It was such a different way of waking up that Jaebum was aware of it, even in his drowsiness. The press of familiar skin against him, the sweat-and-soap aroma of another person, the slight ache in his body that called to mind a sweet pain, the strain of a new height reached.

He opened his eyes. Jackson was still sleeping, hair mussed and mouth hanging partially open as he breathed. Every once in a while, he would issue a light snore. It was fascinating how you could know in your head how silly someone looked, but still your eyes translated them as breathtakingly beautiful.

He thought about kissing his forehead, but worried that might wake him up. He deserved some rest after the night they had just enjoyed together. Jaebum wouldn’t have minded going back to sleep himself, but he was pretty sure what had woken him up was the sound of his cell phone buzzing with a message.

It was from Jinyoung. Got a message from Yugyeom. He wants us to meet him at Hamilton Hall on campus in an hour. Can you make it?

Jaebum didn’t particularly want to leave Jackson without at least a kiss, or preferably something more, but knew better than to not take communication received from Yugyeom seriously when he could have possibly gained more intel on Blue Rose. Jaebum picked up his discarded clothes off the floor. They were still a little wet, but didn’t resist too much as he wriggled into them. He strapped his weapons back on (that had been a particularly fun part about the night before—disarming each other), slipped on his boots, scribbled a note to Jackson explaining why he’d left, and went outside.

It had stopped raining but was cloudy and overcast. He spent most of his walk back to campus avoiding puddles, his thoughts torn between the high of his memories from the night before and the lows of uncertainty at what was to come in the future with Jinyoung and Blue Rose. He wanted to give everything he could to Jackson, but if he did that, would he have enough left to spare for Jinyoung’s protection?

One day, Im Jaebum, a voice echoed through his head, you are going to wish you were a better protector. Jaebum clenched his fists, praying that day would not come soon.

Jinyoung was already waiting for him outside Hamilton Hall when Jaebum arrived. He was looking a little bit worse for wear—his hair was swept in every direction, his body was slouched, and there was a very definite kiss mark on the side of his neck.

“Did you enjoy your lovemaking, my prince?” Jaebum asked as Jinyoung opened the door to Hamilton Hall.

Jinyoung flushed. “Lovemaking is a rather old-fashioned way of putting it,” he muttered. Jaebum could tell he was embarrassed because he didn’t even remember to snap ‘don’t call me a prince’ afterwards.

“That’s how Jackson put it, when we did it. I guess cowboys don’t say ‘ing’.’”

Jinyoung’s eyes bulged. “Wait…you and Jackson?”

Jaebum nodded. “Apparently his firearms weren’t the only thing about him I was attracted to.”

“I could tell. But I didn’t think you’d actually follow through with it!”

“He was the one who set me off. I just followed his lead.”

“How was it?” Jinyoung looked transparently eager to have something to compare his own experiences to.

“Pretty fun, I thought. It was unfamiliar territory at first, but it wasn’t so bad going along with someone learning the ropes with you. We tried both roles, and both were enjoyable in different ways, but I think he liked it when I was holstering in him best because apparently a few of the things we did could be called him ‘riding cowboy’.”

Jinyoung blinked. “Wait…how many times did you…?”

“Three.”

“Oh…” He suddenly looked anxious. “Is that the norm? Because Mark and I…we didn’t experiment much, and we only did it twice and only with me receiving, and honestly we…we couldn’t hold out very long during the first round, so maybe it would only be one and a half?”

“But did you enjoy it?”

Jinyoung nodded. “The first time we were both pretty clumsy, but the second time was fantastic.”

“Then why should norms matter? You enjoyed each other. That’s what counts.”

“Are you speaking to me like some kind of love expert now?”

“Why shouldn’t I? I’m someone’s sweetheart now, I think I qualify.”

Jinyoung burst out laughing, and though Jaebum didn’t get what was so funny, he was happy to hear it.

When Jinyoung had calmed down, he squared his shoulders. “We’re lawbreakers now, Jaebum. We better hope the Enforcers never catch wind of this, or we’ll be dead long before the Empress gets her hooks into us.”

“I know. Whether it’s the Enforcers or Blue Rose, I’ll always be fighting at your side, my prince. Always.”

