I present to you, the full chapter this time round guys. Enjoy!

~*~

When Minho had first seen Taemin or "Tom" come through the bedroom door he had initially panicked. His first thought was that he had been found out and now had to run. 

He was pleasantly surprised to see the younger boy collapse against the door. He could assume that it had not been easy for the younger to get to the bedroom. 

He couldn't help but stare at the others clothing though. There was no longer any shadow of a doubt now that the boy was a noble... And Minho had to admit that he looked good in the clothing. 

He had been ready to jump with happiness when Taemin had said he had been on his way to find them. He had never expected it to be this easy to find the younger boy. In fact he had been planning to sneak around the castle until he found a certain nobles bedroom... 

But now there would be no need.

Once they were ready to go with Taemin having changed clothing, they peered out of the bedroom door. For now all was quiet. 

"Have you been to the serving quarters before?" Taemin asked quietly. 

"A few times" Minho whispered back. "It's not a trip we make often but we thought it best to remind them that the gang still remembered them."

"And it conveniently gave you an excuse to enter the castle and look for me right?" Taemin asked with a small smirk.

Minho smirked back. "That might have had something to do with it..." he admitted. The two shared a smile before Minho decided to become serious again. 

"Is the castle heavily guarded?" He asked Taemin and the younger nodded. 

"It was ridiculously hard just getting to this bedroom unseen. Alec's spent most of the time gloating about what he's done in the town. In fact he's probably still eating his dinner right now".

Minho thought for a moment with a frown. "That poses a problem..." He said slowly. "You know that usually we wait until a lot later at night to enter the castle and with more guards around it will me harder to go unseen". 

"So then do we wait here?" Taemin asked softly. "Until it gets later?"

Minho shook his head. "We cant. Especially if someone figures out you're missing and guards start searching for you". 

Both boys went silent. Taemin looking at the floor and Minho looking off to the side. It came as no shock to Taemin that the other knew who he was. It wasn't like he had hidden the fact very well. 

"So then we go now?" Taemin asked breaking the silence. 

Minho nodded curtly. "Yep in and out as quickly as possible." 

"Then we need to get to the back of the castle to get to the service quarters... That's practically on the other side of the castle...." Taemin bit his lip. 

"I know and we need to do so unseen..."

"We need to get back unseen as well" Taemin mumbled. They were quiet for a moment and then he spoke up. "I suggest we avoid staying inside the castle. The guards are on patrol everywhere... so I'd say the battlements or the courtyard..."

"The courtyard" Minho decisively. "We'll be too exposed on the battlements. They're like long passageways. if there are guards up there we would have no where to hide and no where to run to..."

"It might be difficult getting to the courtyard" Taemin said softly. He wasn't disagreeing with Minho but thinking out loud. The route to the battlement was one set of stairs, the same route they had used to raid the castle and rob the treasury. But heading to the courtyard straight from the bedroom they were in meant ducking and hiding in various corridors and passage ways before even getting outside.

As always the courtyard was badly lit, once outside and hugging the walls of the courtyard the chances of them being seen was very slim. It was getting there that would be the problem.   

"We're going to have to try..." Minho sighed. "I don't want to risk the chance of us going onto the battlement and being caught from in front and behind, getting out again would be near impossible. Besides" He said with a smile. "What's hiding from a few guards to us anyway" Taemin smiled back at him. "They haven't caught us in the past have they"

Taemin shook his head with a smile. "Let's go then" Taemin said softly and the boys shared a nod. 

With bags slung over their shoulder, rapiers strapped to their sides and masks covering their eyes the two slowly edged open the door. "There will be more guards the further into the castle we go" Taemin said quietly. "This part of the south east wing is almost completely abandoned."

"Almost?" Minho echoed. 

"Well we use it don't we?" Taemin replied with a smile. 

Minho chuckled and opened the door wider. They took a deep breath and fled into the corridor. 

