Lay was nearly completely still on the bed in front of them, and if it hadn’t been the for the short rise and fall of his chest, he’d have played the part of a dead man convincingly. Chen shuddered to think about Lay dying. Some of his friends, the soldiers at least, had been born to die. They achieved honor through battle, especially defending their king and way of life. But Lay was not a soldier. He was a civilian, and an important one at that. What would the rest of them do without their healer when Luhan was recovered?

If.

“We’ve done all we can, your highness,” one of the palace’s most seasoned doctors reported. He was elderly, but his hands didn’t shake, and he seemed clear enough of mind to be treating Lay competently. If the prince trusted the old man, then Chen would too.

Speaking of the prince, he was next to Chen with a rigid posture and a dark shadow to his features. “What’s wrong with him?”

It still made Chen’s gut clench to think of the way Lay had fallen, body shaking and eyes rolling up into his head. He’d been unresponsive for several, heart pounding seconds, and Chen had been preparing to start breathing for him when the prince had grabbed Lay’s leg and pulled him away from being in contact with Mama’s life tree’s roots. Lay had started breathing again then, but just barely.

Why would Mama do that to Lay?

She was supposed to watch over them and protect them, and certainly not hurt them.

“Chen?”

Then again, Mama hurt Luhan every time she broke into his mind, sending him collapsing to the floor, disoriented and in desperate need of help afterwards.

So now Mama hurt them? Was she punishing them for something?

“Chen?”

A strong hand gripped his bicep and Chen was brought out of his thought by the prince. “Sorry,” he mumbled, making sure to keep his head down. It was just hard. Lay was his friend. He and Lay and Xiumin and Luhan had spent a lot of time growing up together and they were exceptionally close. Now Luhan was missing, Xiumin was in serious danger, and Lay was ….

“Is he going to be okay?” Chen asked the doctoor.

The doctor gave them a patient look. “He’s stable right now, and we’re going to monitor him very carefully. We’re cautiously optimistic. But there’s no denying we don’t know what caused this or what exactly we’re dealing with.”

Chen snorted. “Mama did this.”

“We don’t know that,” the prince defended. “Or we don’t know why.”

“Will he wake up soon?” Chen inquired. “He will wake up, right?”

Before the doctor could answer, the prince clearly surprised everyone by cutting in, “What about that young healer? The one brought up here recently from the east? The girl?”

Chen’s head cocked. “We have another healer?” If people with Mama’s gift were rare, healers were even more so. There was a reason that Chen had special orders from the prince to keep just as much a close eye on Lay, as he did on Luhan. Up until a second ago, Chen had thought that Lay was one of only a few healers in M, the rest of them all imbedded in the military for the push into K.

The prince said to Chen, “There are very few people who know about her existence. She’s young, thirteen, and just beginning to display her abilities. She’d be a serious target for certain types of people, if they knew she existed. Until she’s stronger, and more equipped to deal with the attention she’ll be getting as a result of her ability, I want to keep her as secluded from the public as possible.”

Chen frowned. “But could she help Lay?”

The prince shrugged. “That’s what I want to ask the doctor about.”

The answer was written on the man’s face. “She’s young, your highness. And too inexperienced with her ability. She would likely do more harm than good. I suggest that we wait and see what happens with this young man. He’s healthy and strong. Give him time to recover.”

“Mama did this to him,” Chen breathed out, reaching for Lay’s nearby hand. It was cold and limp, but Chen still felt better just being in contact with him. “He was just standing there, touching her life tree’s roots. How could this happen? Why would he get hurt like this?”

“I don’t know,” the prince offered honestly. “And that scares me. But we’re going to work together to figure this out. That’s something I can promise you.”

It wasn’t the prince’s job to comfort him. In fact Chen had been taught his whole life to be strong and to fight off emotionally compromising feelings, and to never let himself appear weak in front of the monarchy. He was a soldier, the king’s hand, and he needed to be perceived as such.

But the fact that the prince was willing to comfort him? That the prince saw how much Lay meant to him and could offer not only sympathy, but empathy as well? It was startling to Chen. A good startling. It reaffirmed the most important decision he’d ever made in his life.

Xiumin’s parents had been the one to make the decision between M and K. They’d uprooted Xiumin for the sake of his gift and the opportunities that M cold give him. They’d done it selflessly and gone against everything they believed in.