Jinyoung smiled. “And it’s always an honor to fight alongside you, Jaebum. I'll let you call me a prince just this once.” He stopped in front of the doorway of one of the rooms used by the Broadcasting majors. “I think this is where he said to meet him.”

Jaebum suddnely felt uneasy. “Why here, of all places? Can’t he show up wherever the hell he feels like?”

“Maybe he didn’t want to risk being seen by Mark or Jackson?”

“Still, he could have picked out a more common-sense location to meet. Somewhere in the dorm, or at least one of the history classrooms and not some random place in a hall where we don’t even have classes.”

When they opened the door, the room was pitch black. Jaebum stepped inside, fumbling for the light switch, but he couldn’t seem to find it. Seconds later, he heard the sound of the door slamming behind them and locking. A chill swept through the room, and then it was suddenly flooded in light.

Standing in the center of the room was a stunningly beautiful woman. She had bronze skin and luxuriant black hair that tumbled down her shoulders in loose curls, and the deepest, most unfathomable dark eyes he’d ever seen in his life. She held herself tall and proud, as if she was well aware of her own superiority and intended to wield it as effectively as a weapon against them.

Jaebum had met Empress Blue Rose only once before, when she had visited the castle to formally request an engagement to Prince Jinyoung. She had been beautiful then, but not nearly as terrifyingly beautiful as she was now. Since then, several more years seemed to have melted off of her until she no longer resembled the middle-aged woman she was, but instead looked the part of a young woman no older than eighteen. Jaebum could still faintly recognize she was the same person as the woman she’d been before, but still he couldn’t bring himself to comprehend how she could be.

His hand immediately went to his gun, but the Empress laughed and shook her head. “Don’t try me, servant,” she said in a cloying voice. “You can no more kill me than you could kill God or the Devil. Don’t bother wasting your bullets. I will have what was promised me.” She lifted her hand, showing a hand mirror that was painted white with red roses. “Mirror, mirror white and red, show Prince Jinyoung who I will wed,” she chanted. The glass showed a mess of static. “Very clever of you to hide yourself like that, my dear,” she said, looking back up at Jinyoung. “But not clever enough. There are other ways to be seen in this world outside of mirrors, ways even your Fairy Guardian cannot mask for you. Cameras, for example.” She laughed girlishly. “Cameras in laundromats where you run around behind my back with my rival in love and beauty, leaving behind a single shirt which makes the girl behind the counter examine the footage to see who left it behind. And when she sees your image, she wonders to herself, Doesn’t that look a little bit like Prince Jinyoung? So she goes to a forum of royal watchers and posts the video to see what everyone thinks. And who should see it but me, someone who has been desperately watching for both the royals that video exposes?”

Jinyoung’s skin paled. “I…”

“No, no, no excuses,” Blue Rose said. “I abhor disloyalty, but I will forgive you this once since it helped me find you and my slippery rival in not only love and beauty, but now apparently for the throne of the Empire as well. Do not make me change my mind, Jinyoung. You do not want to see what I do to those who disobey me.” She touched Jinyoung’s arm, pretending not to notice when he winced away from her. “We can and will be very happy together if you put all of that behind you, my sweet, so think no more of it. In fact, I will help you.” She pointed to the cameras across the room. “I’ve arranged to have everything broadcast to the entire world. I thought it was about time to make our engagement official from Solitude all the way across the sea to Void. And do you know who one of our very special viewers will be? Our own, dear Yi En!”

“Who…?”

“Oh, you know him, my dear, better than even I do. You know him intimately. Imperial Prince Yi En, the not-so-dead-after-all son of the former Emperor and his first Empress, hidden away all these years by a crafty midwife. When I uncovered his existence, he and the traitorous huntsmen fled with help from his Fairy Guardian to the Union, where I understand he attended school in hiding and fell in love with my very own fiancé in the process. That Yi En! The one you kissed so passionately in the laundromat just last night, my dear!”

Jinyoung looked at her, as shocked as Jaebum felt. Mark? Mark was the son of the Emperor, the Imperial Prince? And Jackson…Jackson was the huntsman she’d been looking for?