Whether by skill or fortune they saw no one as they moved through the castle, and while this allowed them easy access to the courtyard, something didn't feel right. As they stepped out into the night air of the dark courtyard Taemin whispered back to the Minho. 

"I don't like this.... It was like an obstacle course trying to get to that bedroom... it hasn't even been half an hour... Where has everyone gone?"

"Maybe they're looking for you" Minho said quietly. Taemin stayed quiet. Would Alec be so mad with his disappearance that he would call all the guards from their posts just to find him. Alec was expecting Flame to retaliate for what he had done to the town, that's why there were so many guards on patrol in the first place. Why then call all the guards back just to look for him..? Though he had seemed to royally piss Alec off, which both amused and satisfied him at the same time. Alec probably was just desperate to know where he went when he disappeared. Alec probably had no clue that he could leave the castle without him knowing. 

As expected they made it across the wide courtyard easily and slipped back into the building. 

The northern end of the castle was, like the east, on the edge of the cliff. There was nothing behind it beside a sheer drop effectively making it the back of the castle. It was here that the castle servants lived and worked.

Along with living accommodation, the back of the castle consisted of the kitchens, the laundry rooms and the store rooms including a large wine cellar which was rumored to be like a maze. To get to the servant living quarters, you had to pass through the Kitchen or the Laundry, depending on which dormitories you were heading for. 

Minho and Taemin aimed to enter both sides of the service quarters and drop of the bags of money and so with determined minds they ventured into the Kitchens. 

The kitchens led onto both the living areas and the laundry. They moved through the empty, though incredibly large kitchen, making for the hallways that lead to the first lot of dormitories. 

"I didn't expect the kitchens to be deserted..." Minho muttered. "Even at night preparations are usually being made for the next day..."

"Then everyone's been ordered to stop for the day..." Taemin concluded, though neither boy liked the conclusion. Something wasn't right...

Along the corridor were various doors and behind them, supposedly lived all the people who worked in the castle. Though for a place that housed so many people, everything was silent.

The two boys looked at each other and opened the first door. 

They were greeted by a large room, almost a kin to a hall. Stone walls and floors with no windows. Taemin found it hard to see though the gloom but he could make out a few candles flickering here and there, and the more he saw as his eyes adjusted, the less he wanted to see. 

There were no beds. Only blankets covering the cold floors with bodies packed tightly next to one another to try to stave off the cold of the night. Everywhere he looked Taemin could see people. They all seemed to be asleep and all of them seemed cold. It was horrible. There were piles of clothing and belongings crammed between sleeping bodies and pushed up against walls. Taemin could even separate groups of people huddling together. He assumed they were families or groups of friends. 

But despite his outrage Taemin stayed silent. Tom lived like this with his mother everyday and Taemin had known nothing about it. Tom had said that the people in the castle were better off than those in the village but Taemin couldn't decide if he believed it of not. Admittedly those in the service of the castle were less likely to starve but what Taemin could see in front of him was not what he called living. 

"Where do we leave the money" Taemin whispered, eyes not leaving the scene in front of him. He could already tell that trying to give every family a individual bag would be too time consuming and climbing over people to get to others would only lead to someone waking up. 

Minho had watched Taemin's reaction from the moment they had opened the door and was not surprised by the looks that took over the other's face. He had assumed, like how the younger had known nothing of how the town was suffering , he knew nothing of the living accommodation of the those who worked in the castle.

It was a sight Minho also hated. Taemin looked deadly serious to the point where Minho could tell he was furious. Taemin was keeping calm, mind on the mission but the sight of atrocious living conditions had struck a nerve with the younger. 

"We leave one of the bags" Minho said quietly. "We leave the other in the other set of dormitories. It's what we've done in the past. This room will share the bags contents out with everyone in the dormitories this side of the kitchens and they'll do the same on the other side". 

"They're not fit to be called dormitories" Taemin said coldly before sighing. Minho crept forward into the room and after stepping over a few people left the brown sack he had been carrying next to a pile of bags before rejoining Taemin and closing the door. 