Chen was different. His mother and father were still in K. His little brother, who wasn’t so little anymore, could be a soldier in K’s army, or their older sisters. Chen had been the one, just before his fourteenth birthday, to make the hard choice of separating from his family, forsaking his loyalty to K, and kneeling in front of M’s king. Because of moments like these. Because Chen had seen the kind of chaos a republic ruled by a large populous of people could bring, and because he was convinced that one person, wholly concentrated on the betterment of his people, was a more successful type of government.

The prince was young and arrogant at times, but he could also be kind, and he was filled with a sense of duty. Someone like Commander Suho, if given a chance to implement a democratic government, would be forced to consult with others, take into account their feelings or opinions, and ultimately do what the general consensus wanted. The prince would be under no such burden when he was king. He’d simply do what was best for the people, and guide them along.

Sometimes Chen could see how democracy would appeal to others, and sometimes he couldn’t see it in the least bit.

“I know he’ll be okay, your highness,” Chen said with a half bow. “Lay is strong, and he knows how much he’s needed.”

The doctor gave them a bit more information, but by the end of the hour the night was in full swing and Chen could see the deep lines of exhaustion on the prince’s face.

“We should get you back to your room,” Chen prodded gently. “You’re tired. More than that, your highness, you’re exhausted. Tomorrow will be difficult for you. You’ll need at least a few hours of sleep to get through it.”

“Agreed,” the prince said quietly, and Chen could tell he was thinking of the speech he was expected to give in less than twelve hours. He would have to be charismatic and courageous, and more than anything else, he’d have to be absolutely convincing.

If he wasn’t, or if the people lost their confidence in him …

The real threat wasn’t the war with K. Chen knew M was more than capable of dealing with K, even without the sizable push of troops into enemy territory. But if the people lost their confidence in the prince, and if Luhan wasn’t there to rally them, the dying king’s advisors and inner circle had the opportunity to seize power. The king’s council was by far the bigger issue at the moment.

“Let me take you to your bedroom,” Chen said, pulling open a door for the prince. “You can get a few hours of sleep, and be ready to go for tomorrow. Everything will be okay.”

“Will it?” the prince asked immediately, his feet dragging a bit. “My father is dying. He’ll be dead in a few days, and Luhan is still missing. The people will support me for now, but what happens when they realize what happened to Luhan? How can I keep them safe when I couldn’t keep him? They’ll start to doubt me, and that’ll be the beginning of it all.”

Chen said dismissively, “The ability for the people to call for a vote of no confidence from you is just a formality. One put in place by your great grandmother to prevent a monarch from abusing the people or acting selfishly. You would have to do something to prove to the people that you’re weak, or that you don’t have their best interest at heart. And that is something you wouldn’t do. I have confidence in that.”

The prince’s feet slowed him to a stop. “They’ll leak it. Tomorrow, likely.”

“Leak what?” Chen asked confused. “What?”

“Luhan’s disappearance,” the prince said simply. “I’ll be making a speech about us coming together, pooling our resources for this final push for unity, and my father’s council leak Luhan’s disappearance to the civilians. They’ll start a panic, an uproar even, and suddenly my speech won’t be about how I am going to keep our monarchy strong and powerful, but how I personally am weak and powerless. Especially with people I love.”

Chen posed, “You could use that to your advantage. Tell the people that you are not only invading K to bring unity to Exo, but to show that no one can get away from stealing from us, especially stealing someone so precious to us. If those s leak it, use it. Be stronger and smarter than them.”

In a show of frustration, the prince admitted, “I’d like to throw the twelve of them out on their asses. They’re supposed to help keep the monarchy in check. Not control it.”

Chen touched the prince’s elbow tentatively, getting him walking again. “You’ve known your whole life you’d have to deal with them eventually. But,” Chen said, wiggling his eyebrows a little, “they’re old men, and you’re young. The position is for life, but it doesn’t look like a lot of them are going to live very much longer. When that starts to happen, you can replace them with your own picks. Your father got with the ones that his mother made, but it’s not the same for you. You’ll be appointing people who are loyal to you, and hopefully less power hungry.”

“If I survive that long.”

“You’re strong,” Chen said easily. “If someone is going to survive. It’ll be you.”

Chen took him all the way back to his suite, making direct eye contact with the guards stationed outside the heavy doors, memorizing their faces just in case. After what had happened to Luhan, however it had happened, he wasn’t taking any chances with the prince. Especially with Tao gone. If Chen let anything happen to the prince, so much as a paper cut, Tao would kill him. Literally.

