Baekhyun thought quickly in a jam. Had Minseok more time to consider this, he'd have been impressed and maybe even would have admitted it aloud. Instead, he found himself shoved backwards behind a partially obtrusive statue and told, "Stay here and hide!" in the loudest whisper the elf dared to voice.

They were still invisible, but not unnoticed.

"Whoever's here, you are commanded to freeze!" cried the the dwarven guard leader Wenhan.

Only Minseok could see the glimmering outline of Baekhyun's profile and face, a hand against his lips as if warning Minseok not to fight back. Whatever the elf had planned, it was clear he would do it alone. Minseok dragged his limbs out of view of the chamber and slide as far back behind the statue as he could, prepared for the moment when Baekhyun's enchantment wore off.

As soon as he was covered, Baekhyun dashed to the other side of the room, purposefully knocking another another plate to distract them. Nobody was looking in Minseok's direction, and yet every dwarven soldier had his weapon unsheathed and ready to swing by the time Baekhyun properly reappeared by the door.

"Elf! It's the elf!" Wenhan shouted.

From the dais, Lord Yibo sat forward in alarm. "The elf? What's he doing here?!"

The guards drew near, pointed swords arrayed out in a semi-circle as they blocked Baekhyun to the wall. Without armor, without weapons, Baekhyun looked small and harmless. He even grinned at his would-be attackers, blinking curiously as if this was all a grand mistake.

"Oh my, oops! How did I get in this room?" Baekhyun tittered. He paid no attention whatsoever to the steel threatening his neck.

None of the guards moved, but they wavered hesitantly as if in surprise. Lord Yibo drew himself off his throne and stalked forward. "Answer us, elf. How did you get in this room, and why have you been spying?"

"Spying?" Baekhyun repeated haughtily. "I've not been spying. I was happily lying in my room waiting on dinner, and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"Nonsense," said Yibo. "That isn't possible. I'll ask you again, and you have one chance to answer correctly or else-"

"Or else, what?" asked Baekhyun. He rolled his head from side to side, stretching out the cricks in his neck. "I'm mightily confused, my Lord. Lord Yibo, was it? Look we were invited to be your guests, I had a super lovely bath. I told you, I think I must have been teleported here. Or else drugged, how would I know. Oh wait- was it the bath water?! But my Lord Yibo, I don't understand!"

His outburst worked to keep the guards from acting. They stood about confused, and from his hidden corner in the room, Minseok saw the seedlings of doubt in Lord Yibo's very young, very inexperienced face.

"This is the work of magic. Do you deny it?" he asked Baekhyun one more time.

"Magic! But not of the mages I know," said Baekhyun. He made to get up, but at the shifting of the dwarves' stances, plopped back down on the ground. Instead, he sat down and stretched his legs out before him, arms up to show he meant no harm. "What spell can muddle with someone's head like this? I could swear on... oh, say, one of your paragons, that I am just as clueless as you. Is there another mage around that you know of?"

Minseok held his breath watching Yibo shudder at the affront to his blessed paragon ancestors, but again, he appeared uncertain.

"I know not what game you're playing, elf-"

"Please, my name is Baekhyun."

"-Baekhyun, then! I don't know what you mean to accomplish, Baekhyun! But I promise that House Zygmunt will not tolerate it. Guards, lock him up in a separate chamber until I can ask Xiu- until I can ask someone about this."

"Wait, you mean I'm a prisoner?" barked Baekhyun, astounded.

"Now! Wenhan, take him away now! And see that none of the other guests hear about this!"

Baekhyun put up a loud fuss when they carried him away, but did not fight back. Minseok watched and waited, all the guards but one leaving in another direction where Minseok had not yet been. Only Lord Yibo remained, a single guard by his side. He held a hand to his head and pulled at his hair, face overcome with indecision. Minseok dared not move even a muscle in case he was caught. They had come out to scope the place, not end up locked in a separate cell. Even better, Minseok was now on his own, fully visible and without a staff. He could no doubt use his magic just as he was, but without something to channel it, it was always risky. And unless he wanted to be caught, he would have to either stay put and wait, or find a moment to slip out.

