He was warm, very warm and comfortable... And so tired... It was like his whole body was made of led... How late had been up last night? 

Taemin snuggled closer into the warmth that was enticing him to stay asleep, somewhere registering that the warmth was both in front and behind him.

After they had fled from the treasury, across the courtyard, back down the secret passageway and back to the crypt, Taemin had thought that they were done for the night... He had been wrong...

Once they had gotten back to the crypt they had snuck out again in the early hours of the morning, to distribute the money they had stolen. 

Usually, Minho had told him, they split up and took different parts of the town, to save time, but because Taemin knew nothing of the town, at all, he had gone with Minho...

Even in his barely awake state Taemin could feel himself blushing.

Minho...

He had gotten closer to Minho last night and felt like he understood him a little better...

~*~Flashback~*~

"Minho..." 

The older boy turned his head to look at him as they walked casually through the back streets. "Hm..."

"why did you start doing this?" 

Taemin could tell by the way Minho stiffened that he had asked the wrong question... "I'm sorry" he said quickly "I was just curious I-"

"No, it's okay, it just took me by surprise... Um..." Minho went quiet again. " You remember I told you that my family died..." Taemin nodded slowly. "Well..." Minho sighed "I grew up with my parents, they, er, didn't die from illness or anything like that... They were killed..." He wasn't sure why but the way Taemin gasped at the sentence made Minho's heart warm a little. He liked the idea of the other caring for him at least a little... 

"What happened?" 

"We had a particularly bad winter... The crops didn't grow... We couldn't pay the taxes..." Taemin could tell where this was going... "Instead of just kicking us out, Alec decided to use my parents to make a point..." Taemin held his breath... "He hanged them..." Taemin stopped walking, unable to control the anger and the grief that built up in him.

Minho stopped beside him, looking at the other whose head, was down, staring at the floor.  "I'm sorry" Taemin whispered, trying to control his voice.

Minho stood in front of the younger watching the way his shoulders shook slightly. "Hey" he said softly, trying to make Taemin look at him, which he didn't. "This isn't your fault and I doubt anyone could have stopped it..." Taemin closed his eyes. He knew it wasn't his fault but he still felt terrible... How could he be related to such a... 

Minho placed his hand under Taemin's chin, lifting his head. "Listen to me, I hate Alec for what he did to my parents, and I have been getting back at him ever since... I miss my parents but I have Key, Jonghyun and Onew... And now I have you too" Taemin whipped his eyes up to Minho's. That annoying blush covered his cheeks again but it was dark and he was wearing a mask so he hoped the other couldn't see it. 

"Me?" 

"Y-yeah..."

The two stood in awkward silence, minds running a mile a minute. 

"Yeah, I guess you do" Taemin said giving Minho a bright smile...

~*~End Flashback~*~

Something jittery and fuzzy had flown through him last night... Something he could not control or explain but it made him feel... happy. 

He smiled to himself before slowly opening his eyes. He came face to face with someone's chest and it took a moment for Taemin to figure out why that was...

They had distributed the money, gone back to the crypt for the last time then... they had gone back to the house... Taemin had all but collapsed when they had gotten back... He must have fallen asleep instantly when he hit the bed... 

Wait!  How long had he been out!?

Taemin flung himself into a sitting position frantically looking at his surroundings. He was in bed with the others, Onew on one side of him and Minho on the other, his wild movements causing the other four to stir. 

It was light outside but Taemin prayed it was still morning, he had to get back to the castle before someone found out he was missing! He scrambled out of the bed, having to climb over Minho to do so, noticing he was already dressed, or rather he hadn't gotten undressed last night. 

"You okay?"

Taemin spun round from panicking to see Minho sitting up, groggily rubbing his eyes on the bed... Taemin thought he looked kind of cute...

"Yeah, I just really need to get back home."

"You want me to go with you?"

"No it's okay, you go back to sleep" Taemin said with a smile. Minho looked just as tired as he was... if he didn't have to dash off he would have stayed in the bed with them all...

"You sure?" Minho asked, resisting the urge to lie back down. 

"I'm positive" Taemin chuckled softly before going over to Minho and ruffling his hair like Minho had done to him so many times over the last couple of days. "Go back to sleep."

"Okay..." Minho yawned lying down again. "You'll come back to visit us again right?" 

"You can count on it. Now sleep!"

Minho chuckled tiredly, eyes closing... just before he lost himself to the darkness of sleep he could have sworn he felt a pair of lips on his forehead...

~*~

Taemin ran down the cobbled streets. There seemed to be quite a few people about and that made Taemin worry. The whole fact that he was away from the castle wasn't known to anyone in it beside Dee Dee and Tom... it was the two of them that had helped him get out in the first place...

~*~Flashback~*~

"I don't care how, but tomorrow you are getting out of here and warning Flame..."

Taemin just stared at his sister blankly. 

"Did you hear me?"

"How on earth am I meant to do that? I have no idea who he is!"

"But Minnie you have to! Lord only knows what'll happen if Flame gets caught!"

