Awarkd wave hello

    TaeOh did not know what to think at first when there was a knock on his door in the early hours of the morning. He got to his feet hesitantly, wondering if he should even answer it, his men knew better than to wake him up for nothing, this had to be important. 

What he did not expect was to find YongSun at his door. Her eyes were wide with fright, she was still wearing her night clothing, a cloak hastily thrown on top. “YongSun?” He asked quietly as if he could not tell it was her, he was just surprised to see her, how did she even get past the others. 

She looked around. “I need to talk to you.” When he made no move forward she added. “Now.” 

Something serious was going on, he grabbed his coat off the hook by the door, sliding it on as he stepped out of his room. “Okay but not here.” 

There was no one in the hall. That explained how YongSun got to his bedroom, but there should have been someone on duty. “I may have started a small fire nearby to draw the guards away.” She said answering his silent question. 

TaeOh nodded, still kind of asleep, he should’ve been able to throw the fatigue away easily but the days of endless research he had been doing lately had taken up a lot of his sleeping time. 

TaeOh led YongSun to one of the gardens, he knew that none of the guards patrol the gardens late at night, they were too busy attending to the sleeping royals. Queen Joy loved her gardens but she hardly used them except to have a tea party. 

The particular garden TaeOh decided to go to with the princess, looked like it didn’t belong to the castle, in fact, when he first went to that place, he didn’t even realize that he was still on the property. 

Large grey stone walls fenced the garden in making it appear like a giant trap, something that wasn’t very noticeable to Yongsun’s eyes because of how dark it was, only TaeOh, who learned the layout of the whole castle including the gardens. He knew better. 

This particular garden stopped being used by the royal family because it was a blind point for the guards. The reason behind was that the place was there when the castle was being built and it served as a dumpster. The walls were used as the thing that prevented the original king and his court from seeing what was inside and only the staff could access it through the servants quarters, now the guards barracks. 

After king Henry inherited the castle he made a lot of changes, one of them was to clear the dumpster and change the staff into a safer place inside the castle, instead, he demolished and built better and improved barracks for his growing army. When he was asked about the dumpster, the king saw that it was more of an investment to demolish it than to keep it and do something else with it and it was the queen’s petition to turn it into a garden even if it wasn’t going to be used. 

At first, queen Joy would go there accompanied by guards and her maids to take care of the plants but the king demanded to stop the visits due to the lack of safety of the place, no other guards but the ones with her could keep an eye on Joy because of the walls. After long years, the place was still there but different. The plants that were carefully placed in the past had grown into a messy forest. The main walkway was lined with stone benches and bushes in between them, big trees growing over them. 

TaeOh walked YongSun deep into the garden, to be sure they would not be overheard. The heart of the garden was a small pond of irregular shape housed by the forest. Large rocks formed the outline of the pond and lilies of different colors grew in between. 

They had to cross a small stone bridge that was hardly noticeable due the many plants and trees that surrounded it. Finally, he walked her to a small sitting area near the water and sitting down next to each other, he motioned for her to tell him what was going on. 

YongSun launched into a long story about the dream she had. TaeOh felt his heart rate pick up as she described it, tears were her eyes. When she finished, she had to take a few long breaths to get herself back under control before they were able to talk. “Do you think it was a vision?” TaeOh could hear her voice waver. 

He desperately wanted to tell her that it wasn’t. Truth was, he wasn’t sure, he hoped it was. He thought about it for a long time. “I don’t think we should worry until tomorrow when we will know for sure.” YongSun gave him a look like there was no way she was not going to worry about it, she looked ready to hop on a horse and go looking for answers herself. “Look YongSun, I know it’s hard, but we can’t do anything rash. For all we know, everything is fine and they will all arrive tomorrow in town. We will have an answer tomorrow night.” He already sent word to the pub that he and Byul used to frequent, it will be the first place she will check for a message. They had a few places set up, to change every time so no one caught on to them. 

YongSun didn’t seem to relax any, and he didn’t blame her, he was also on edge half debating if he should go to town in the morning to find her himself, but all they could do was wait and see. “There is more,” YongSun said, she told him about her vision when she touched Jin. “I didn’t try to get a vision from him, it just happened. And his parents are from the north, what if he is the Lunarous?” 