Once the door was closed Taemin let out a long breath. The servant's couldn't have always lived like that surely? In fact Taemin was positive it was all down to Alec. 

"You okay?" Minho whispered, jolting Taemin out of his thoughts and making him jump. The younger nodded.

"How will they know it's from Flame?" Taemin asked to take his mind off of what he just witnessed.

"There is a short note in the bag..." Minho said quietly. "They're good people despite the way they've been treated. They'll share out the money, as they've done in the past..."

Taemin nodded again but stayed silent. He wasn't sure if he could say anything at the moment without sounding angry and he didn't want Minho to think he was upset with him because he was being snappy. 

Minho could see it though, the internal struggle in Taemin's masked eyes and put a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's okay" He said quietly. Taemin raised his head to look at Minho. "We'll help them, don't worry" and despite himself Taemin managed a small smile. 

"Let's drop off this bag shall we" Taemin asked quietly whilst shrugging the should the bag containing the money was currently resting on. 

Minho nodded and they headed back into the kitchens and into the laundry rooms again passing no one.

The air was different in the laundry rooms. You could feel it as soon as you entered. The whole room smelt damp and the air felt heavy. It was warm in here as well. But it wasn't a nice kind of warm. Taemin could only imagine what it was like working in the laundry room when there was actual work going on. There were vents on the walls and ceiling no doubt to let the steam that would surely fill up the room escape. 

Taemin didn't find this part of the castle appealing at all. He even doubted that this room, filled with it's huge tubs of water was even originally designed for this kind of work.... Just another way Alec was suppressing people. 

But seeing as there was no one in here either the two boys passed through it just as quietly and quickly as the rest of their journey thus far. 

They reached the other dormitories and upon opening the first door, Taemin found that these rooms were no different, or in any way better than the rooms on the other side of the kitchen. He tried not to think about it. 

They dropped off the bag they same way they had done in the other room and quietly but they hadn't even made it three steps before someone appeared at the end of the corridor and saw them. They were caught...

"Tom?" Taemin whispered in relief making Minho glance at him. When he had seen someone come round the corner his heart had stopped. Minho couldn't help glance back and forth between Tom and Taemin, it appeared the two knew each other. 

Tom had been just as shocked. It wasn't every day you turned the corner to your "room" and saw two cloaked figures completely dressed in black with swords strapped to their sides. But he didn't say anything as Taemin said his name aloud, trying to put two and two together in order to come up with the correct answer. In the end he replied politely to Taemin. "What are you doing in this part of the castle?" 

Upon hearing Tom speak Taemin felt a little more at ease. "We're dropping off a couple of presents" Taemin replied with a smile. 

Tom couldn't help but grin. "It will be much appreciated" the serving boy stated. 

"Well... Tom..." Minho said slowly, side glancing at Taemin, who promptly looked to the side. "We wanted to show those in the castle we haven't forgotten about you" He said now looking at Tom. 

"Ah, yes, um, Tom..." Taemin managed to get out. "This is Flame" Gesturing to Minho. Tom's face burst into a smile. 

"I never thought I get to me the outlaw Flame himself" he grinned. He had already guessed that Taemin was dressed up in such a way and with someone else also dressed in the same attire because he was with the outlaw gang... and that actually explained a few things. Like where, for instance, Taemin had disappeared to. 

"Well I'm glad I could meet you too" said Minho " I take it you take you look after him when he's not with us?" he asked gesturing to Taemin. 

"That I do" Tom replied with a smile. Taemin for his part just pouted. But Tom's face fell and he became serious and quiet. " Alec is looking for you, you know..." he directed at Taemin. 

"He knows you're gone and he's furious..." Tom glanced at Minho, not knowing how much he should say in front of him seeing as he didn't know if Minho actually knew who Taemin was. " I went to your room to see if you were there but it was empty..." he paused. "Alec had already sent someone after you and they reported back that you had disappeared..."