"Dee Dee, don't bring your infatuation with him into this!"

"I'm not! You know I'm right!"

Taemin sighed loudly and went over to his bed, collapsing onto it, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. "Let's say that I do by some miracle, slip away from the thugs Alec has watching my every move and get out, how the hell am I meant to find Flame?" 

"I don't know..." Dee Dee whispered. Taemin felt the bed dip as she sat down next to him. "But Minnie... we're the only ones who know about this... we have to help some how..." she said quietly. Taemin knew that she was right but again he was fighting with himself... he knew nothing of Flame... nothing at all... 

What could he do anyway? They only people he knew outside of the castle were Minho, Key, Jonghyun and Onew... Maybe they could help... but then, what was the chance of that?

"Minnie please?" 

Taemin sighed again... "Fine..." but I can't promise anything-" Taemin was cut off by Dee Dee jumping on him and hugging him tightly. 

"Thank you!" 

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Taemin Sir..." 

"It's only Tom, you can let him in..." Dee Dee crossed the door to do so. 

"Oh, good evening Lady Devaro..."

"Come in quick" she whispered dragging the boy in and locking the door once more. 

Quickly, and quietly, the siblings filled in the serving boy with the details. 

"Miss I agree with your brother, how is he meant to find Flame?"

"I don't know, but I trust him!" 

Taemin rolled his eyes... he had better hope he didn't let her down... "How about we take things one problem at a time?"

The two just looked at Taemin, waiting for him to continue. "How the hell do I loose the guards and get out..?"

~*~End Flashback~*~

It had not been easy getting out... In fact the plan to do so had been so over blown he knew that Alec and his guards would never guess what they were up to...

~*~Flashback~*~

Taemin slammed his door loudly, locking it and screaming in frustration, loud enough for anyone outside to hear it. 

"Come back out here this minute!" Came a yell from the other side of the door. 

"Not on your life!"

"Come here NOW!" 

"Go screw yourself! Don't talk to me! I don't want to hear from you! Or anyone! I hate you! I hate this place so OFF!" 

"Young man you will regret this!" With that footsteps marched away from the other side of the door, immediately he relaxed... He really hoped saving Flame would be worth the trouble he would get in later...

"Minnie..." Oh yeah... he still had to go through the whole act with Dee Dee...

"What!" he yelled adding a touch of childish anger to his voice. 

"Taemin, come out here!"

"No I wont! Go away!"

"Minnie, how long do you plan to stay in there?"

"As long as possible!"

"You can't stay in there forever..."

"You just watch me!"

"Fine...! See if I care..." And with that she also marched away... again Taemin relaxed, glad everything was over... 

The idea... admittedly a rather ridiculous one, was to make it look like Taemin had barricaded himself in his room like a stubborn child, therefore giving him an alibi for his disappearance... the only problem was figuring out why he would do so in the first place...

The three had decided that he should get into a fight with Alec, ensuring that the man knew where he was and what was going on. The topic of choice had been easy; Flame... from there it was easy to scale up the argument... 

Of course now he was in his room, the people following him would be stationed outside his room, watching the door. It was now down to Dee Dee and Tom to make the illusion that he was still in his room believable. They would periodically, throughout the day, come to his door, to bring him food and console him to no avail... but of course he wouldn't be there...

Taemin walked over to his bed and pulled out a length of rope Tom had smuggled into the room with his breakfast that morning and walked over to his balcony.

He looked down and gulped. His room was on the north side of the castle so below his window, and the rest of the castle, was the edge of the cliff and a very long drop to the forest floor... God he'd better get this right.

He tied the long length of rope to the balcony, checking, re-knotting, checking again and double knotting the rope to the balcony bars. before tossing the rope over the side.

Because of where his room was, there was no chance anyone would see the rope hanging off the side like that.

Below him, a window opened. the window was directly below the balcony, and Tom poked his head out having seen the rope.

Steeling his nerves and taking a deep breath, Taemin climbed over the balcony and began shimmying down the rope to the lower window. "Don't look down..." the noble muttered... and he was determined not to...

Eventually, he reached the window below his room and with a soft swing, he was back in the building.

He let out a shaky breath and gave Tom an equally shaky smile... "I never want to do that again..." he confessed, not wanting to look back at the window...

"Well, we both know you have to..."

Taemin just grimaced...

Tom ran over to the door of the bedroom they were in... an unused bedroom which was why it was perfect for what they were doing. "The coast seems clear, go and be quick..."

"Thanks Tom..." Taemin whispered before dashing down the hallway...

~*~End Flashback~*~ 

After that it had just been a question of getting through the castle, unseen, to the secret passageway, which wasn't difficult seeing as the guards that usually followed him were posted outside his room one floor above him...

But now, he had to get back to his room without being seen... and quickly...

Taemin ran, as fast as he could, through the streets, ignoring any and all looks he was getting. Avoiding the roads he ran straight into the forest, heading straight for the cliff face. When he reached said cliff face, he was exhausted and out of breath. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to run all the way here...