TaeOh seriously doubted that Jin was the Lunarous. He was sure that the Uju had different powers, so there was a possibility he could be, especially if the Lunarous powers were bound like YongSun’s were. “That is something I will have to look into.” He answered but YongSun shook her head. 

“You have enough going on, this mission is mine. I already have an idea about it.” When she finished explaining the plan she had, he decided that he was going to let her handle it. “How are we going to keep in contact? We can’t have Jin relay our messages back and forth all the time, and what about my fight training?” Her hand moved to her leg, TaeOh could only assume she was still carrying the blade Byul gifted to her. 

It had been one of the things TaeOh had been researching these last few days. “The third story library is on my patrol route. I will slip notes into the book called History of Swords every other day, in code of course, and if you need to send me one you will leave it there as well.” He felt very proud of himself for thinking of it. It was a place she could access that was not odd, and he had to sweep the room every day at the same time, so no one would know he stopped to leave a note. 

YongSun nodded. “And of my training?” 

That he didn’t have a good answer for. “Are you still practicing the moves that Byul taught you?” 

She nodded. “Every night before bed, even if my feet are killing me.” 

He nodded his head once. “That will have to do for now, she has taught you a lot. When I find a solution I will leave a note.” She grimly agreed with him. “Now I will have one of my men you back to your room.” He placed a hand on her arm and squeezed. “Try to get some sleep.” Even though he knew that was not going to happen, she nodded. Unfortunately, they just had to wait and see. 

Byul sat straight up in bed and gasped loudly. Her hands were running over her body, trying to find the entry wound. She could feel her breaths coming and going so fast and still she wasn’t even getting any air from it. 

A dream, it had all been a dream, she realized when there was no wound on her body. The others were sleeping soundly around her, the fire had extinguished leaving hot pieces of wood with traces of orange. It had felt so real, the blade sliding into her chest, the warmth of the blood, the other fighting as her vision went black... she had never had such a vivid dream before. She looked at her side again and touched the “wound”. Arcadia looked up from where she was sleeping beside her, concerned eyes. Byul absentmindedly patted her head, still trying to get her breathing under control. Right, Arcadia is not hurt either

“Everything okay?” HyeJin’s smooth voice floated over to her from where she was standing watch.

Byul took a shaky breath and got to her feet. “Yeah, just a bad dream.” More like a terrible nightmare. 

HyeJin nodded. “I think as we get closer, the more anxious I get.” She admitted, Byul tilted her head slightly to one side questioning her. “I don’t know what we are going to do once we get there.” 

Byul leaned against the tree next to her, still feeling her heart race and her stomach ache from the dream. “Hopefully TaeOh has a message for us once we arrive.” He was supposed to spend his first week in the castle getting them names to pursue. They had a few allies in Kedoeron, ones who would turn against the king if needed, and others who would be good resources for weapons or supplies if needed. “If not, there are a few people I know that we can talk to.” 

HyeJin shifted. “Yeah, but what will talking to these people accomplish? We are here to get information as to where the children are, that is our mission.” She took a break. “I understand we may need reinforcements of some kind to achieve this goal but we are not here to start a war, we are just here to get our people back.” 

Byul thought about her words. “Yes perhaps talking to all of our contacts might not be a great use of our time but as of now, we have nothing. We don’t know where the children are being held, and even if we find that out, we don’t know how to get them back. TaeOh and I know many people with a lot of resources. It might make for a good use of time to talk with them instead of standing around doing nothing.” She felt herself being worked up. “And even after we find the children, we don’t know how we are going to get YongSun and TaeOh back.” At the thought of those two her heart ached, it was painful being without them. “I need all the help I can get making sure we get everyone out.” 

HyeJin held up her hand. “I wasn’t questioning your plan Byul. I was only asking for an explanation.” She said in her cool HyeJin tone that made her feel like she went a little overboard on account of her emotions. “I understand the importance of everything we are doing, but as a group, we need to decide what contacts are worth our time more than others and I hope you understand that.” 