Taemin sighed. "I didn't think I would have been found out that quickly... but then I thought I was just leaving the castle..." he said glancing at Minho. The three looked between one another before Minho broke the silence. 

"Could you tell us why the castle is so deserted?" Minho asked Tom. 

"Alec has pulled back some of the men and told then to search for you Sir" Tom nodded to Taemin and said boy sighed. "The patrols are moving in groups...." He looked down shyly. 

"What is it?" Taemin asked. 

"Well I had no idea where you had gone Sir. I assumed you had run off to Flame in your anger but I wanted to find out what was going on for myself so I did a bit of eavesdropping so to speak..."

"Really now" Taemin smirked. "What was it you overheard then?" Taemin felt he had been a bad influence on this boy. 

"Alec thinks Flames gang will go one of two places tonight. Either here to the castle to steal from the treasury as you have done before. Or that Flame's gang will head once again to the bank. That is where he said to make security the tightest"

"Why does he think we would go those places?" Minho asked. 

"He thinks that you will attack to take more money..." Tom said quietly. 

"That is really all he thinks about" Minho sighed. Of course Alec didn't think that they would try to help people, no he thought they were just about money. Though he worried for Jonghyun, Key and Onew. They were currently running round the streets leaving money in every house they came across. There would be more patrols than ever tonight and as the days went on Minho could only see it getting worse. 

Though Minho knew that they would be fine as they always were. 

"Sirs, I don't think you should stay here very long" Tom said softly. He was worried about the increased security. 

"We have dropped off what we needed to." Minho stated. "We will be heading off now"

Tom nodded and turned to Taemin. "I take it I will not be seeing you for a while?" he questioned. 

Taemin shook his head with a sad smile. "Give me a few days okay?"

Tom nodded. "You know a certain Miss is going to be very unhappy with you right?"

"Yes I know" Taemin groaned. Dee Dee was probably going to kill him for disappearing. But the he perked up. "What are you doing down here anyway?"

"Well I was on my way to bed Sir. All the servant and been put under lockdown. I'm not supposed to be out of the service quarters." The three exchanged glances. "Alec has told all the servants to wake up extremely early tomorrow to compensate for missing tonights workloads. He wants the castle empty..." 

Well that certainly explained a few things. "Thank you for the information" Minho said with a smile. 

"It was my pleasure Sir" 

Taemin sighed loudly. "Tom, again. Please stop calling me and now Flame, Sir..."

Tom just smiled at him. "It is a hard habit to break" 

"You definitely don't need to call me Sir" Minho chuckled. 

"I can't really help it" Tom shrugged. 

"Well I'll teach you otherwise eventually" Taemin chuckled also.

The boys just smiled at one another but before anyone could say anything more the sound of foot steps approaching reached them. They were coming from the direction of the kitchen; their only route out. 

"What do we do?" Taemin whispered in a panicked voice. Behind them was only the dormitories. 

"Go in the room" Tom said trying to usher them into the room they had just left the money in. "I'll send them in the other direction"

"Tom no, I don't want you to get in trouble" Taemin said sternly. 

"I'll be okay" Tom with a small smile. All the while the various foot steps drew closer. "I'll be sent back to my room and that's it" Tom said softly. "You cannot be caught"

Taemin didn't like it but nodded and Minho ushered him into the dormitory whispering a thanks to Tom. As the door closed behind them, they were encased in darkness and it took a while for Taemin's eyes to adjust to the small amount of light in the room coming form the candles dotted around. He once again found himself staring at the people, who in effect, looked after him. They cooked his food, washed his clothing, looked after the castle... He may be a noble but he wasn't ignorant, he didn't underestimate just how much these people did for him and it was wrong that they were treated this way. 

But he would worry about it later because outside he could hear the people come down the corridor. 

"You!" The shout was obviously directed at Tom but surprisingly the voice was not harsh. Taemin and Minho listened anxiously to hear what was going on. 