“Stop being so paranoid,” the prince said as Chen search the spacious bedroom, then the antechamber, and the sitting room to the side. “My chambers are actually secure.”

“So were Luhan’s,” Chen argued. “And he had two people in that room with him. You’re a bigger target than he was, so please, your highness, let me have my paranoia.”

The prince walked slowly to his bed and sat on the edge, pulling off his heavy boots. “Are you going to sleep by my side, too?”

It was meant as a joke, but Chen replied, “I’m thinking about it, actually. There are only a couple people Tao trusts implicitly with your life, and I’m one of them. I take that very seriously. So with all things considered, I think I will stay the night here.”

“Chen.”

There was a weird look on the prince’s face that had Chen asking, “What is it?”

A second later the prince shook his head, huffing. “Nothing. I guess I’m just luckier than I thought. You want to do me a favor?”

“If I can,” Chen said.

“When we’re alone like this, and it’s just you and me with no one else watching, call me by my name.”

Chen’s eyes widened. “Absolutely not!”

The prince flopped back on his bed in the only real show of impropriety that Chen had ever seen from him. It made him wonder how the prince really was when no one was watching.

“Luhan calls me by my name. He’s practically the only one.”

“He’s your cousin, and he’s engaged to you. That’s understandable.”

“So does Tao. After that, the list gets very short.”

Chen bit his tongue. Chen was fully aware of the kind of relationship that Tao and the prince had. It was the kind of relationship that was fiercely protected and hidden by those who did know, and never spoken of. Chen knew because he was one of the few who spent enough time around both the prince and the captain of the guard to recognize the looks between them. Chen doubted hardly anyone else had logged those kinds of hours, or been as perceptive.

“Your highness, you shouldn’t ask me something like that.”

The prince folded is hands over his stomach, eyes on the ceiling. “Lay’s been calling me by my given name in private for years. I only let the people that I trust and respect the most, call me by my name. So I can’t figure out why you aren’t. We’re going to change that today.”

Chen’s mouth felt dry. “Your first name.”

“It’s not that hard,” the prince chuckled. “Call me Kris.”

“It would feel too weird,” Chen said, wiggling a little.

The prince held up a finger. “Just when we’re alone, and it’s me and you, and there’s no need for titles. Should I make it an official request?”

With one more deep breath, Chen eased out, “Kris.”

The prince rolled to one side, hand supporting his head. “Was that so hard?”

It was harder than the prince wanted to hear about, likely, and it did feel completely disrespectful. But Chen liked the way it made the prince smile, and look a little less stressed out, if only for a minute or two.

“How about we just call it a night. I’ll call someone to help you change and get settled in.”

“You’ll get used to it,” the prince assured him, sitting up. “And don’t call anyone. I’m not my father. I don’t need three people to change my clothes. I just want to have a moment of peace.”

Chen gave him a genuine smile. “I’ll be in the next room, okay? It’s within earshot. Call me if you need anything.”

“You can go to your own bed, you know. I’ll be fine. I’m not going to go wandering around the palace at night. That’s how intentional accidents happen to important people.”

Chen had made the mistake once before of letting someone important dismiss him, and that hadn’t worked out well at all. He’d probably feel guilt over Luhan for the rest of his life, and rightly so.

“The next room,” Chen repeated, gesturing with his thumb. “Call me for anything.”

Chen closed the door to the prince’s bedroom behind him quietly and then all but collapsed himself down onto one of the cushioned benches lining the walls to the antechamber. The room was quiet, with a high ceiling that would echo any words that were spoken in it, and while it wasn’t the place that Chen particularly thought was the most comfortable to spend the night, it was the direct buffer between the hallways leading out into the palace, and the sleeping prince.

The prince wasn’t the only one who was tried.

Pinching himself on the leg, Chen forced his eyes open even as his body relaxed. He didn’t know how Tao managed this night after night.

When sunrise was a few hours away Chen heaved himself up to his feet. He paced the length of the room and then turned to do it again.

Then the froze.

Everything was silent. Without the sound of his feet clacking on the marble floor of the antechamber, there was dead silence.

The prince snored.

In two giant leaps Chen was across the room, throwing up the doors to the prince’s bedroom. He was accosted immediately with the sight of a strange form crouched over the prince in his bed, and another standing nearby. The room was dimly lit by one lamp in the nearby bedside table, but it was enough.

“Your highness!”