His chance came soon. The maid Seungyeon reappeared in the entryway, her face askance as he looked at the young dwarf lord.

"Lord Yibo?"

He ignored her for a moment, and she did not approach. But then Yibo sighed loudly and made a face, and a second later he looked calm and collected. He smiled at her. "Yes?"

She hesitated. "W-would you still like to eat soon, or..."

"Or...?" Yibo deliberated. A moment later he made a noise of clarification and nodded several times. "Send a snack to my chambers. I will wait there since it seems safer... oh, and you-" he directed the remaining guard. "Keep your eyes open for any mischief, and then you can tell Wenhan to find me there. I don't like this situation... I don't like it at all..."

A minute later, Minseok was alone in the room.

Far below the Diamond Quarter, another imposter roamed.

Kyungsoo adjusted his robes and pulled the hood down to cover more of his face. He was back in the Commons, taking advantage of his short height to blend in with the dwarves around him. It wouldn't do to sit around in the shop and wait, not when he had not a single clue about what was going on. He'd left Sehun and Alistair behind. He was confident the 'tourist agency' would keep them safe and hidden. The remainder of Kyungsoo's coin was on his person, and without it, they wouldn't leave him behind.

Most of the entrances to the Deep Roads were situated in the Commons. Soldiers guarded them carefully, checking identification from those in the miner's guild. The everyday dwarves of Orzammar had little business descending any further below. The Deep Roads were ancient and on the verge of ruin. Cave-ins and collapses, rumors of Darkspawn infestations. Once upon a time, they spanned the whole of Ferelden and Orlais, but now they were abandoned. Only those who had a need to be down there, mining the thaig's precious metals and gems, passed through those doors under the heavy guard of seasoned veteran soldiers. Who knew what monsters lurked in the deep. Well, Kyungsoo had an idea, since he'd spent half his life belowgrounds. 

Lucky for Kyungsoo that not every passage struck out just from the Commons. Luckier too that he knew a few faces, or that a few faces still recognized him, like Jackson's grandmother. Smugglers and thieves abounded in plenty, but Kyungsoo's former master's people always knew how to identify one of their own. As soon as Kyungsoo could scour the marketplace for a hint of what was going on, he could start making plans.

Asking questions about House Zygmunt turned out to be easy. Kyungsoo pursed through wares, haggled with a few shopkeepers and dropped a few names. He was fruitful soon enough, eagerly lapping up the gossip of young Lord Yibo and his criminally banished older brother. Changes in the nobility and hierarchy were as common as dust, and yet everyone liked a good story.

"Heard he was sent surface top, ohh... 'bout a month after that other young lord. What was his name again? Jun, Jun-somebody or what have you." The gems dealer, an unseasonably chubby dwarf even for his kind, jostled around his wares while Kyungsoo tried to place the facts. "Dunno why exactly. Was it treason?"

A neighboring merchant burst in with a sigh and told Kyungsoo eagerly, "Don't listen to him. Wasn't treason. Lord Yixuan, I heard, was just poking his nose into the affair of Lord Junmyeon - it was Junmyeon, wasn't it? - after that poor boy was exiled by his older brother."

"That's right..." said the first dealer. "House Kondrat, now there's a story for you."

Kyungsoo pilfered through a sets of accessories and trinkets while the two dwarves bantered back and forth, calling up tales of the scandal like they'd never get a chance to tell it again. He stifled a yawn, but since it was involving House Zygmunt, Kyungsoo determined to keep his ears open.

"Lord Namjoon runs that house now, and a better warrior is he than his half-brother, that's for sure, and yet-"

"Lord Junmyeon did nothing to earn exile!"

"Nothing except fail disastrously in the Proving Grounds. Tell me, Oggard, what warrior caste wants a son like that ruining the family name? Huh? His mother was a Noble hunter from Dust Town. Lowest of the low, but she was pretty enough to marry the late lord and give him a son after his first wife died. Shame the offspring was no good. Lord Namjoon was always the better dwarf there."