"What are you doing out of the dormitories? Surely you know that there has been a lock down?" The voice was inquisitive and surprisingly held no anger. 

"I was coming back from the room I service..." They heard Tom reply. 

"Yes, you're the young lord's servant aren't you?" 

"Yes..." Anyone could hear that Tom wanted to put "How do you know that" on the end of the sentence  but the boy stayed quiet. 

"Oi! What's that kid doing out of the dormitories?!" A shout came from down the hallway and more feet could be heard moving in their direction. But this new shout was a voice he had heard before. It was GD... 

"Jiyong what are you doing here?" the fist guards voice could be heard. 

"Making sure you're doing your job properly..." GD replied. 

"Well You can be sure that I am, now please go back to patrolling the areas you're meant to be patrolling..." It would seem, for what ever reason, that GD along with another patrol had also turned up outside of the dormitories. 

"Yeah, yeah... Well we got a tip that someone saw two people running across the courtyard so I thought I'd check up on it..." 

"Well there's no one here but this serving boy..." Taemin could hear that the first guard was agitated but it seemed something more was going on than just the two patrols accidently meeting. Taemin tried to place the voice of the first Guard but drew a blank, he was certain that he hadn't heard the voice before. 

"A serving boy who is meant to be under curfew" GD sang back. 

"Sirs" the two outlaws heard Tom speak up. "There were people in the courtyard. I saw them too" Taemin noted how Tom had made his voice higher, more innocent sounding. 

"Well then I guess we should be heading in that direction the shouldn't we, Jiyong..?" the guard urged. 

GD laughed. "Those outlaws think they're so smart. Let's see what Alec does to them behind bars. To the courtyard!"

There was a sound of feet retreating whilst GD yelled orders for no apparent reason. From behind the door Taemin could hear the guard give a sigh.

"Go back to you room young man" He said gently "And stay there or you'll find yourself in trouble." 

"Yes Sir" They heard Tom reply before the guard ordered the men away. When they had gone, Tom opened the door once again. 

"Well that was intense" said Tom with a shaky smile. 

"It was more than intense" said Minho "it was weird..." Taemin just looked at him. "We'll talk later" he said and turned back to Tom. 

"Try to keep out of trouble okay" 

"I will Flame Sir. You two stay safe too!" Both Taemin and Minho nodded and watched as Tom waved them goodbye and closed the door to the dormitory. 

"So, that was Tom was it?" Minho asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. 

"Yes it was" Taemin replied curtly folding his arms. 

Minho continued to smirk back at the younger. "Funny, there seem to a few Toms about aren't there?"

"Oh shush, let's get out of here" Taemin scolded the other but couldn't take the smile off his face. 

The two set off at a light jog. 

"How are we going to get back if they've all headed toward the courtyard?" Asked Taemin with a hint of worry to his voice. 

"We either wait or find an alternate route. Whoever saw us cross the courtyard has basically raised the alarm that we're here."

Taemin sighed. It was going to be a long night. 

They entered the laundry again and slowed their pace. They would have to assess the situation before trying to go out into the courtyard. 

They passed through the damp laundry easily and made their way into the kitchen and halted. Next they would have to go out into the courtyard and they could hear the men searching and shouting outside.

"There's no way we can get pass unseen" Taemin said quietly.

"You're right" Minho sighed. Neither boy knew this part of the castle very well,  but they knew the four corners of the castle each had a tower which connected all the battlements. Though, going onto the battlements now was just as risky as it had been before if not more so. Minho would rather they head to somewhere they were less likely to be backed into a corner.

Their escape route would have to wait though as they could both hear people moving towards them. 

"Hide!" Minho whispered urgently. Both of them looked round the kitchens for somewhere to hide. 

"Where?" Taemin whispered back. Minho grabbed his hand and dragged him around the kitchen. Taemin kept look back nervously. He could hear the guards getting closer to them. 

Minho threw open tall cupboard. Inside were brooms and mops and other cleaning equipment. "In here" Minho urged. 

