When Kai woke up, he found himself somewhere cold, dark, and damp. There were few places in the castle that he had never been in before, but he guessed that he was in the dungeons, for his wrists and ankles had been shackled to the stone floor in a manner that forced his head down and locked him in the humiliating position of prostrating himself to all and sundry. There was no point making things harder for himself by fighting the restraints, so he relaxed into them, not caring that his forehead was touching the dirty floor. His body ached with more than the bruises he had sustained in the fight against Junmyeon. He knew that the restraints in the dungeon were specially made to repress magic more especially for someone like him who could control metal– but they could have saved themselves the trouble – he felt oddly hollow, and he knew that even if he tried he would not be able to summon so much as a spark or move the lightest metal. The people who had imprisoned him while he was unconscious had obviously dealt several blows to the back of his head to make sure that he would not wake up before they had him securely bound, and his throbbing head was making him nauseous. There was also a horrible metallic taste in his mouth, and when he coughed he felt the blood pooling in his mouth from a broken rib or two - probably the result of a few additional kicks he'd been given while he was unable to defend himself. The injuries were supposed to heal by now, perks to his wolf side but Kai didn't know why they hadn't. His question was answered when he felt another pain in his lower stomach. Looking down Kai was met with another injury, this one a bit different because it was inflicted by a silver. Which explained why his body wasn't healing itself. Footsteps were drawing closer, possibly the sound that had awoken him in the first place, then he heard the sound of keys turning in a lock and a metal door clanging open, and although Kai could not lift his head to see, he immediately recognised the voice that spoke and the person's scent. "Are you finally awake, little brother?" "If I say 'no', will you go away?"   Junmyeon tutted. "So little respect for your king." Kai snorted derisively. "Have you crowned yourself, then?"  "I had little choice," Junmyeon replied with false diffidence. "Four months ago, everyone knew the barbarians brought dragons here because they wanted your precious consort, and our honourable father was injured in a futile effort to save you from the monsters you led to our doorstep. You and your consort must have done something terrible to summon these mystical creatures, and everybody knows that enchantments usually end with the death of the spell-caster. It is with great sorrow that I charge my own brother with high treason and black sorcery, which is of course punishable by death. Still that wasn't enough you still had to finish father off when your first plan didn't work. And Jimin, as your accomplice, will also be sentenced to death. " Kai's heart sank, this wasn't fair, Jimin just had his baby, the child need his father, especially now and Kai didn't even know what Junmyeon would do the child– that's if he let him live. "And I suppose you do not care that Jimin is the only person with the talent and knowledge to maintain the castle's wards."  "Nobody is irreplaceable," Junmyeon said dismissively. "At first light, Jimin, uncle Minseok, his husband and your insolent head of guard will be hanged, but you will have the privilege of being drawn and quartered." "How fortuitous. I had to get dressed in a hurry this morning in my haste to be in the court , unlike you, and now although I am going to have to die in clothes that do not quite match, at least one can hope that it will not be that obvious if my body is in pieces," Kai said mildly.  "Always full of childish quips, even to the end," Junmyeon sneered. "Let's see how witty you are tomorrow morning when they are cutting off your limbs and pulling out your entrails - and I assure you, dear brother, I will make sure you stay awake long enough to feel it all." "We both know who the real culprit is, do you think father wouldn't tell me who did it?" Junmyeon aimed a swift kick at Kai's already damaged ribs, and Kai bit down hard on his own lips so that he wouldn't give Junmyeon the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain. "Shut the up." And Junmyeon kept at it, sending vicious kicks at his abdomen right were the wound inflicted by silver resided, and in the end it was a blow to the side of his head that forced a pained gasp out of Kai. "You do not have any proof and moreover; who will believe you anyway?" Satisfied, Junmyeon laughed, then slammed the door of Kai's cell shut and Kai heard his footfalls moving away. When Kai was sure Junmyeon was gone, he spat out a mouthful of blood, then spoke into the quiet of the dungeons, "Jimin, are you here?"  "I am, my friend," Jimin responded. "Do not worry - I went with them quietly, and I am not much hurt." "Jennie?" "I am here, my lord."  She sounded like her face was at the very least swollen. Kai sighed. "Jennie, you should have renounced me."  "I told the rest of your guard that you would much rather they live than die to prove their loyalty to you, but nobody could bring themselves to sit back and watch you be so maligned," she replied, then added quietly, "They are all dead. Junmyeon kept me for the public execution to set an example. I do not think he liked it very much when I knocked out half his guard and kicked him in the groin."  