The doubled over, trying to catch his breath before dashing towards the passage's entrance. As he ran in the dark, he tried to suppress memories of the last couple of times he'd been in the tunnel for fear of grinning like an idiot. 

When he reached the bedroom he changed his clothing in a blur and ran into the castle. He stayed as quiet as possible, avoiding crossing anyone. In about fifteen minutes he'd reached the bedroom below his own and headed for the still open window. He grabbed the rope which was dangling through it and took a moment to catch his breath... He'd done this before... he'd be fine... He'd had to climb a rope to get back up to the battlements last night and this wasn't even half of that distance... he would be fine... there was just a longer drop if he did fall... just a little...

He climbed out of the window, closing his eyes to stop him looking down, and began to climb upwards quickly...

As he got closer to his room he frowned... he could hear shouting... Oh crap... it was Alec outside his bedroom. He scampered up the rope as quick as he could and hauled himself onto the balcony... okay... now he felt he was going to collapse. 

"Do not toy with me boy! Open this door right now!" Alec sounded furious... it probably had something to do with the fact Flame hadn't been caught last night. 

"Oh shut up!" Taemin yelled back whilst frantically untying the rope from the balcony. He ran into his room and hid the rope under his bed, noticing the silence from behind the door, it seemed no one had expected him to answer. He'd made back just in time. 

"This has gone on long enough! I may not be your father but whilst he's away I am your guardian!" Alec yelled back, the sentence making Taemin that little bit angry. 

"Come out here show me some respect or I swear I will make your life a living hell!"

You already do... Taemin thought to himself, but he'd been gone longer than he'd meant to. He had meant to come back last night, not stay out... Still, that didn't mean he wanted to see hide nor hair of his uncle...

Regretfully he opened his door to glare at the man. 

"I hope you're happy!" he spat. 

"With what?! Taemin spat back. 

"There was no sign of Flame last night, just like you wanted; he got away"

Taemin stared at his uncle unsure of what reaction to show... of course he already knew that Flame hadn't been caught and he wanted to laugh in his uncle's face because of it but he wasn't sure how to act. Fortunately for Taemin, Alec kept talking. 

"How you've acted over the last day has been unacceptable! You keep this up and I will not allow you to go anywhere ever again!" Taemin glared at Alec. What was he? Ten?

"You shall be watched very carefully from now on!"

Oh, you're telling me this time round?

"I cannot trust you alone! You shall be accompanied everywhere"

"What!" Taemin yelled. What had he done to deserve this!? All he'd done was argue with his uncle! 

"You heard me! Siwon!" From behind Alec a tall and broad shouldered man with dark hair and equally dark eyes walked forward. "Siwon will shadow everything you do and ensure you behave."

"I'm to old for a baby sitter" Taemin argued not liking the way Siwon was smirking... he looked cold through and through, therefore exactly like someone he expect to work for his uncle. 

"Think of him more as a body guard-"

"I'll think of him how I want to!"

"Child, you brought this on yourself!"

"How!" Taemin yelled. "You really are a self centered, shallow, little man!" he continued, not needing to act his rage towards the man.

WHACK!

It took Taemin a moment to register what had just happened... Alec had just struck him! Across the face... He whipped his head up, glaring at Alec, fist balled at his sides. 

"Do not think you can fight me and win Child..." Alec sneered before turning on his heel and marching down the corridor. "I expect you in the dining hall promptly when dinner is served!" Alec yelled without looking back leaving Taemin in the door way facing his new "minder". 

He slammed the door in Siwon's face and marched across the room to his bed flinging himself face first on it. He was not upset and in no way did he regret sneaking out but he was so angry. Angry at Alec and the that was now standing outside his door... but he was also smug. His actions had upset Alec and angered him. As soon as he could do it again he would. He would sneak out again and he would work with flame again, and again so he could hurt Alec as much as possible! 

"Taemin?" 

"What?" Taemin managed to muffle out from his face being buried in his covers. He knew the voice belonged to his sister but he had no desire to move. 

"Can we come in..?" He guessed that by we she meant her and Tom. 

"Yeah..." he called out softly, he could use the comfort. He heard his door open, the two come in before closing the door and locking it behind them. Taemin turned his head, out of his covers, rather happy that could breathe properly again to look at the worried faces of his sister and manservant.

"What happened last night?" Tom asked in a hushed voice. 

"You look terrible!"

Despite himself Taemin chuckled at Dee Dee's bluntness before sitting up and beginning his story... He wouldn't tell them everything, and he would leave out names as well, but he was eager to share his night with them... After all it was more than likely he would call upon them for help again in the near future...

~*~

Guys, I love you ^^ I smiled so much when I read your comments... they just made me want to write ^^ So I wrote the next chapter, quite quickly I think ^^

Sorry not much happened in this one but it introduced a new villain (I'm sorry Siwon fans) and explained a few things ^^ Either way, I hope you enjoyed it and again don't hesitate to tell me if I've left you confused...

Please comment to let me know what you think ^^

Love you subscribers ^^