"We can't both fit in there!" Taemin shot back.

"We'll hold our breaths then!" Minho retorted with his eyebrows raised, practically telling the other it was their best bet. Taemin sighed but accepted their fate. There were no lights on in the kitchen so the darkness would aid them as they were completely dressed in black.  

So, ducking beneath a self and avoiding brooms they squeezed themselves into the cupboards with a few grunts. They were pressed together chest to chest in the narrow cupboard, legs slightly bent, and not a moment too soon seeing as soon as they closed the cupboard door, the kitchen door burst open. Taemin didn't need to be able to see to know that it was GD that had entered the room with his voiced raised. 

"No they're here! I know it!" He yelled. "The tip off and the runt both said they say someone in the courtyard. They were headed toward here. There is nowhere else they could be!"

Taemin held on the the fabric of Minho's clothing. He was so worried about being caught he didn't even think about how close they were. It was hard enough getting to the cupboard, getting out would be clumsy and probably painful. If they were found, bursting out and straight into a fight would be near impossible on their side and not to mention the likelihood of them escaping in that situation was slim. 

A sigh followed GD into the kitchens along with various footsteps. "Look around Jiyong! There is no one here. This part of the castle is completely deserted. The only people we will find here are servants!" It was the guard from before. Again Taemin tried to place his voice but came up with nothing. He had no clue who the person arguing with GD was, and not only that, he was intrigued by him. He seemed a lot different from all the other guards Taemin had met over the course of his stay with his uncle simply by the fact he was talking back to GD.

As far as Taemin was aware, GD was the closest thing to a right hand man that Alec had. Everyone Taemin had ever seen interact with GD with the exception of Alec himself, was afraid of GD and this guard not only called GD by his actual name but didn't seem fazed by him at all. 

"Where else would they be?" GD threw back at the nameless and faceless guard. 

"The courtyard leads onto all sides of the castle! They could be anywhere by now..."

There was a long silence that followed that statement. Taemin tried to look at Minho in the darkness but couldn't see anything. 

"You know..." GD finally continued. "It almost sounds like you're not doing your job properly Dear Captain of the guard." 

Capitan of the guard!? How hard would it be to find out who that was? Surely it wouldn't be impossible right?

"Watch your tongue Jiyong" the other said back. "I am still above you. Do not think yourself above your station" it was the first time the voice, whom Taemin now knew belonged to the captain of the guard, had sounded angry. Or at least more irritated. "We search the kitchen and then the laundry but we leave the dormitories alone. And when we come up with nothing we go back to searching the rest of the castle, okay?"

"And when we find the outlaws here, like I know they are!" GD practically yelled back, "I'll make sure your authority is revoked!"

Taemin's heart was beating fast and it only quickened as the men were told to spread out, half in the laundry and the other half to search the kitchen top to bottom. They were going to be caught. There was no way they wouldn't. He could hear cupboards being opened and furniture being moved. With so many guards, trying to fight their way out was going to be incredibly difficult but they would have to try. 

Momentarily he shifted his attention from the search to Minho. Being so close to the boy He could feel how fast the older boys heart was beating, he was still holding Taemin's hand tightly as well. Minho was scared also and no doubt he was thinking the same as Taemin. Soon they were going to be found out. 

As they had both feared the cupboard door opened slowly. Taemin felt Minho tense next to him ready to attack and his hold on Taemin's had tightened. Taemin also tensed as the silhouette of a figure came into view but Taemin could make out no features on the person. 

Everything was silent. 

Taemin and Minho held their breaths. 

And then the door closed again. 

Taemin let out the breath he'd been holding and was shaking slightly. What had just happened? Next to him Minho was still tense. He suspected that they had indeed been seen and now a silent conversation was taking place outside of the cupboard doors, telling the rest of the guards they were hiding in the broom cupboard.

But nothing happened. 

"Right! Let's move out the rooms are clear!" Taemin heard a yell and feet moving out of the room. So they hadn't been seen?