“Yes, yes, quite the shock, isn’t it?” Blue Rose cooed. “It shouldn’t be, though. You lied to him, he lied to you—you knew that from the beginning, didn’t you? Still, he might not find it so easy to forgive you when he turns on his TV and sees his lover and the stepmother he so loathes smiling happily as they announce their engagement, don’t you think? It will break that fragile heart of his in two, and he’ll hate you, won’t he? He’ll hate you so much he may never trust you again!” She laughed wildly.

“I’d rather die than marry you,” Jinyoung snarled. “I’m not doing anything you ask me to.”

“Didn’t I tell you that your days of disobeying me are over? Besides, you won’t die. He will.” She pointed to Jaebum. “If you don’t smile and behave like a good boy, I’ll kill him right now and bathe in his blood in front of you.”

“I don’t care,” Jaebum said fiercely. “Save yourself, Jinyoung.”

“How positively touching!” She squeezed Jinyoung’s arm. “Do remember I also have Yi En’s life in my hands, now I know where he is. Would you like for him to die?”

Jinyoung was shaking visibly, his fists clenching and unclenching. “What do you want from me?” he asked Blue Rose.

“I’ve told you-”

“Why do you want to marry me?”

“The happiness of any woman is a spouse who is loyal to her and only her. Love me, admire me, obey me, and stay true to only me, and you will have all the happiness in this world you could dream of. That is all I ask, nothing more.”

“You swear?”

“I swear. You are from Solitude—you should excel at obedience. Remember your Law and follow it, and you and I will never quarrel a day in our lives. I will be a perfect wife to you in all respects.”

Jinyoung in his breath. “Do it then,” he said finally, his voice wracked with despair. “Just leave Yi En alone.” Then in a softer voice he whispered. “Forgive me, Mark.”

Empress Blue Rose beamed. "Wonderful. Give me your cell phone, my dear, and I'll inform my miserable stepson of our TV debut as the world's most talked about couple." Jinyoung grudging handed it over, and she typed into it rapidly, a sickening smile on her face. Once she was finished, she tucked the phone into her pocket and turned to Jaebum. “Prepare the cameras for broadcast, servant,” she said imperiously. “The dawn of a great new era now begins.”

Jaebum would have rather done anything else in the world than obey her, but Jinyoung had already made the choice for them, and with Yi En and potentially Jackson’s life on the line, Jaebum could not bring himself to fight against it. He powered the cameras on. Their screens filled with the image of a handsome couple who looked on the surface like they could be very much in love. But Jaebum could see the throbbing vein in Jinyoung’s forehead, the strain in his seemingly brilliant smile. His mind was probably on Mark—Imperial Prince Yi En—and how he would feel when he saw the broadcast. To him, it might look like the ultimate betrayal, but Jaebum prayed he’d look deeper into it and realize what was happening. He prayed Yi En and Junho would send whatever forces they could muster to rescue Jinyoung when he was inevitably taken away to the Imperial Palace.

And Jackson—what would he think when he saw? Would he think Jaebum had been a spy the whole time? Would he point a gun at him and shoot him right in the heart the next time they saw each other…if they ever did?

I should have never gotten out of that bed with him, Jaebum thought. We should have just stayed there forever and let the world pass us by.

One day, Im Jaebum, you are going to wish you were a better protector, a taunting voice mocked him in his head, and not even the most powerful of all the guns he owned and had relied on his whole life could save him from that desolate feeling of utter powerlessness.

When Yi En woke the next morning, Junior was gone. He’d left behind a note on his pillow, which Yi En picked up and unfolded it, automatically smiling even at just the sight of his familiar handwriting.

Good morning, sunshine :D I had to run off to campus for something, but if you’re still in bed by time I get back, maybe we could enjoy a little continuation? :p

Yi En grinned to himself, enjoying the lingering afterglow. There was so much to remember. It hadn’t been perfect in technicality—in fact, he still felt faintly embarrassed by his inability to hold out as long as he’d wanted to when he’d finally joined together with Junior—but it had still been perfect, because it had been with him. There was nothing about Junior that had disappointed his expectations, from the way his voice had sounded to the glisten in his eyes when he looked at Yi En as they moved together. He had been better than Yi En possibly could have imagined on his own.