Lightening flashed from Chen’s fingertips and streaked across the room, lighting it up with deadly intent.

“D.O.!”

The figure near the bed lunged forward, hooking onto his companion and the both of them disappeared immediately. However they were back in an instant, only they’d moved to the far end of the room at were both looking uneasy.

“I’m okay!” the prince shot up on the bed, looking no worse for wear. “Chen!”

One of the intruders sagged heavily against the other as the doors to the antechamber burst open audibly.

“Guards!” Chen called out, his voice unwavering. “There’s been an assassination attempt on the prince!”

“We weren’t trying to kill him,” the stronger of the two men said, holding his companion up.

The prince slid off the bed and cross quickly to Chen side, agreeing, “I think they meant to take me alive.”

In the blink of an eye a dozen of the prince’s guard were flooding the room, weapons at the ready.

“Can you get us out of here?” one intruder asked the other. “Kai?”

Chen an arm out to keep the prince behind him, then commanded, “These two are accused of trying to kidnap the prince. Take them to the prison cells. Kill them if they put up any fight.”

“Wait!” Looking ill, the man who was sagging heavily reached out towards them. “I’m not here to kill your prince. I’m not here to kidnap him, either. I’m … the one you think stole Luhan. I’m the teleporter.”

The prince rushed out, “Wait,” then took a deliberate step around Chen. “You kidnapped Luhan?”

“You think I did.”

“I do,” the prince confirmed. “Now either tell me where you took him, or I’ll let you be one of the very few to actually see the dragon’s might. As it rips you limb from limb, of course.”

“My name is Kai,” the man said shakily. “This is my friend D.O., and if you’re willing to call your attack dogs off, I’ll tell you exactly what happened.”

Chen scoffed loudly, almost laughing. “We have you at the clear advantage. Why should we compromise with you in the least bit?”

Kai shrugged. “I can teleport.”

“You look like you’re about to pass out.”

The prince ground out darkly, “Where is my cousin?”

Kai straightened up, squared his shoulders and said, “You want to talk to me, Prince Kris. Because I didn’t kidnap your cousin. It was an accident, and I’m the last person on this planet who’d want to hurt him. There are a lot of things you don’t know, and you’ve invaded my country under false pretenses. Let me talk, and you listen, and then you can decide afterwards what you want to do. But understand, I’m not here under Commander Suho’s authority, I would never hurt Luhan, and I’m your best chance at getting him back.”

Chen turned to the prince. “He’s likely lying.”

The prince strode quickly to the side of his bed, pulled open a drawer on the bedside table, and held up a silver bracelet. He told Kai, “You put this on and then we’ll talk.”

The other man, D.O., squinted at it. “What is it?”

Chen was curious, too.

“Insurance,” the prince said. “That you won’t be trying anything. That’s the deal. Or I have my men take you directly to the nearest cell for interrogation.”

“I hope you don’t think Kai is the only one with an ability,” D.O. said, and Chen could already tell despite teleportation being a formidable ability, D.O. was clearly the more dangerous of the two of them. “I’ll wipe out your entire little gang of soldiers before you can even think about getting another bolt of lightening off.”

Chen narrowed his gaze. “You want to wager on that?”

“Deal,” Kai barked out unexpectedly. “D.O. will wear one too. But don’t think it’s because we don’t think we can take you. And I might not be at full strength, but I can still teleport myself and D.O. away this very instant if I want to. I’m agreeing because I want to find Luhan as much as you do, and stop this ridiculous invasion based on his disappearance. And us talking might do that.”

That was how, fifteen minutes later, Chen ended up in one of the palace’s conference rooms that he had never so much as known existed before. He stood unwaveringly still behind the prince who was seated in a tall chair, and across from them, wearing what Chen now knew were dampening bracelets, sat their two intruders.

D.O. and Kai. Both soldiers in K’s army, but apparently acting without orders.

“I didn’t kidnap your cousin,” Kai said, and Chen could see him absently playing with the bracelet on his wrist. “It may seem that way, you may have eyewitness reports that claim it, and you may truly believe that, but I didn’t kidnap him. I teleported us away to save our lives.”

“Explain,” the prince demanded roughly, “as well as why you were in his bedroom to begin with.”

A wide smile pulled across Kai’s mouth. “I was in his room frequently, your highness. We used to meet other places, but his room became the safest.” He paused, then asked bluntly, “Don’t you know what I’m insinuating? Do I have to spell it out to you? Your precious little cousin and I are lovers.”