"Jiyong! I said move out!" The captain of the guard shouted and Taemin could hear GD mumbling angrily as he also left the room. Then once again everything went quiet. Taemin let out a sigh and went to move but Minho's arm held him back. Taemin tried to see the older boy through the dark but could only just make out his outline. It seemed he was trying to see outside the cupboard. 

Unable to do anything else Taemin just listened. He could hear shuffling and the sound of paper... Someone was still in the room and Minho had known. The silent person made no move towards the cupboard but seemed to stay in the center of the kitchens from the sounds of it, every now and then moving a chair or fumbling with objects and then went silent once more. 

It had felt like the two had been inside the cupboard forever and Taemin could felt his legs and back complaining, not to mention he still hadn't eaten anything really besides the porridge at Minho's house hours ago and he was still recuperating from the bank robbery. Taemin had felt better to be fair and he was rather eager to be in the clear. They had had so many scares in the last couple of hours, Taemin didn't know if he could take any more.

From outside the familiar sound of a match being struck could be heard before footsteps retreating from the room. The only other sound they heard was the large wooden door swinging shut and closing firmly. 

Minho's arm dropped finally and Taemin felt him relax, but why had someone stayed behind, and so quietly? 

Cautiously, Minho pushed the door gently to open it and the were greeted by a warm light. It was a small flickering light but it was such a change from all the darkness they had experienced so far that it made a big impact. Of course the thing that made it even more noticeable was the fact that there hadn't been any light in the kitchen before they had entered the broom cupboard.

With a little bit a struggle the two boys managed to ease themselves out of the cupboard, helping each other as needed. 

Taemin stretched as soon as he could finally stand up straight but, like Minho, he didn't wait very long before investigating the light source.

It was coming from one of the long tables. A single candle was burning in the dark, gently lighting the objects around it and hesitantly they made their way over to it.  By the time they had made it over to the candle it was clear that it had been lit intentionally so that they would see it. 

They looked at each other and then back to the candle,  but more specifically the piece of paper that had been left underneath it. It was a letter... 

Minho looked at Taemin who shrugged before gently moving the candle of the corner of the piece of paper before picking it up so he could read it.

 

"It would appear that you chose the wrong night to raid the castle Outlaws.

I understand you are not without your reasons but I would proceed with extreme caution from this point on.You will find moving about the castle very difficult. The guards, like myself, know you're here and while the confusion may aid your escape it will also hinder you.

With the exception of a few, there are not many who would see you caught tonight, so let me help you. 

Do not head to the courtyard and leave the castle as soon as possible. 

Head instead to what is now the laundry room. The room has four alcoves, or indents, you are aiming for the one at the back of the room on the right hand side. Go to the center of the alcove, the bottom most row of bricks and push the one right in the center. You will find that it gives way and opens a small section of the wall. 

Take the passage behind it. 

It will come out in the spiral stairway of the south east tower. Continue your escape from there. 

I am sure you have many questions but leave them for tonight and rest assured that everything will come to light eventually. Continue to help those who need you and we will eventually cross paths. 

Sincerely,

A Friend. 

P.S. Though it seems obvious, please proceed to dispose of this note as you leave."

 

 

Minho finished reading out the letter and looked up at Taemin. 

"They're right, I do have loads of questions" Taemin sighed. He could list them off but as pointed out in the letter they would have to wait. 

"Likewise" Minho added. "It seems this entire escapade has been strange, but it would seem we have gained an ally from it, or at least learned of an ally..."

"You reckon we can trust this letter then? They're not trying to back us into a corner?"

Minho smiled and shook his head. "Look at the bottom" he said handing the letter to Taemin. At the bottom of the letter was a roughly sketched symbol and Taemin recognized it straight away.

"The Kim family..." he whispered. 

"Not many people know that symbol..."

"But how would he know we knew it?" Taemin asked. With everything that had happened during the day his head was starting to hurt. 