I’m definitely going to stay in bed until he gets back, he decided. I probably have some homework to be doing, but nothing’s more important than this. He leaned back into his pillows, a smile on his face.

A moment later, his phone buzzed. It was a message from Junior: Tune into channel 3 at 10, it read. You won’t regret it, my dear!

“My dear?” Yi En echoed. He couldn’t remember Junior ever calling him that, but then again, he and Junior were technically a very newborn couple. Perhaps Junior had been wanting to call him that and now was finally his moment. Yi En wished he’d picked something better—my dear sounded a bit stodgy and old fashioned to him, and didn’t suit him at all.

And I wonder what’s on TV?, he thought idly. He and Junior had never watched TV much together, and they didn’t have any shows they were mutually interested in. Maybe there was a rerun of Real Royals on? Junior knew Yi En was a fan, but he doubted that was it since it would be in somewhat poor taste to air the show with Junho at war and Jinyoung missing.

Just before ten, Yi En the small TV he and Junior had gotten for their room. There was an informercial about some kind of pasta maker playing, but as soon as it hit ten, it cut off and was replaced by an image of Junior and a frighteningly beautiful woman standing in front of what looked like the same desk that appeared in the campus news blasts filmed by the Broadcasting department.

Yi En’s heart almost stopped. The woman looked entirely different from the one he’d last seen on her television broadcast back in the Empire when she’d shown the people his image in the magic mirror, but he knew without question it was her. As BamBam had said, it looked as if she’d gone back in time to a younger version of herself, the version she must have looked like when she’d ensorcelled and married Yi En’s father eighteen years ago.

It was Empress Blue Rose, here, in the Union. With Junior in her clutches, a smug little smile on her glorious face.

She had found him, then. And she was intending to make him suffer by using Junior.

“Good morning, good citizens of this world,” Blue Rose said brightly. Junior was smiling widely beside her. “A fair and pleasant day upon all of you. I am interrupting today’s broadcast to make an important announcement that will set the hearts and minds of the many at ease. Several months ago, the good King and Queen of Solitude selected me as the marriage partner of their son, Prince Jinyoung. However, before the announcement could be made, former Crown Prince Junho betrayed his parents by siding with the rebellion, and my fiancé Jinyoung went missing. I grieved along with his people, fearing that he had been taken hostage and killed by the rebel militants. But on this day I am pleased to announce he has returned to me safe and sound, and we can now move forward on our journey to the altar to unite the Empire and Solitude with the dearest bonds of family.” She turned to Junior. “Isn’t that right, my sweetest Prince Jinyoung?”

Prince Jinyoung??? Yi En’s heart gave a jolting kick. His ears had heard what she’d said, but—how could it be? He couldn’t accept it. Prince Jinyoung was a faraway figure, a smart and sophisticated face on TV, and Junior was real, a dorky hipster who went nuts over hampers and laundry and pounded down milkshakes and couldn’t last twenty minutes at a disco and had so softly asked Yi En to take him to bed and had taken him to heaven there just the night before…

“Yes, of course,” Junior said in an affectionate voice to the Empress, smiling back at her. “It’s exactly as you said. I have been promised to marry you by my parents, and now…now I will see that promise through with you.”

It was irrefutable, then. Junior was Prince Jinyoung. Yi En’s first love, and his second. The fiancé of the woman who had destroyed Yi En’s family and future, and would any day now finish the job and destroy the rest of him, too.

The fiancé. The thought echoed through Yi En’s head like a fatal gunshot. Junior—his beautiful Junior from the night before—was going to be the husband of his wicked stepmother.

Maybe it was because Yi En had been sad and gloomy for so long about the whole situation that he was sick and tired of it, but this time he felt rage sweeping through him in its place. All he’d wanted was a chance to live life and find his own place in the world, but even that had been stolen from him, corrupted by secrets and lies he hadn’t taken seriously enough. And Junior—Prince Jinyoung—who he’d built up so preciously in his mind, practically carved into his very heart, was just another part of the cage that had surrounded him his entire life with the bars closing in nearer and nearer every day.

He clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his skin so the pain of that would feel sharper than his shattering heart. The rage swelled within him into a blazing fury as he watched Prince Jinyoung kiss his lovely fiancée’s hand and smiled at her as if she was the most splendid thing on the planet. I trusted you, he thought. I trusted you, even though I knew you were a liar, because I believed in your goodness. And maybe Jinyoung thought he wasn’t cut from the same cloth as other Solitudanese, but there he was, happily obeying his mandated engagement as if it was the mosy joyous thing in the world for him to do so. He was miles and miles away from the rebellion that was actually trying to change things, replacing as heir to the throne the brother who had done the right thing and risked everything to make his world a better place.

Would Jinyoung do that for him? When Blue Rose threatened him, would Jinyoung risk everything to make sure he was safe, or would he quietly bow to the Empress as the law bid him to? In spite of everything, a part of Yi En still wanted to believe in the Junior he’d seen inside of Jinyoung. He wanted Jinyoung to do or say something to chase all of his doubts away and fully restore his faith so he wouldn’t have to live in a reality any longer where both his first and current love had a finger on the trigger of a weapon aimed at everything Yi En loved.

But maybe disobedience was only a game Jinyoung would play when he was sure he wouldn't get caught. Just like he’d said last night, he’d just wanted to experience with someone he loved once. He’d gotten his illegal preferences out of his system, and that was that. Back to playing by the rules. Back to the real world.

Yi En rose to his feet. Finally, finally he'd had enough. His life had always been someone else’s decision, and every day of it he'd been little better than a pawn subject to the sick whims of this woman. Well, not anymore, he decided. He was stepping out of the game. He was done.

Before he prepared to leave, he stared at Jinyoung’s face one more time, until he couldn't bear to look at him anymore. He then turned his eyes to the face of his wicked, twisted stepmother. “Are you happy now?” he whispered in a cracked voice. "You've taken everything from me. Everything. I have nothing left for you to destroy. You've won. Take your prize and let me go."

Tears started pouring from his eyes, and he grabbed a tissue and furiously wiped them away. He couldn't be like this now. There was no one here to comfort him. And the person he loved never would again.

Bitterly, he threw the tissue onto the bed and reached underneath to grab his suitcase. He filled it with everything he owned that would fit, leaving as little traces of his ruined happy existence behind as possible.

When everything was packed, he took and bracing breath and stormed out of the room, turning his back on the image of Jinyoung smiling at his radiant fiancée flickering on the TV screen.

Yi En took the south bound train as far as it would take him. It was a smooth and quiet ride, far more state-of-the-art than the underground ones he and Junior had taken together. If he’d been in a more settled state of mind, it would have been easy to doze off and sleep until he was far away from the District Capital. As it was, Yi En was wide awake and tortured repeatedly by miserable thoughts of Jinyoung. He thought his anger might take away from the agony of his broken heart, but it only made it worse. It made him question everything, and questioning everything made him relive it second by second, looking for the place where he’d allowed himself to be made a fool of.

You let him lie to you, he reminded himself, not for the first time. And you lied right back. What did you expect from a relationship where the truth was always just a game between you? You believed what you wanted to believe the whole time. And now you’re getting exactly what you deserve.

He must have drifted off at some point, since he woke up later groggy and disoriented. The train was entirely empty except for an old woman sitting in the seat across from him. Calling her old felt almost like a terrible understatement. The woman instead looked ancient, as if she had lived a thousand lifespans and every single one of them had carved themselves into her skin.

“You did not rest well, young man,” the woman said in creaky voice. “Your sleep was fitful. You should be careful about drifting off on strange trains, you know. They might take you past the border of safety, past the reach of your guardian angels and those who love you.”

Yi En rubbed his eyes. What was she talking about? He wondered faintly if she had mental problems—the Union had improved a lot over the years, but was sorely lacking in protections for people in fragile mental states, as far as Yi En knew.

“Such a sad thing, a disquieted heart,” the woman continued morosely. “It hurts so much that it’s almost better to forget it, isn’t it? I know how to. All it takes is a miracle of medicine, and I know, yes, I know.” She put her hand into her bag and lifted it a moment later to reveal a shining red apple. Yi En’s stomach grumbled. He was so very hungry. How long had it been since he’d eaten? The woman extended her hand to give him the apple, and Yi En took it.