In the chair directly next to Kai’s, D.O. used a hand to cover his face with a groan. “If we weren’t friends…”

Chen was immediately thankful he couldn’t see the face of the prince from his position, especially from the way his shoulders were shaking furiously. Glancing at the guards from across the room, the ones who could see the prince’s expression, it wasn’t good at all.

“My cousin would never!” the prince barked out, voice dripping with distain. “Not with the likes of you!”

“Oh come off it,” Kai returned easily. “He was getting prophetic dreams about me long before we met, and I’m not lying about the kind of relationship we have. When one of Luhan’s guards woke up that night he disappeared, the guy tried to kill me out of instinct. Luhan got in the way, and I had to teleport the both of us away to avoid death. There was an accident while teleporting. We ended up separated.”

Without warning the prince turned to the other guards and ordered sharply, “All of you leave now.”

There were a round of immediate protests, including Chen who moved to kneel in front of the prince, insisted, “You can’t be suggesting that you’re left with so little protection against these savages. It’s against our very nature to allow you into that kind of compromising position.”

“Ah, excuse me,” D.O. called out. “One of the savages would like to point out that we’re completely uninterested in killing you for the time being, but we’ll be sure to let you know when that’s about to change.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” the prince clarified to Chen. “And I’m confident that you can take down two men with dampening bracelets in about half the time that it would take for me to order you to do so.” He leaned closer so he could drop his voice. “I trust my guard to protect my life, not my secrets. So unless you want the entire country to know what we’re about to speak of, I suggest that you allow me to order them out.”

After the smallest of hesitations, Chen straightened up and told the guard, “I will stay here with his highness, the lot of you will position yourselves outside the doors and wait for further instruction.”

Chen hadn’t even thought of that. But the prince was completely correct, and the guard had probably heard too much already. By the time they exited the room there’d be rumors floating around about Luhan’s after hours activities. If that was even the truth, and Chen wasn’t so quick to believe it was. There was no passion between the prince and Luhan, that was clear to see, but there was love. So what was the truth? They probably wouldn’t know unless they heard it from Luhan himself.

Finally, when it was just the four of them in the room, with Chen’s nerves on high alert, the prince spoke up, asking Kai, “You’re expecting me to believe that you’re carrying on some sort of dalliance with my cousin?”

Kai nodded. “For almost a year now. And before you go getting any sort of ideas, it’s completely mutual, consensual and yes, were always aware of the consequences. But when you’re in love, consequences are usually the last thing on your mind. But I do assure you, I’m not just sleeping with him. I love him. I am in love with him, and if things were different, I’d be thinking about marrying him.”

“You don’t know where he ended up after your … accident?”

“No.” Kai shook his head immediately. “I didn’t even end up where I meant to. I was trying to teleport back to the capital, and I ended up where some of my best childhood memories are. Luhan could be anywhere. But that’s not my point. My point is, what happened truly was an accident. I couldn’t control the teleport, I was trying to save Luhan’s life, and invading my country on the basis of a lie is just dirty.”

Chen watched the prince’s face careful as he said, “Certainly you didn’t expect war to be clean.”

“No,” Kai agreed. “But I understand how your country’s system of government works, and how are you going to explain to them that you took their resources and gave it to a war based on something that never happened in the first place?”

“The people will believe what I tell them to believe,” the prince cut back. “I won’t let their image of Luhan be sullied by someone like you. I’d rather they think he was kidnapped, than lost in an accident that occurred with his lover.”

D.O. hissed, “But you ordered an invasion based on something that wasn’t the truth! We’re not holding your cousin. We’re not lying to you. We’re offering to spend all our resources and time to help you find him, and then give him back.”

Chen said smoothly, “Luhan will be found. We don’t need your resources for that. We have no doubt he’s still alive, and likely making his way back to us as we speak. Maybe you’ve forgotten how strong this bloodline is.”

Kai’s foot jumped around in what appeared to be more of a reflexive twitch than anything, right before he said, “We had an agreement. Luhan and I. We didn’t talk about things that related to the war. We didn’t ask each other for information. We kept all of that separate from what we wanted our relationship to be. It was the only way we could see to make it work. But he said something about you once that’s stuck with me ever since.”

Chen knew immediately the prince was interested in the way he leaned forward. “Luhan spoke about me. To you? Is that supposed to make me feel anything less than sullied?”

