herself for battle. Siwon helps her strap on the quiver, loading several arrows into it. Siwon grabs the nearest sword and slides it across the floor until it bumps into Donghae’s foot. The slave shrieks in terror, jumping back from the weapon as if it were a deadly snake. Amber and Siwon roll their eyes at him.

            “C-can’t I get something…smaller and, and less s-sharp?”

Siwon snorts at him, “Sure. You can use a few of those papers over there. I’m sure all those mean knights will just run in fear when you start handing out paper cuts”

Donghae frowns at Siwon, then looks at the papers. “Paper cuts sting really badly” he says confidently, and moves forward to grab himself some papers.

Yesung’s eyes flicker around the room, uncertain and desperate. The throne room was large and spacious with a long table in its center. Velvety red carpet covered the entire surface of it while the walls were painted with elegant streams of ruby red and gold. There a large bookcase to the right of it and the King’s throne sat above 3 stairs on a wide pedestal of sorts.

            “This is where the Belmont King and his men usually met right?” Yesung asks Siwon, shifting his gaze toward Lovelace, directing the questioning at the both of them.

Lovelace nods.

Yesung turned back to face Siwon, “Then-then there must be some other way out. Some-some kind of secret passage” he remembers reading about them in the romance novels that Jessica used to collect.

Comprehending Yesung’s implication, Siwon scans the room briefly. The Overlord had never mentioned an exit in this room, but surely the Belmont king would have probably had one built just in case.

Yesung points toward the large collection of books, “The bookcase! Maybe one of the books is a key to an opening in the wall” His mother enjoyed reading about the great detective Mitt Baman and his trustee companion Kai Moria. Yesung had never been into mystery novels, he preferred reading about s being deflowered by their ruggedly handsome prince in their castles, but he had read enough of Mitt’s books in order to figure out that secret rooms are usually either behind the bookcase or a trapdoor under the carpet.

As Siwon and Amber practically tear the books off the shelf, Yesung, Lovelace and Donghae work quickly on ridding the floor of its covering. This time when the door is butted against, Yesung freezes as he hears a shattering sound. The wood was beginning to weaken under the blows and it wouldn’t be long before it gave way completely.

In another 5 minutes, they have not found any trapdoors and Siwon is down to his last three books. Amber wastes no time in pulling them off the shelf but nothing happens. There is no sound of the bookcase creaking open to reveal a hidden passage and it literally burns them all a little as they curse their bad luck.

The wood splinters once, then another blow causes the middle of it to shatter open, a spiderweb of cracks carve their way through the entire length of the door.

            “The-the prince is there!” a voice none of them recognizes shouts.

An unfamiliar face pops into view via the new hole in the door. Dark eyes scan the interior of the room in one swift gaze,

            “He has a pregnant hostage and-and oh my God, they have a child in there with them” the face disappears.

            “Those ing erts!” another voice screams. “Break this door down, now!”

Ignoring the continuous pounding on the door, Siwon whirls around on his heel, an idea hot in his mind. He narrows his eyes at the King’s throne. If the King of Belmont were to build a secret room, would it not be close to his central seating area?

Siwon makes a run for the throne, practically jumping over the tiny stairs. His hands make quick work of running along the expensive wood that the chair was constructed from and the plushie cushions that were implanted in it. .

            “Siwon! What-“

Just as Siwon finds a lever under the arm rest of the chair, the door finally gives way under the pressure and splits open.

Cranking the lever backwards, Siwon is caught off guard as the chair shifts forward promptly.

            “Yesung! Get the others”

Thankfully Yesung had already been watching and as soon as he saw the chair move he had already been shoving Lovelace and the others toward it.

The newcomers aren’t pleased with what they see and this is how Yesung and his friends find themselves ducking for cover as an array of arrows are fired at them. Yesung practically rams Donghae into the hole that had been lying under the throne. Donghae is quick to confirm that he landed safely. With a quick breath of relief, Lovelace lowers Suzy into the hole and follows after. Yesung helps Amber down as well, he could not have been bothered to worry about where the tunnel led them, all he knew was that it was their only way out at the moment.

            “Siwon, get over here” Yesung yells angrily as he watches Siwon run over to display to grab a sword.

Slicing an arrow in two, Siwon makes his way back over to Yesung.

            “Just go! I’ll hold them off while you guys make a run for it”

Yesung gapes at this. What?! Was Siwon serious?

            “No! No, you’re coming too” Yesung demands, him and Siwon duck behind the throne in order to avoid the arrows. Yesung gives Siwon’s arm a rough shove, hoping to send the other man into the hole. Siwon barely budges.

For a moment their eyes lock, Yesung’s burning with frustration, while Siwon’s was shining with amusement however his face was reflecting aspects of worry.

            “I wish we could’ve done this one better terms” the guard whispers, casting his eyes downward.

            “Done wha-“

The words are stolen as Siwon’s mouth covers his. The brief kiss is desperate and messy and Yesung pulls back in shock.

            “I wish I was looking at your face, rather than Kyuhyun’s” Siwon cradles Yesung’s chin, leaving the other boy speechless for a moment. This provides the perfect opportunity to shove Yesung into the hole. Yesung barely has time to scream as he plunges downward into the darkness.

Grabbing the lever, Siwon pulls back sharply on it, breaking it off and allowing the chair to return to its former position, covering the hole and hopefully giving Yesung and others time enough to escape.

Two arrows strike him before he can lift the sword again.

~~

I would like to take this moment to apologize for being a crappy person. I am sorry, I really don't have any excuse other than SCHOOL. As a future teacher, I should really learn to implement better time management skills. I hope everyone is doing well! :D This chapter was really, really short (especially when comapred to others) but rather than make you wait another 2 weeks for it to reach 8k words, I figured I might as well post it.

And before you ask,

Yes,

Siwon is dead

....nah I'm kidding.

Or am I?