Kyungsoo dared insert a question to turn it back to House Zygmunt. "Was this... son of a Noble hunter friends then with Lord Yixuan?"

"You might call it that, yeah," Oggard admitted. "Pity."

"What happened?"

"Got caught up in House Kondrat's fall. Tried to argue Lord Namjoon in front of the Assembly that banishing Lord Junmyeon for 'supposed smuggling' was bad enough, but that Lord Namjoon had no business sending his father's wife back to Dust Town. Her and her daughter, poor thing."

"Oggard, don't you worry about that little dear. She'll do the same as her mother probably and catch some noble's eye. That's what those casteless women do best." The dwarf leered at Kyungsoo and then seemed to notice how Kyungsoo wasn't buying anything. "Hey, you got gold right? Best wares in Orzammar right here. I promise you won't find powder of nug toenail for any better quality in all of Ferelden and beyond!"

Kyungsoo hurriedly moved on. He tentatively pieced together from theirs and others' talk that Lord Yibo was a militant young thing, happy enough to be ruling in his once older brother's seat, and that he had a vicious collection of warriors always around. He saw a few of them now actually. They wore the same colors and crest as they swept through the marketplace. Clearly they had an agenda, but they also had Minseok-

But, it wasn't Minseok.

"Xiumin..." Kyungsoo whispered to himself. He slipped behind a vendor's stall and trailed along parallel to their route. They came to a stop in a darkened corner of the Commons where more soldiers held a man already captive.

Kyungsoo bent down and strained his eyes to get a good look at the man. How clever, he thought a moment later, that they had captured Heechul... The steward had run off outside as soon as they all started fighting. Kyungsoo had held Sehun back, but he didn't miss the back of the other man running towards the forest to get away from the blasts.

Apparently he hadn't gone far. Xiumin interrogated him now, and Kyungsoo crept forward as close as he dared to overhear the conversation.

"Your friends, where are they?"

It was astonishing, how similar they looked and spoke, Minseok and Xiumin. Heechul looked visibly perplexed, but since he hadn't glimpsed Minseok for more than a few moments, he answered in a scared, stunned whisper.

"I-I don't know? They were with you! I saw them come in!"

"Not those friends, the others ones..."

"Wh-which other ones?" Heechul panicked and shrank back. The soldiers held him on his knees but he was tall enough that Xiumin didn't have to bend too far to speak right into his face.

"The dark one, and the tall boy. Where are they? You came to Orzammar with them, now tell me where they are!"

"I... I don't know." Heechul flailed again, now in complete tears and his head wobbled where he struggled, gaze passing over where Kyungsoo crouched.

Kyungsoo sat back in a panic, heart rate starting to increase.

"Tell me!"

"I don't know where they went! I ran away, because of that other crazy mage, and I never saw the others! I'm just a nobody! Please, please let me go, I don't know anything!"

They took him away shortly afterwards, when it was clear Heechul couldn't or wouldn't say anything about why he'd been with Jongin and his party, or what the true purpose of their journey was. Heechul wouldn't know to even mention, after all. He thought he was speaking to Minseok, which meant nobody knew what Xiumin was after, not even Jongin who was haphazardly traveling far from his destination, or Sehun was who was just stuck tagging along. Kyungsoo doubted even Jongdae or Luhan could guess what a mage like Xiumin wanted them for, and certainly Sehun had no idea.

"Waste of time," he heard Xiumin complain bitterly, after they dragged Heechul off. "Without the other two, this whole thing was a waste of time."

"Ser?" asked one of House Zygmunt's guards, "what should I tell Lord Yibo?"

Kyungsoo kept himself very still and silent. If they found him now, the game was up.

"Tell Lord Yibo," Xiumin's tone was snarky, "that he can do whatever he wants. No, wait. Tell him to hold them there another day at least. We'll have to let them go after that, but then we'll be able to follow. I can guarantee the other two who hold the artifacts won't go far, not without Minseok and the piece he carries. We'll let them do the work for us, let them reunite first. But keep up the search just in case."

