Despite being exhausted from two days without rest, Jaehwan found it hard to sleep that night. From the tossing and turning that he could hear from Dara and Victoria's cabins, they did as well. Eric had elected to stand the first watch, probably feeling guilty over his men's deaths, and Brian was still occupied in the map room. And yet, as much as sleep first eluded him, he did find it, and with it, dreams of fire and drowning.

A hand clamped down over his mouth and his eyes flew open, his hands coming up to grab his attacker. But then he realized that it was Krystal, her finger held to her lips as she motioned for him to rise. He followed the tall woman out of the room and up the stairs: the hatch to the upper deck had been broken with one of the attackers sword and it would take a carpenter to fix it. She led the way to the Captain's quarters, where she knocked twice and waited.

Jessica opened the door, her face angry as she stepped back to admit them. Sohee and Brian already sat inside at the table, both looking tired and drawn. Joe leaned against one wall of the cabin, his arms wrapped tightly about himself, and he reaised

an eyebrow when he saw Jaehwan.

"Sit," Jessica ordered, closing the door behind them and taking her own seat at the table. "I will go to place the accusation before the King in just a few hours. As soon as I make it, one of two things will happen. Changmin will either flee court, to which the King should be able to detain him. But he might already be gone, knowing that his gamble has been called. As such, I need you to get to the Tower as quickly as you can."

Jaehwan was totally lost, not understanding anything that she was talking about. Krystal reached out underneath the table and placed a hand to his leg, then gave him a look that promised that she would fill him in. Jessica didn't miss it, though, and she leaned forward to look at Jaehwan with brows drawn. "I am only allowing you in on this because I can't spare any more of my men. And Eric says that you're awfuly good with a bow, something that could come in handy. I need you to watch my sister's back. If you run or betray her, know that I will find you and string you from the mast by your toes."

"He won't," Krystal said before he could get a word out. "He fought for us, Jessica."

The older woman leveled a look at her sister that shut Krystal up, then she turned to Sohee. "Are you sure about the location?" she asked the magician.

Sohee covered a yawn with her hands and nodded her head. "Positive. The elemental I spoke with told me, and they do not lie. And it couldn't be wrong, either," she cut off Jessica's words, "the earth belongs to it."

Was that was the fire being was, Jaehwan wondered, but didn't ask. Joe shifted where he stood, catching Jessica's attention, and asked, "Could it tell you if the Prince was... well?" The pieces slowly began to fall into place for Jaehwan. There was a Tower that an elemental had told Sohee held Prince Yunho... or so he thought. He turned to the magician to hear her answer. 

She shook her head slowly, a grimace forming on her lips. "No. He's still alive, that's all I could know. If he weren't then the elemental would no longer feel his presence upon the earth," she added when Joe opened his mouth.

"Very well," Jessica said with a crisp nod. "Then we're clear. As soon as the sun begins to rise, we will put in at the pier. Sohee and I will head for the palace to place the accusation, Krystal, you'll take your people to the Tower and find him. The King might take a while yo convince and by that time, who knows what might happen to Yubho or where Changmin might be. I want my husband, Krystal... and I want Changmin just as much. Understood?"

No, but that was okay, he figured. The rest of them nodded except for Joe, who shrugged and cracked his neck. Jaehwan didn't know what he was getting into, but from the sounds of it, it was something far bigger than him.

He left the room behind Krystal and followed by Joe, and the woman led the way to the map room. There was no one there, no body and no blood, thought Jaehwan didn't doubt that there had been. Krystal bent and took a knife from her usual chair, then turned to hold it out to him. "You don't know how to use a sword, but you at least need something close at hand to defend yourself if needed."

He took it slowly, aware of Joe wandering the map on the floor, and stepped close to her side to ask, "What is this, Krystal?"

She paused, looking down at her hands for a long moment, before she gave a sigh and looked up at him. "We've discovered where Yunho and who took him, but it's a delicate situation: Changmin is the King of Kelsar's nephew. Jessica and Sohee will go make the official accusation tomorrow, but she worries that Changmin will then go dispose of the evidence. To be honest," she paused, glancing at Joe as if unsure if she should say it.

The short man turned and said what she was hesitant to say. "He may have already disposed of that evidence. That means Prince Yunho. Changmin may have realized that his game was up and had him killed after the failed attack on the Lion Heart."

"Then-" Jaehwan began, and Krystal nodded.

"Then we'll be too late. But Sohee's, uh, friend said that he was still alive three hours ago, so we might have time. Changmin's home is in the hillside, a good two hour ride from here. We're going to push to reach it as quickly as we can and hope we are ahead of Changmin."

Joe shrugged as if it didn't matter, but Jaehwan saw the flash of emotion in his eyes and realized that this man was worried. He used his cold demeanor as a front to hide behind, but his eyes showed how concerned he was about his Prince.

"Okay, I'm in," he said, attaching the knife sheath to his belt. 

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