Kai made a short noise. “You don’t have to play the part of the prince. None of your underlings are listening. It’s just you and me, when it comes down to it. Now, do you want to know what Luhan said to me? It’s about the war. That should pique your interest at least a little.”

“Luhan wouldn’t betray the secrets of this state,” Chen said confidently. “No matter how he’s been seduced.”

D.O. gave a sharp laugh. “Trust me, I know nothing about this relationship, but Kai has the seduction techniques of a fish out of water.”

Kai shot him a dirty look. “You’re not helping.”

“I would like to go back to bed soon,” the prince said in a testy voice. “So either start making progress with what you need to say, or start walking to our detention center. The choice is yours.”

Chen was all for the walking. Just because the two men in front of them were wearing dampening bracelets, the likes of which were still astonishing to Chen, didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous. Or that they wouldn’t make a move at any time.

Kai said, “Luhan told me once that he felt sorry for you. He felt sorrow. Because he said he was absolutely confident that this wasn’t a war you wanted. He said this war, the one that is happening right now, is your father’s war, and you’re just going along with it because you don’t know how to stop it. Is that what you think invasion is going to do? Stop the war? You might unite K and M under your dictatorship, but that won’t stop the fighting.”

“My father’s war?” the prince laughed off.

“Well,” Kai reasoned, “it would be difficult for your father to make the call about the invasion from his deathbed. And no, before you make that face at me, Luhan didn’t tell me. But I will be telling Commander Suho, and that just might be enough to shake the very foundation you want to build your crown on.”

“You know nothing about the situation at hand in M,” the prince said viciously.

Kai shrugged. “You’re right. I only know what I’ve seen. And what Luhan has said to me. And he said you don’t want this war. Look around, prince. We’re alone. I trust D.O. with my life. I’m willing to bet, because you let your pet stick around, that you trust him with yours. With whatever we’re speaking about, too. So just be honest with me. You don’t really want this war any more than Commander Suho does. You just don’t know how to end it.”

If possible, things got even more tense.

The only response the prince had, the one that Chen approved of, was, “There are things at work in M that someone like you can’t even begin to understand. Your Commander Suho doesn’t have to answer to a third party. He’s free to make the choices he decides upon.”

“And you aren’t?” D.O. asked, surprise laced into his voice. “You’re the prince. You’re about to become the king.”

“I can’t stop things that are set in motion,” the prince said. “Not with Luhan missing.”

“I will find him,” Kai vowed. “I won’t stop searching for anything. Not to eat, not to sleep.”

Candidly, the prince answered, “Things might, and I emphasize might, be different if you had brought Luhan with you. If I could take him with me tomorrow to show to the people that he is fine, that we weren’t avenging him in some way by invading, I might be able to stop things where they are. But you don’t even have a clue where he is, or if he’s okay.”

“Do you want this war to end?” Kai asked. “I just want an honest answer. I’m not Commander Suho. I don’t have the ability to broker peace between our people, and I don’t have any authority now that I’ve basically gone rogue. I can only ask you for the truth and hope you’ll tell it to me. Is this war something you believe in? Is unification that important to you?”

Chen held his breath.

“I …”

“What would it matter if you admitted it to me?” Kai asked. “I’m just a savage.”

“Luhan,” the prince eased out, “is as perceptive as ever.”

D.O. assumed, “So you really don’t want this war?”

The prince said quickly, “I don’t dispute the benefit our economy has seen because of the prolonged war, or the morale boost it’s been. But truthfully, as the representative and head of M, I want no part of a group of people who do not want to be a part of my country. If K wants independence from M, and if I were able to grant them that, I would. The only people I want in M are the ones who want to be there. Forcing someone under my rule isn’t my style.”

Chen said, “That’s part of the reason for the confidence system the monarchy operates under.”

“I don’t think your king got the memo,” D.O. said.

“My father and I will be two different kings,” the prince defended. “I value choice and loyalty. He values strength in unity. No one is more right than the other. If you knew the burden of the crown, you’d understand this.”

Kai let out a deep breath. “I came here, against Commander Suho’s wishes, to try and stop the invasion. All I can promise you is that I will continue to look for Luhan, and never give up on finding him, if you can promise a withdrawal of troops. Your father is going to die. Take control of your army and tell them to do what you want.”

“Luhan was merely the catalyst for the invasion,” the prince said slowly. “And I have no way of stopping it legitimately without him by my side. As my husband. In a show of strength behind the crown.”

