I spent all morning being a good Cori and wrote the whole chapter in one sitting so I could upload on time for you guys <3 and it is even the normal length this time! 

Joon slammed his hand down on the table. Byul saw a few people jump at the sound. They had just arrived back at the village and the conference was called immediately. “You are absolutely positive that this piece of fabric belongs to their JongKook.” He said clutching it so hard his knuckles were turning white, eyes blazing into Byul and TaeOh’s. 

Byul had her arms crossed, not loving the aggressive vibe she was getting from Joon, she knew he wasn't mad at them but it was still unsettling. She gave a slight shrug. “I can not be one hurndered percent certain that it belongs to him.” TaeOh elbowed her, she knew they both felt more than certain it belonged to him, but Byul wasn’t taking the chance they were wrong. “We are very certain that it looks like the same one this man carries on him at all times.” The problem with that was that it had almost been a year since either of them had laid eyes on JongKook, he was always off doing something for the king. 

Joon rubbed his hand over his mouth. “Well I can’t just start a war with a king over a possibility that this might belong to one of his men, the man could be acting alone, it could just be a similar piece of fabric.” Byul nodded even though she thought it was very unlikely, they did many questionable things for the king when they were his bounty hunters, this thought made Byul realize that perhaps she was not better than the people who raided her village all those years ago. 

“So that’s it?” Luna’s voice was like poison. “We just give up on finding them?”

Joon, WheeIn, and HyeJin all gave her a look that said she should really think about the next words to come out of . “No Luna we do not.” He stood straighter. “But I can not just mindlessly launch an attack on an entire kingdom, it would be suicide.” 

“What do we do then?” She sounded like she was pleading.

The room went silent. Byul knew her mind was spinning with many different things they could do about it, none were good, none made her feel good. “I have an idea.” Byul almost forgot that YongSun was there, she had been sitting quietly in the corner with Arcadia since they had got back. Everyone’s eyes turned to her, she continued petting the wolf in a calm manner. “Why don’t I go find out what Henry is doing?” She said it with anger vibrating through her voice, yet her face remained calm. 

A cold hand clamped over Byul’s heart. “Absolutely not.” She felt the words growl from , even Arcadia looked at her unsure. 

YongSun’s eyes raised to Byul’s, they had such determination in them. “It makes the most sense, like Joon said, we can’t start a war over an assumption. That means we have to find a way to see what he is planning.” She kept her eyes on Byul the entire time she spoke. “Who better to do that than the long lost princess Solar, it is the best plan.” 

Byul dug her nails into her arms. “I did not travel so far to keep you safe, just for you to walk right back into danger YongSun.” She was very aware of everyone watching their conversation, she didn’t care, there was no way she was going to let YongSun risk her life over this. 

YongSun’s eyes softened slightly. “You have to admit it makes the most sense Byul.” Her voice was softer. “Besides I am the Solarious, this is my duty, if I can help people, it is my job to help them.”

“Not by risking your life.” She felt her body shutter. She could not and would not let YongSun walk herself into Henry's hands. “Besides, you don’t know if he knew about that, what of you are walking a powerful weapon into his hands?” 

“She has a point.” HyeJin’s deep voice was somewhere off to the left. “We can’t just let you walk back into his castle unprotected, we need to think this through.” Byul hated that it sounded like she was agreeing with YongSun’s plan. 

“I don’t care what the plan is.” Byul felt the sting of tears threatening behind her eyes. “I won’t let you risk your life over this, once you go into that castle you won’t be able to come out if he doesn’t have the kids, you know that.” The knowing look in YongSun’s eyes broke a piece of Byul’s heart, YongSun knew she was giving up her freedom on a whim. 

She gave a sad smile. “I trust you Byul-Ah, if you say JongKook did it, he did, I just need to find the children and then everything will be fine.” 

The words hung in the air, there were so many ways this would absolutely not be fine. She steeled her shaking muscles. “I will go with you.” She managed through her clenched teeth. “As Yul, I am a familiar face, I can help and then you won’t be alone.” 