"Let's worry about that later. We'll take the letter with us to show Puppy" Minho decided and blew out the candle. 

Taemin pocket the letter and the two headed away from the courtyard and to the laundry room. The letter had confirmed Taemin's suspicions that this had not always been a laundry room. It seemed too closed off to be a laundry room, but ignoring the piling up questions they headed straight for the back of the room and to the indent in the wall. 

The brickwork in the room consisted of large stone bricks, grey in color and the alcove was roughly five stones across so locating one right in the center of the bottom row was simple. 

Without speaking Minho bent down and pushed on the stone and after a moment it moved. From inside the wall they heard a thud and as Minho stood, like it had said in the letter, part of the wall to their right swung inwards. It was a narrow opening but they slipped in easy enough and shut the "door" behind them hearing another thud as they did so. 

They were once again in complete darkness. Taemin sought out Minho in the dark and once finding his sleeve, reached down to hold the other's hand. 

"I wish I had Puppy's tinderbox" Minho muttered and reached up with his other hand to feel the wall of the passage, as suspected he eventually found an unlit torch mounted on the wall. "Let move forward shall we?" Minho gave Taemin's hand a squeeze. 

They began walking slowly to compensate for any bends in the tunnel. 

"I'll be glad when we can sleep" Taemin sighed. 

"Well the rest of the escape should be easy. The stairway in that tower is a stones throw away from the bedroom and you said yourself that part of the castle is very rarely used..."

Taemin was quiet a moment. "Did the person in the letter know we needed to get to that part of the castle?" Taemin asked, voicing one of the many questions floating around them. 

"It would seem like it..." Minho paused. "When you return, I think you should have a look into who the Captain of the Guard is...?"

"I was thinking the same thing... I don't think I've ever met him before... Do you think it was he who opened the broom cupboard?"

Minho nodded but remembered Taemin wouldn't be able to see it. "Yes, I also think he wrote the letter..."

"He knew we were with Tom!" Taemin realized. "And that we were in the kitchen! That's why he was trying so hard to get GD out of the way!" Taemin really wanted to know who this mystery man was. 

"He also knew who Tom was" Minho pointed out "And his connection to you and your connection with the gang. I'd warrant he was the one who indirectly gave Tom the skeleton key..." Making the assumption that Tom was the friend Taemin had gotten to help him steal the keys from Alec.

Taemin thought for a moment. "I wonder how much more he knows..."

"Well he knows about the secret passageways, and he probably knows where more of them are..."

"But still, how did he know we would recognize the Kim symbol?"

"I don't know..." Minho admitted. "We're going to have to assume that he knows Puppy or Kitty's true identity and that they are part of the gang too..." Taemin bit his lip in the dark. It all seemed so mysterious. How did this guy know so much? Was he also part of the Kim family? It didn't seem like questions that would be answered any time soon. 

"So for now we trust him...?" Taemin asked after a moment. 

"For now." Minho replied. "Assuming there aren't guards waiting for us on the other end of this passage..."

Speaking of the end of the passage. Both boys walked into the end of the tunnel at the same time and groaned in the dark. They let go of each others hands and began feeling along the wall in front of them. 

Something under Taemin's hand gave way and a crack of light appeared. Minho pushed on the wall again and it gently swung open. 

Taemin's eyes hurt after being in the dark so long but he gladly left the tunnel and stepped out onto the stairs followed by Minho. 

It was completely quiet, a good sign, but they still proceeded with caution. They came across no one in the short journey down the stairs to the bedroom that contained the secret passage and relaxed once they were safe inside.

"I am so glad that's over..." Minho slumped against the door.

"So am I..." Taemin agreed. "I seriously cannot wait to sleep..."

~*~

I am sure these chapters are getting longer...

I'm sorry about the wait but please let me know if you like the chapter. I honestly love you my Subbies ^^

Feel free to guess who our mysterious Ally is, but I wont give anything away yet. 

Hope you liked this one, let me know in the comments ^^

Madmicky