Kyungsoo waited a long time in his hiding spot, waiting until the coast was completely clear. Then he made his way back to the shop he'd stashed Sehun in and said nothing about anything. Except for planning; he did a lot of that. His mind swam with one idea after another, littered through with Lord Yibos and Lord Yixuans, and some poor noble's daughter back in Dust Town.

Good thing, the only passages into the Deep Roads weren't just set back in Commons. Good thing, with the help of his new friends, if he could engineer this just right, he might be able to get everyone out and into the Deep Roads. The ones that opened secretly out from Dust Town.

"Hey, Suho?"

"Hmm?"

Jongdae hissed at Yixing, who promptly corrected himself. "Sorry. Junhee. Ohh, this whole renaming thing is difficult."

Suho looked at the mage who had yet to actually ask the question. "What is it?"

He pulled at his gown awkwardly and frowned into the reflection of a metal plate. The wig looked an absolute mess, but it was only because he couldn't keep his hands still. Everything about his costume bothered him, from the lumpy dress to the shoes, to the hair piece and the brush which Jongdae kept trying valiantly to use on him.

"Nothing," said the mage. "Just, you look a bit scared."

Suho grunted. Yixing, if anyone had ever bothered to ask him, scared Suho practically to death. Yixing sure looked nice enough, slim and handsome and youthful. Since they'd been locked in their chambers, he'd grown bored and conjured up his favorite bunny familiar to pass the time. The magical rodent sat on his lap while Yixing it softly and played with its ears.

"Aren't you scared?" he returned the question noncommittally.

Yixing shrugged, as Suho expected him to do.

In the corner of the room sat Kris, ignoring everybody. Jongin paced around nervously, something he hadn't stopped doing ever since Baekhyun and Minseok left to scout around the estate. Jongin paused only when his and Chanyeol's pacing happened to meet up, and then the two would shuffle awkwardly around each other like a jig.

"Maybe I should go back and check on Luhan," Chanyeol suggested.

"Leave him," said Yixing. "You already said you were making him dizzy with all this pacing. He's fine. He's resting."

"He's sick," Chanyeol stated forcefully.

"Which is why I said, you won't help any. Let him rest. Minseok will be back soon, then I bet Luhan will feel great! And in the meantime, Tao is there."

"Tao," Chanyeol sighed unhappily, "is a who knows how old once upon a time werewolf who acts like a child."

Their arguing made Suho upset. He closed his eyes and tried to block their words from reaching his head. Unfortunately, he wasn't very gifted in the mental practice of fortitude and instead of clearing his mind, he only opened it up again to the long ago days when he lived in an estate not unlike House Zygmunt. Or was it really so long ago? Perhaps it wasn't actually; only, a lot of things had happened since and normally he didn't have the luxury to dwell on it.

"Look, if everybody's so worried, I'll go check on him," Jongin interrupted.

No one had anything against that, especially since it was better than him pacing. The warrior left the room in complete silence. A minute later, he came back in complete silence without nothing much to report. "He's just resting, like you said. Tao's sitting on the floor. Both are silent, nothing going on."

Yixing kicked back on the bed and continued petting the bunny. It gave Suho the creeps, how the mage could sit there with such an innocent looking creature that wasn't even a real creature. Yixing was the very opposite of a bunny. 

The elf mage caught him looking and he smirked. As if he knew that Suho knew. Come to think about it, he probably did.

Kris' stomach rumbled from hunger. Jongin took up his pacing. At least Chanyeol decided to sit down. 

Jongdae continued brushing Suho's hair. It was the only comfort to him right now.

And then the door burst open and Minseok came flying into the room looking panicked and paranoid. "They got Baekhyun!"

3,090 words

Ta da! Look who posted a chapter and WOW is there a lot of material in this fic. Enjoy. ;)

♡ Rosie

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