A hand touched Byul’s shoulder, she would have shrugged it off but it was TaeOh’s hand, her brother. “We both go.” She pulled her eyes away from YongSun long enough to look at him for a moment, his warm brown eyes sending strength through her. “We will make sure she is safe.” Byul gave a firm nod. 

“Well I hope you weren’t thinking you were going alone.” WheeIn chimed in.

Byul almost forgot that the entire council was in the room with them. WheeIn had her arm casually resting in HyeJin’s shoulder. “Why would you come with us? You can’t enter the castle.” 

She shrugged. “No but this is my village, those are our children, I am not going to let you do my job.” She smiled slyly. “Besides, I still have to train YongSun, we can do it on the way, the more she can control her power, the better off she will be.” 

HyeJin gave WheeIn a lazy side eye. “We have to train her love, not just you.” WheeIn gave her a quick apologetic kiss on the cheek. 

Luna crossed her arms. “Well if they are going then so am I, this is my sister.” 

“If we were operating on that logic then half of the village would be going.” WheeIn said with a command in her voice. 

Byul could see Luna’s face fall slightly at the words. “Let her come.” TaeOh said, making Byul annoyed right away. “She has been with this group since the beginning.” 

Byul shot him a look. “So should the rest of WheeIn’s gang come along with us then?” She hated the acid in her voice but she could not help that her brother, the strong one who takes no bull, was defending this girl. “She could act irrational in attempts to get her sister back, it might be better if we brought someone else.” 

TaeOh gave her such a look of anger that Byul wanted to smack him for looking at her in such a way. “Just like you wouldn’t act irrational if it was YongSun missing? Or me?”

She turned toward him. “That is different, we’ve been trained to deal with those situations.” She was right, they had faced such things with each other over the years, learning, even though heart breaking, how to do what was right even if it meant losing the other. 

Their eyes were locked on each other for too long, silence hung around them. “Let her come.” YongSun said. Byul’s eyes flashed to her. “TaeOh is right, it has been the six of us since the start, she should be able to come and help find her sister.” Luna looked taken aback by YongSun’s words, as if she could not believe she spoke on her behalf. 

Byul blinked hard, she swallowed the bitter taste in and nodded. “Fine, but if she does something to jeopardize this, I am the one she has to deal with.” She locked eyes with the redhead, letting her words sink in, if anything happened to YongSun or TaeOh because of her, Byul would stop at nothing to make sure she paid for her mistake. Luna must have seen this in her eyes because she nodded at Byul. 

“I guess it is settled then.” Everyone looked back at Joon. “Take tomorrow to prepare and head out at first light the day after.” He looked at each of them in the eyes. “We are counting on you six. Bring our kids back safe.” Everyone nodded and broke for the evening, a new mission hanging over their heads. 

The trio started walking back to the house together, no one was speaking. “I need to walk Arcadia before we go back.” Byul said out of the blue. “Anyone want to join?” TaeOh could see her eye YongSun out of the corner of her eye, he wondered if they’d ever addressed their feelings for each other. That conversation in front of the council was intense. 

YongSun’s head seemed to be somewhere else, her eyes drifted off in a different direction, her head perked up. “Ernesto is back!” She said with glee. “I want to go have a talk with him.” She looked to Byul and over TaeOh for a second. “Can I meet you guys back at the house?” She didn’t really wait for them to respond before she dashed off. 

Byul’s shoulders dropped a bit, as if she was really hoping to talk to YongSun alone, she watched her dash off toward Ernesto’s house. “I am sure she will be fine.” Byul looked over at TaeOh, clearly still angry with him for standing up for Luna, but he knew that she knew deep down if it were her in Luna’s shoes, she would be fighting just as hard to come with them. “Why don’t you go walk Arcadia.” He gave the pup a pat on the head, she was growing fast. “I am going to go to the armory to make sure our swords are ready to go, we will need them if we plan on walking into Henry’s castle.” 

Byul nodded slightly absently. “I am afraid that once we walk in there, we won’t come out. And if what YongSun said about Henry and our