“You poor soul,” the woman said suddenly. She seemed to be looking deep into his eyes, as if searching something inside him. “You still believe, don’t you?”

Yi En had no idea what she was talking about. Believe what? His mind immediately flew to Jinyoung. Do I still believe in him? I can’t, can I?

Jinyoung had lied to him, that was true. But he had to accept that he’d known that from the beginning and it wasn’t something he could hold against him forever. Yi En had done the exact same thing, and was no better than him in the end.

Jinyoung hadn’t joined his brother in the rebellion. This was also true. He had implicitly sided with the laws of Solitude with his inaction. But at the same time, he had run away. Maybe it really had been Blue Rose he’d been running from, knowing he didn’t love her and never would. When he had broke the Law by being with Yi En, hadn’t he had done so full well knowing what he was doing, and accepting the risk of getting caught?

Jinyoung had loved him. Maybe not him, the full and honest and Imperial Prince him, but the him he had been willing to show in as much of the honest light he was capable of. The moments between them had been real. The milkshakes, the hugs, the shopping, the laundry, the laundromat, the steam filled bathroom, the bed. All of it had been as real as it could have been, and Jinyoung had participated with the thought of having those kinds of experiences in his life while he could. He hadn’t known it had been with the one person his fiancée most wanted dead, but neither of them had truly been thinking far beyond what they’d wanted in the immediate moment. They’d just needed each other, then and there. Yi En had been just as guilty of that as Jinyoung.

The ache of hunger in his stomach deepened, and he bit into the apple, trying to dispel it. Jinyoung may have been in danger from Blue Rose, and instead of realizing that and trying to save him, Yi En had refused to trust him and had instead run away. How could he have been so stupid? He needed to get on the return train right this minute. No, something faster—he needed to call out to BamBam for help.

“Yes, you still believe,” the woman said suddenly, laughing hysterically. “I can see it in your eyes. No matter how many times he leaves you in the name of duty, you'll always still find your way back to believing in him! But you know what else I see in those eyes of yours? The light dying from them. You poor, poor fool, my ever hated rival, my naïve, deluded stepson! You were slow to trust the lover of your eternal soul, but so quick to trust food from a stranger when you know the one who seeks your life is the mistress of poisons?”

Yi En’s entire body seized, and he couldn’t move. The world was blurring around him, the colors of it swirling together. The old woman was Blue Rose, he realized, and she’d poisoned him, just as she’d poisoned his mother and father. He was going to die, and she was going to live and make Jinyoung suffer.

“Don’t worry,” Blue Rose whispered into his ear. “You won’t die. Just sleep. The only thing that can wake you will be true love’s kiss from your sweet prince. But it will never come, you poor dear. I will wed him, and he will betray me for you as he did once before, and I will add his body to my collection in my dungeon where he will feed me and make me stronger. You will sleep forever on the earth, never able to join your true love in the heavens. Your soul will stay locked in this state forever, never to die or be reborn again, never to find his soul in its next life and be its mate when it belongs to me. Now isn’t that just a lovely thought to go into your eternity of slumber with?” She laughed as Yi En’s eyes sagged closed. “Sweet dreams. You truly were the fairest of them all while you lasted, my dear.”

“Please, wake up! Please wake up, I’m begging you!”

Jiaer cracked open a groggy eye. It should have been JB’s voice in his ear, but it wasn’t—it was a voice he didn’t recognize in the slightest. Was it a motel employee? Had they overstayed their welcome and were now being kicked out?

He opened his other eye to look at the person standing above him. It was no one he knew, but the distinctiveness of his appearance made Jiaer recognize right away that he was no normal person. His hair seemed to shimmer with changing shades of violet, and parts of his body looked partially transparent as if his physical presence was not fully there. It was just like BamBam—this, then, was someone’s Fairy Guardian.

“Whose are you?” Jiaer asked, sitting up. “Did BamBam send you?”

“I don’t know who BamBam is,” the Fairy Guardian said. “I am Prince Jinyoung’s.”