Kai felt sad for those loyal guards that lost their lives because of him, at least he was a little thankful Chanyeol had decided to stay in Ilda, because Kai was certain his knight would have been with them in the dungeon at the moment. "Where's uncle Minseok and Jongdae?" "Right here!" Came Minseok's voice. "We're with you till the end" Jongdae said with conviction. Kai swallowed hard. "I don't know what I have done to deserve your loyalties, but I am forever grateful for it. I am sorry that it has come to this, and I wish your service to me could have offered you a brighter future." "I never served you Kai, I served my brother and now I know if I die at least Heechul would be happy to receive me in the after life. I kept my words and stood by his precious son." "And where ever Minseok and my daughter goes, I follow. Even in death" Jongdae added in a soft tone. "Jimin where's Scott?" Kai asked, a wave of dizziness passing over him. "With Taeyeon, she took him and promised to care for him." Kai knew his sister would keep her words, she was a woman of Honor. He had little hope that he would be able to get himself out of this, and even less that he would be able to free Jimin and his uncles and cousin as well, and he would not leave them behind. And so this was it - he would die without ever seeing Sehun again. He only hoped that Junmyeon was too cowardly and lazy to start a war with Ilda now that he no longer needed to impress their father. He spared a moment - not quite to grieve, but to try to think more kindly of Heechul. "Then may Hecate help us all," Kai mumbled, and drifted off into unconsciousness again.   
**** Snapping his head around, Jimin sighed in relief when he saw it was just Taeyeon and the queen. He hastily stood up and bowed deeply. "Your majesty!" He greeted the queen first before bowing once again at Taeyeon. "Your highness!" As he said it, his eyes were fixed on his son who was sleeping soundly in Taeyeon's arms. Automatically he reached to stock his son's face and the baby shifted slightly before dropping back and continued to sleep. "It is time, Namjoon is guarding the West gate entrance." The queen said, eyes looking to where Kai was laying. Even without seeing through her mind, Jimin knew the sight of her stepson laying helplessly on the dirt floor had hurt her even more than she was already, if the sadness swirling around her eyes were any indication. "I am so sorry Kai. If I hadn't stopped Taeyeon, Junmyeon would've suspected I wasn't on his side and you know how vicious he is." she looked to Jimim for a moment. " He hates me now, don't he?" She asked, bending on her knees and reached a hand to stoke Kai's bloodied face. Jimin shook his head. "No, I do not think so." The queen didn't say another word, she pulled out Kai's limp hand and looked up to her daughter. Getting the hint Taeyeon instantly bent on knees as well, carefully holding Scott with one hand as she reached for her brother with the other. Closing her eyes for a moment, Taeyeon inhaled sharply and released Kai's hand, quickly standing on her feet. She wordlessly pass the baby over to the queen. Taeyeon then clenched both hands and instantly the metal door unlocked itself. Jimin now understood that Taeyeon must have borrowed some of Kai's powers and that gave her the ability to control metal. Jimin quickly turned to Jennie who was laying between her fathers. He gently touched her feet and Jennie's eyes opened, she blinked a few times before turning to wake her fathers. "Jimin there are guards stationed around the palace, can you hold them off with your mind?" Taeyeon asked, bringing out a few weapons and passed them around. Jimin considered it for moment before nodding. "I can try." "I've scouted the routes and I think West gate is the safest to pass through."Taeyeon said, stepping into the cell and with another flick of her wrist, she broke the shackles holding Kai's hands and feet. "Help him up" she said looking at her uncles. Minseok was the first to move and Jongdae quickly joined him to pull Kai up and held him on both sides. "Alright let's move." The queen said, passing Scott to Jimin with a sling to put the baby in. They stepped out into the quiet corridor, the only sounds were their feet on the stone and the rush of water from the far-off waves against the base of the cliffs, a hush of a breeze blowing through leaves; the guard watching their cell from a discreet distance has no idea they’re even there, because Jimin was projecting their absence from the corridor directly into his mind. It was tricky, fiddling with perception; Jimin had spent so long as a child keeping his telepathy cooped up that he’d not had much chance to master complex uses of his power, and he had to concentrate to keep up the illusion as they walk along the corridor towards the main part of the palace, walking quietly side-by-side. They turned at the junction of their own hallway with the main passage through the South wing, and things were better lit there, another guard at the far end that Jimin blinkered just as he did the first, like putting a hood on a hawk to keep it from stooping for prey. Taeyeon touched his hip lightly to nudge him in the proper direction. She kept glancing at the guard as they passed him, like she expected the man to see through their shields