Byul took a long breath to calm herself. “I don’t know what I am going to do if we can’t save everyone.” That is something she was truly afraid of, there was no way she could lose YongSun or TaeOh, but she didn’t want to lose any of their team or the kids.

HyeJin sighed. “One mission at a time Byul, we look out for each other and leave no one behind.” Byul nodded, not feeling any better about it, the nightmare still hanging about her head. “We should get the others up, it is almost dawn.” Byul agreed and walked back to where her bed matt was, hoping that by going to town today she would get some sort of ease, but she wasn’t counting on it. 

TaeOh didn’t get back to sleep. Almost as soon as he passed YongSun off to one of his men, he marched himself back to his bed chambers and got dressed for the day. He was still trying to force himself to believe that YongSun had a nightmare and that everyone was fine, he really hoped they were fine. He left his room as soon as he got ready for the day, he needed to find more answers and he needed them soon.

The letter he sent Byul told her that they were fine, they got in the castle with very little trouble. The next part explains that he spent the last few days checking every dark hole on the castle grounds and that there was no sign of the children. One of the perks being one of Henry’s secret soldiers a few years ago was that he knew so many of the chambers in the castle that were not supposed to exist. The downside was he also knew there could be more he didn’t know about, and even worse, the ones he had all over the kingdom and in others. It would be easier if the children were in the castle. He could report where they were and start trying to find an escape route, but Henry was smart enough to keep them elsewhere, still, he checked anyway.

He made sure to add in the letter that YongSun had not been successful getting any visions from the other royals, though it seemed her access was limited to lesser nobles who knew nothing. She did get a few chances with Queen Joy but she didn’t seem to know anything. YongSun did get a lot of time with Prince Eric, he was sure Byul would love that fact, but even the prince didn’t seem to know much about what his father was doing. That was no surprise, Henry was a smart man, the fewer people who knew things, the better. Even when he was one of those secret things, TaeOh didn’t get to know much besides who he was supposed to be looking for. 

TaeOh found himself at the grand library, there were endless libraries in this castle but this one had the most books. It looked small from the outside, just a circular building intersected with a rectangle one, but as soon as you stepped inside you could see the endless stacks of books. A labyrinth you could get lost in at any turn. TaeOh expertly avoided all of the librarians, scholars, and workers that were about, putting books away or looking to help. He had his eyes set on one section. 

What seemed like a twenty-minute walk, TaeOh found himself in front of the architecture section. He spent a lot of time here over the last few days. He had copied a map of the castle grounds, mapping out the castle atop, marking all the secret places he knew, and outlining areas where more could be. He also researched areas around the kingdom he knew of that Henry had for his personal use, and again mapped out places where more could be. It wasn’t much but with this and the small list of names, it was enough to keep the others busy while he looked for more. What he really needed was a secret book with a map clearly marked ‘the kids are here’ but the likelihood of that was laughable. There was no way Henry would do such a thing. TaeOh pocketed his map, safely kept away from others, and headed for the door, his shift was about to start. His research would have to continue later. 

YongSun was getting ready for yet another brunch. It took her almost two whole days of pleading with YooJin to allow her to dress herself in her chambers, it was very hard to hide her blade from the girl, but thankfully she gave in. Today she was dressed in a pink dress that was trimmed with lace, paired with, thankfully, flat shoes. YooJin sat her in front of the mirror to do her make-up, taking longer than normal because of the deep purple marks under her eyes from her sleepless night.

YongSun tried hard to push the images of the attack off from her brain. Pain flared within her heart again as she saw Byul being stabbed, she felt it. Tears sprung to her eyes for the hundredth time since she awoke. “Are you okay my lady?” YooJin asked, concerned.

YongSun nodded, shoving her feelings away, she had a mission today. “Yes, the air is dusty.” YooJin apologized to her and ran over to close the window. 

When they finished, YongSun was escorted by her guards to the dining hall. There was supposed to be a very important dinner or something later so breakfast and lunch were being squished into one so the staff had more time to prepare. YongSun didn’t mind, it was less time she had to spend with them. She wa