“Prince Jinyoung? That guy on Real Royals Yi En had a thing for?”

“The guy he currently has a thing for. Also known as Junior.”

“Oh.” Jiaer threw his head back and groaned. “Well, that explains a lot of things and complicates others. So JB was what…his officially appointed bodyguard?”

“Yes. His real name is Jaebum.”

“So they were in hiding like us, then?” Jiaer paused. “Wait…didn’t BamBam mention something about Jinyoung being engaged to…?”

“Empress Blue Rose? I don’t know what this BamBam guy told you, but yes, that’s true. And she found him. I failed, and she found him.” Yugyeom looked like he was going to cry. “I don’t know what to do. She also has Jaebum, and she’s locked them up temporarily and run after Yi En.”

Jiaer leapt to his feet. “She has JB? And…and Yi En?”

Yugyeom nodded miserably. "I didn't know what to do! You're the only person I could think of who knows all of them, but I don't know if you can do anything either, I just needed to tell someone, and...I just need help."

"All right. OK." Jiaer began grabbing his clothes and throwing them on. "It sounds like Yi En's in the most immediate danger, so I'm going to have to hunt him down before she finds him. Since she left Junior and JB on their own, is there any way you can break them out while she's gone?"

"The door is magically protected so I can't materialize within it or break into it. Nothing I've tried on it works."

"Hmmm." Jiaer knew plenty about guns, but next to nothing about magic. "Look, I need to find BamBam--Yi En's Fairy Guardian. I can't summon him since he's not mine, so do you know anything about tracking down fellow Guardians for something?"

Yugyeom looked uncertain. "I could try. It would help if I had something of Yi En's I could use to focus my magic."

"We're not far from the dorms. Come on!"

The two of them ran from the motel and down the street to the dorm building. On their way up the stairs, they almost knocked Youngjae over in their haste.

"Jackson!" Youngjae said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "What the hell is going on? Why did Prince Jinyoung come out of hiding and agree to the engagement? Prince Junho was doing everything he could to buy him time, but he just threw it all away in front of the whole world!"

"What?" Yugyeom asked. "Who are you?"

Youngjae stared at Yugyeom, blinking. "More like what are you?"

"I'm the Prince's Fairy Guardian. How did you know about the engagement? That was never disclosed to anyone outside the royal family until today."

"Prince Junho told me. He stationed me here to keep an extra eye on Jinyoung for the rebellion."

"So you were a spy," Jiaer said. "JB was right about you at the beginning."

"Yes, but it wasn't as if I wasn't working on the same side as him, anyways. I wanted Prince Jinyoung to be safe until the rebellion could bring him home, but now..."

"He didn't come out of hiding, Empress Blue Rose found him," Yugyeom explained quickly. "I'm sure she threatened Jinyoung into obediance with hurting Jaebum or Yi En. I promise you, he doesn't want anything to do with her."

"Yi En?" Youngjae said blankly. "Who is Yi En?"

"It's a long story," Jiaer said. "Yi En is Mark. The rightful heir of the Empire."

"Ohh. You know, I always knew something was up about the two of you."

"Right, right. But we don't have time for that now. We need to help them. All of them."

"I'll come with you," Youngjae said. "If need be, I can call on the resources of the rebellion for support."

The three of them hurried the rest of the way up the stairs. Yi En's dorm room was blessedly unlocked, but seemed to be entirely devoid of Yi En's possessions. All Jiaer could find was a used tissue in the vicinity of Yi En's stripped down bed. Oddly, it still felt damp—not in a gross way, but as if Yi En had only just finished crying into it, and his tears were still fresh.

"Will this work?" Jiaer asked doubtfully.

Yugyeom looked at it curiously. "Yes. I don't know why, but there's trace bits of magic on it. And his aura on it is strong. It'll work perfectly." Jiaer handed it to him and Yugyeom held it in his hand and closed his eyes. Moments later, BamBam materialized in the room.

"Mark? Yi En?" BamBam glanced at all the faces surrounding him, frowning when he didn't see Yi En's among them. He turned to Jiaer. "Where the heck did he go? I felt him go past the range of the cloaking protection that kept the Empress from finding him, but the moment I tried to find his location so I could go chew him out, his...er...signal...disappeared. I can't find him anywhere!"

