"There shall come a day when man has grown comfortable, the Tower has grown complacent, and that is when the Dark shall rise." - The Prophecies of Light

Youngsaeng had kept to his word and ridden out from his Keep the morning after his meeting with the immortal, and both Jeonghan and Seungcheol had accompanied him. It was a long ride from the Marches to the Reaches, taking the trade road that wound along the South side of the mountains; nearly two weeks in total. By the time they arrived Jeonghan didn't know if he should be happy to be off the road or anxious to be in the Choi's stronghold.

Seungcheol didn't seem to have any hardship choosing where he would rather be. His cantankerous horse had suited his rider's bitter mood for the entire trip, leaving Jeonghan to seek out other company. 

He had taken the time to gain a better footing with the Marcher Lord, choosing to ride by his side and exchange stories. Jeonghan's centered around the other man's grandfather Jisoo, and how they had known one another, while Youngsaeng was happy to divulge information about Seungcheol's wild childhood. Something that the blond was not happy about, given the way his mood continued to sour. Jeonghan was left a bit confused by that until Youngsaeng had clued him in. 

"You know that he fancies you," the Marcher Lord said at one point, pulling Jeonghan's attention away from where Seungcheol was battling it out with his red horse. 

"Excuse me?"

"Seungcheol. He had taken quite the liking to you, though his noble nature won't allow him to admit it when there is chance for rejection."

That explained a lot, Jeonghan realized. They spent the remainder of the trip to the Western Reaches away from one another; Seungcheol unhappy about returning to his father's side, and Jeonghan suddenly unsure where he stood with the blond mortal.

Their arrival in the Reaches was quite the dramatic one. The morning of their last night camping, they woke to a blanket of snow on the ground, several inches deep and still steadily falling. Unlike some of the Lords that Jeonghan had known in his life, Youngsaeng didn't even blink at the sight, simply ordering camp to break as usual. And so it was that Jeonghan's first sight of the Western Keep in more than fifty years was one that seemed almost magical.

Snow fell all around the stone Keep, the surrounding trees bare of leaves and covered in the white fluff like some sort of guardians. The column of horsemen climbed the hill toward it, winding up and around the crest until they arrived at the front gate. It wasn't as naturally defensible as the Marcher Lord's Keep, but it was more formidable, with strong walls built around it and a large portcullis that had to be lifted to allow them inside.

Seungcheol had pulled his horse off to the side, holding the red in place as it pranced and champed at the bit, angry that the other horses got to go first. On a whim, Jeonghan did the same, easing his own mare in beside the sorrel horse. She stood patiently, unlike the Sadovian, but Jeonghan was paying more attention to the mortal next to him. Seungcheol's face was like stone as he looked up at his father's Keep.

"If you cannot do this-" Jeonghan began, his voice pitched soft, but Seungcheol shook his head.

"I must. We both know that my father is at the heart of all of this, and that if anyone can gain his trust, it is me." He heaved a sigh, though, and shook his head ruefully. "I just wish that it did not have to fall on me."

"The Light never gives us a burden that we cannot carry," Jeonghan told him. Seungcheol gave him an unreadable look at that.

He was handsome, in a mortal way, with his large eyes and full lips. He certainly had none of the immortal's delicacy about him. Given time, Jeonghan thought that there might be room for more. In the meantime, though...

"I suppose we need to go in," Seungcheol said quietly, and Jeonghan turned to realize that the column had very nearly disappeared beneath the portcullis. He reached across the space between their horses to catch the blond man's arm. 

"You can do this, Seungcheol. You're strong and stubborn and brave," he told him truthfully. It drew a smile from the human, and he gathered his reins with the intent to enter the Keep.

A shift in the currents caught Jeonghan's attention at that moment, and he paused, his mare obediently awaiting her master's commands. Seungcheol turned to look at the immortal, curiosity on his face, but Jeonghan didn't even notice. His attention was elsewhere, off toward the high crags that rose several hundred feet into the air, across the main field in front of the Keep.

Something just didn't feel right. Magic had been relatively okay when they were traveling, though weaker than usual, but this was different. It had felt like a surge