Chen watched Kai’s face very carefully. He claimed to be Luhan’s lover, but even he had to have known full well that Luhan was destined to marry the prince. How would Kai react to a statement like the one the prince had just made?

Slowly, Kai asked, “If I brought Luhan back to you, and you married him, you’d have the people’s confidence enough to stop the invasion?”

“Very likely,” the prince confirmed. “But he would have to be my husband. The people value the sanctity of marriage, how it strengthens the rule of kings and queens, and more than that, the people follow Luhan almost blindly. They love him. They believe in him. They trust him. Would you be willing to simply hand over someone you claim to be in love with to another man for marriage?”

The tightness across Kai’s face was very telling. But he surprised Chen by stating, “No matter what I feel for Luhan, and what you think my inability to relate to your situation is, I can forego what I want for a greater good. I would give up Luhan to save my people, even if it would hurt to do it.”

“That is surprising,” Chen remarked dryly. “I wouldn’t have thought someone like you would be capable of selflessness.”

“I’m just full of surprises,” Kai shot back.

The prince pushed up from his chair a second later and stood before Kai and D.O.. You should be aware that none of this matters in the least bit because you don’t have Luhan. You don’t have him to give to me, and I can’t do anything about the invasion without him. In many ways I appreciate what you came here to try and do, but you haven’t achieved anything. I can’t do what you--”

The prince was cut off suddenly by the heavy echo of the conference room’s doors slamming open. Chen was at the ready a split second later, crackling with lightening as he stood protectively in front of the man he’d sworn to protect to his dying breath.

The prince nearly threw Chen off balance sprinting past him, yelling out, “Tao!”

It was Tao. He was dressed in varying tones of brown, without his usual uniform or sword, and he looked bone weary, but there was a triumphant smile on his face as he dropped into a low bow, reporting, “I’ve got him, your highness. We have Luhan.”

Kai shot to his own feet, demanded, “Luhan is safe? He’s here?”

“Sit down!” Chen commanded immediately, trying to keep order in the situation. He wanted to ask Tao his own questions, or at least be at his side when the prince did, but there was no way Chen could abandon their intruders. They were still too much of a threat.

Tao gave a firm nod to Chen, obviously pleased with the condition of the prince, then said, “Luhan is okay. He’s fine, really. He’s just suffering from some withdrawals from Mama. He was pretty far inland to K.”

“Where is he now?” the prince demanded, obviously itching to wrap his cousin up in a tight hug. “In his room? Did you take him to be checked over by a doctor instead?”

“No,” Tao said, surprising them all. “I mentioned that he’s been going through withdrawals from Mama. I guess that’s the best apt description. He says she’s been trying to get in contact with him, but he’s been too far away from her life tree. That’s where Xiumin’s taken him. He says he needs to be in contact with the life tree to feel better. Xiumin promised to bring him right here after that.”

The color drained from the prince’s face as Chen barked out, “He’s going to touch the life tree?”

“Yes,” Tao eased out. “He does that a lot.”

Immediately the prince was pushing at Tao, shouting, “Go, go now! Don’t let him!”

“Why not?” Tao demanded.

“Because Lay made contact with the life tree earlier,” Chen rushed out, “and it almost killed him!”

With only the slightest hesitation, Tao spun on heel and raced out of the room.

“Take this off now!” Kai shouted, banging his bracelet down on the armrest of the chair he’d been sitting on.

“Sit down!” Chen shouted, advancing on him.

“Chen,” the prince breathed out, fear consuming his features. “Lay was completely healthy when the life tree almost killed him. If Luhan touches it with his health the way it is…”

“I said,” Kai shouted once more, for the first time looking like the deadly operative Chen knew he was, “get this bracelet off my wrist right now.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Chen shouted back. “I’m not going to give you free reign--”

“I’m a teleporter! I can get to Luhan before your dog can. Do you want to Luhan to live?”

Before Chen could properly digest the worst that had been said to him, the prince was streaking over, shouting, “Stop Luhan!” and slipping the bracelet off. Kai was gone before another breath was taken.

Chen said a bit shakily, pulling his eyes from the spot Kai had been standing, to the prince’s form, “I hope we didn’t just make a mistake letting him go.”

The prince nodded towards D.O.. “He’s the loyal type. I can see it in him. He’ll come back for this one.”

D.O. slumped down in his seat and held up his own wrist. “Any chance in me getting mine off?”

Chen arched an eyebrow.

“I didn’t think so.”