"Empress Blue Rose has him," Yugyeom said miserably. "I'm sorry, Fairy Guardian. She found Prince Jinyoung, and through him, she found Yi En, too."

"BamBam," Jiaer said urgently. "The fact that you can't sense Yi En's presence...that doesn't mean he's...dead...is he?"

BamBam shook his head furiously. "NO! He's not allowed to be dead, not on my watch! I'd know if he was dead. He's just..." BamBam's forehead wrinkled. "I can still feel the flow of his emotions. It feels like he's on another plane. Like he's...sleeping?"

"Is there any way you can find him?"

BamBam's brow furrowed further as he concentrated. "I...I dunno, dude. It's like his consciousness is separate from his body. I could find his consciousness, but I couldn't trace it back to his body, and I don't know if I can communicate with him the way he is now. I could try..."

He closed his eyes and went still for a moment, the image of his physical form flickering as it shifted colors and transparency. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes again.

"It worked..kinda!" he said hurriedly. "I forced myself into his dream, and while I was inside it, I was flooded with images. A lot of them were of that Prince Jinyoung guy, but there were also some which showed what happened to him. The Empress poisoned him, but instead of killing him, she put him in a deep sleep. I can't tell where she left him, but I know the train he took was headed south—he showed me an image of the ticket. I think I at least know enough to start looking for him."

"Do you know how to wake him up?" Jiaer asked.

"I dunno. I'd have to see him in person and study what kind of spell was put on him. Every spell can technically be reversed, but you need to understand how it works to do it."

"And what about Jinyoung and Jaebum?" Yugyeom asked desperately. "If she's finished with Yi En, Blue Rose is probably coming back for them now."

"This is Blue Rose we're talking about. She's at least kind of predictable. She'll take them back to her palace in the Empire, and she'll marry Jinyoung. That might buy you some time, since she'll probably want to make an extravagent party of it so she can enjoy being the center of attention." BamBam thought for a moment. "If you want to rescue them, my advice would be to disrupt whatever's building her power in the palace. I dunno what it is, but she has to have some kind of secret to what she's got going on."

"I can't get into her palace," Yugyeom said. "I tried before when I was spying on her, but she's got some kind of ward against magical beings. I could only look through the window of her bedroom in the high tower."

"Same. But there's no barriers against humans going in."

"I'll do it," Youngjae said. "I want Prince Jinyoung to see the liberated Solitude his brother will make and to come home safely. I'll try to get in touch with Prince Junho to see if he can send the rebellion forces to storm the Imperial Palace, but until then, I'll go." He turned to Jiaer. "Are you coming too?"

Jiaer looked between BamBam and Yugyeom, feeling torn. He wanted to be there for JB, who was headed straight to the nest of the viper herself. But at the same time, he had promised to protect Yi En and had failed to do so, leaving him to face his fate all alone. How could he leave him behind a second time? He loved them both with a different kind of love and it would kill half his heart to leave either one or the other.

"Go to Yi En," Yugyeom said with surprising force for someone in so much distress. "Jaebum would want you to. He understands how it is better than anyone. He'll look after Jinyoung for Solitude and Yi En. You look after Yi En for the Empire and Jinyoung. They need each other to come back to. Just stay safe so Jaebum has someone to come back to, too, all right?"

Jiaer nodded, a lump in his throat. He turned to Youngjae. "When you see JB, tell him I love him, all right, partner? Tell him I'll be waiting for the day where I can be with my sweetheart again, so he better come back to me in one piece, you hear?"

"Would you like me to kiss him for you, too?" Youngjae asked earnestly.

"What? No! Don't do that. Absolutely don't do that! I'll kiss him myself when all this is over."

"Understood." Youngjae turned to Yugyeom. "So...to the Empire, then?"

Yugyeom nodded grimly. "Yes. We can do this. We have to do this."

"Us, too," BamBam said, slinging his arm around Jiaer. "Like hell am I going to let that nutso hurt my dude anymore. Let's get our two princes a happily ever after, no matter what it takes."