Chaos. That was the only word WheeIn could use to describe what was before her. More than half of their people were badly hurt, there were no casualties… yet. Makeshift tents had been hastily set up for medical purposes. Screams vibrated around the camp, luckily they were far enough from any civilization that they would not be heard. As a measure, any able body was on guard or running for supplies. 
WheeIn was positioned outside one of the tents, Arcadia by her side. The wolf seemed almost relieved to see a familiar face, though WheeIn could tell she was still looking for Byul. They both waited anxiously. WheeIn was waiting for Sylvia to come out of the tent she guarded, she was working on HyeJin, who was one of the first people to get here and one of the ones with the most severe injury. WheeIn was still unsure about the details of how it happened, but her leg did not look good. The worst part was hearing HyeJin’s screams, something that was going to haunt her dreams until the day WheeIn died. Sylvia had given her some sort of herbs to put her to sleep so they could work on her. All WheeIn was told was that HyeJin will most likely lose a part of her leg.
A commotion near the east end brought WheeIn’s attention. She didn’t know enough of Byul’s hand signals to talk to the wolf but she hoped words would do fine. “Guard.” She commanded, Arcadia stood up straighter, looking ready to rip a limb off anyone who approached the tent. She jogged over to the group of guards who now held someone at sword point. He was young, probably about her age or younger. “What is your business here?” One of the men asked while she approached. 
The boy raised his hands and lowered himself to his knees without being asked to. “I was sent here by Oh TaeOh, he said to tell you the Sun sent me.” WheeIn knew who that was code for, the men around him did not. “He also said to ask to speak to his sister.” 
That had a ripple of confusion wash over the men, a few of them knew who TaeOh was, and until recently he didn’t have a sister. “Well, it is a good thing I showed up then.” All eyes turned to her, as she stood just behind them.
The one closest to the boy addressed her. “You know who that is?” 
She wasn’t sure if he was asking if she knew the boy or TaeOh’s sister. “I am TaeOh’s sister, a long-lost step-sister.” She shrugged, then addressed the boy. “What is your name?” 
His soft eyes looked up to her. “Park Jin. I am one of TaeOh’s men from the Kedoeron, until this morning I was a guard to Princess YongSun of Thaiston when he told me to seek you out.” 
WheeIn thought it over for a minute, there was no way anyone else but TaeOh or Byul could have sent him here, no one else would have called WheeIn his sister. “Bring him in but put no less than three people on him until we can get confirmation from TaeOh or Byul.”
“Byul?” Jin looked confused. “Like Yul, are they related?” 
WheeIn gave him a look. “If you are who you say you are, then you will be filled in soon enough.” WheeIn jerked her head, the men picked Jin up from the ground, bound his hands, and walked him away from the edge of the land. This was one more thing WheeIn did not need on her plate.
A sharp bark had her head whipping backward. Arcadia was standing next to Sylvia who was cleaning her hands outside the tent. WheeIn dashed towards her, the woman looked grim which had WheeIn start to panic. “What happened?” She wanted to rush past her and into the tent but she couldn’t bear to bring her feet to move. 
Sylvia finished cleaning her hands of blood… HyeJin’s blood. “She is stable, sleeping.” Her forehead creased a bit. “We had to remove the lower half of her leg.” Cold ice spread through WheeIn, making her want to throw up. “It will be something she will have to adjust to but she will live. The next day or so will be critical, we can not move her until then.” Meaning they would not be making the trip back home today.
WheeIn swallowed hard. “Can I see her?” 
“Of course, I will give you your space, I will be back after seeing some other injured people.”
WheeIn barely heard her, she was already stepping through the tent. HyeJin’s black hair spilled over the side of the flat cot she laid upon. She looked very pale, most likely from the blood loss. WheeIn was almost too scared to move forward. The way she was laying, HyeJin looked dead. It took WheeIn a moment to calm her heart, she had to repeat to herself over and over that she was alive before she was able to take another step closer. Just below HyeJin’s left knee was completely gone, the stump of it wrapped in bandages that were already stained with more blood. 
WheeIn dropped to the ground and dry heaved onto the floor. Nothing came out, burned from the acid that had attempted to escape. She crawled the remaining distance to HyeJin and took her hand. It was ice cold. WheeIn wondered if her ice was coming out to protect her. WheeIn felt the familiar burn of tears behind her eyes, she reached her free hand out and gently traced the side of HyeJin’s face. “Don’t worry love, I am here.” She whispered to her. “It is going to be okay.” WheeIn felt her whole body shake as she tried to gain enough strength to place a kiss on HyeJin’s forehead. There was nothing WheeIn could do now but wait. Wait for HyeJin to wake up. Wait for TaeOh, Byul, and YongSun to get out of the castle. She just hoped she didn’t have to wait long. 

TaeOh looked down at YongSun’s body. Her dress had been stripped away and replaced with a white slip in the castle’s mortuary. A few of the servants removed the elaborate wedding dress, TaeOh averted his eyes as they did. The royals were not present. Protocol dictates that they are taken to a secret room in the castle, heavily guarded until the threat is gone. 
It had been almost an hour since Byul slit YongSun’s throat. These next few steps were crucial to the plan. The head healer had come first, YongSun was brought to his chambers swiftly. Of course, she had been pronounced dead minutes after she arrived, and that is when they brought her here, and she would be kept here until her funeral… or someone would be.
TaeOh got up from his seat. No one had questioned why he stuck with the body, he had been the first one to her, and they had been close, the entire castle staff was convinced they had a secret affair. 
He leaned over her body. Her skin was pale, her neck looked like a sea of red had washed down it, pouring from the cut. The healer didn’t even question her death when he saw the deep cut on the left side of her neck, there was more than enough blood to prove the thick artery had been hit.
Of course, that was not what had happened. He had helped Byul extract a thin jar of her blood, hidden in her sleeve and rigged to pour down as she glided her blade along YongSun’s neck. The larger cut to her neck was unavoidable, only a ha