They set off later that day, after Amber and Yongguk had gotten some much needed sleep and regrouped their thoughts. Luna and Jongin were both loathe to see her go, but she'd insisted that it was necessary and besides, she would be back as soon as she could.

Of all the Brotherhood that had been a the temple, there was less than thirty left; all the other survivors were people who had simply worked for the Temple and not been acolytes themselves. So it was a party of twenty seven who set off, on foot unfortunately since the horses had been slaughtered or skattered byt the Usurper's army.

They made good time, though, pressing on the edges of their stamina to cover as much ground as possible every day and into the night. They made light camps, no firelight, and broke as soon as daylight began. In this way they made it to the Capitol only five days later.

"Daehyun is surely already here," Yongguk told her softly, adjusting the hood of her cloak to cover her hair; she had wanted to simply put coal in it to darken it as usual, but he had disagreed, telling her that she ought to just cover it. It was early night as they crouched outside the city walls, planning quietly and carefully as they mulld over what to do.

"You, me, and a few others are going to sneak into the palace," he told her, edging up close enough so that hs shoulder brushed hers there in the darkness. "Most of the others are going to attack other key points in the city; with our training, we have the advantage in a surprise fight like this. A few others will go to the other temples here in the city, gain support for our fight. We are to take out the guards we find, but our goal is to find the Usurper. Got it?"

"What about Daehyun?" she growled, adjusting the hood once again in frustration.

"Don't worry, we'll find him," Yongguk said grimly, standing and moving away. The glint of a pin on his chest caught her attention, though, and after a moment she realized that all of the Brotherhood wore it. She caught Jongup's arm as he passed and motioned to it to ask what it was.

"The dead King's symbol," he told her softly, fingers brushing over it as he spoke. Up close like that she could see that it was a red eagle on a black circular background, wings outstretched in flight. "When the Prince is crowned, we'll raise his banners throughout the city and rally the old King's supporters to us!"

She refrained from telling him how idealistic and improbable that all was, only nodded and thanked him before letting him move on. It was unlikely to her that they were even going to survive the night, even if Daehyun hadn't managed to kill the Prince before they could crown him.

Several hours later she found herself thinking once again that they were just going to fail.

She was clinging to the side of a stone tower, several stories above the city; her heart in , she paid close attention to the stones she gripped with her fingers and toes, determined to climb this if it was the last thing she ever did. Daehyun may have been the one to teach her to climb, but Yongguk was quite good at it as well, hanging from the wall several feet above and to the side of her. Her fingers felt like they were going to fall off, but the gloves she'd been given at the beginning of their journey kept her skin from breaking on the rocks, and by the time the finally reached their destination she was more than ready to never climb again.

Yongguk reached a spot in the tower side where it seemed that part of the stone jutted out, and before she could realize what happened, he slipped through the two pieces and disappeared. As she came level with it she realized that there was a gap in the stone about a foot and a half wide, big enough to fit a person if they were brave enough to climb to the top of the twoer, unseen unless one made the climb. She moved into it and found herself in the midle of a cramped stone stairwell, Krystal and Jongup climbing in behind her, and Yongguk pressed a finger to his lips before motioning for them to follow. They crept along in the blackness, their path winding downward, her suddenly wondering how he could see their path, her fingers catching the back of his shirt to guide her. He gave a tiny grunt of surprise but said nothing about her contact.

Finally he stopped and reached back to catch her wrist gently in his own, pulling her up beside him before releasing his hold and instead catching her head in his hands. "Easy," he whispered, so quiet that it was more just a breath, and angled her head so that she could see through two small pinpoints in the wall. She found herself looking into a large, ornate room, the back of a tall carved chair blocking most of her view. Several guardsmen stood at the far doors, and she could only just see an arm propped on the side of the chair, obvious that someone was resting there. She moved to turn and question what was going on, and Krystal took her place at the peephole, Yongguk catching her arm and pulling her off to the side to place his mouth to her ear.

"The man sitting in the throne is the Usurper," he said softly, and suddenly what she had seen all made sense to her. There were only four guards in the chamber, if they could take them out without more coming in... "The doors bar from the inside," he continued, hi warm breath tickling her ear and making her shift a bit, "So once we fell the guards and capture the Usurper, we will bar the door and drop the signal for the others."

It sounded too risky, or maybe just too simple, but she supposed that no one would be