Krystal flopped onto her bed, utterly exhausted from packing. They had spent the entire day taking inventory of their weapons and preparing food for the journey out of their homeland. Krystal was in charge of provisions, so she cooked batches of hardtack and smoked jerky. The other girls constantly bustled in and out of the kitchen, bringing down bedding and cloaks, sharpening knives, making new arrows, and taking stock. After hours of hard work, Soyeon and Minnie wrapped up the last bundle of food and neatly tucked it among the saddlebags. Now they’d be ready to leave at nightfall. Soyeon ordered everyone to get some rest. So Shuhua and Soojin, Minnie and Yuqi entered their bedrooms in pairs while Soyeon locked herself in the library and Miyeon stood guard in the hallway. Krystal felt a twang of jealousy when she watched how Shuhua never left Soojin’s side, how Yuqi never let go of Minnie’s hand.

“What are we going to do about Amber? I’m not leaving without her,” Krystal had asked Soyeon at the meeting earlier.

But Soyeon fixed her with a hard stare.

“Do you really think you’d be able to storm the castle and rescue Amber from the dungeons? Yuqi’s with us now. We have no one on the inside to help us.”

Krystal had nothing to say to that, and Soyeon knew it. Even if all of them tried to infiltrate the castle, there was no way they could sneak in and out undetected. Shuhua had informed everyone about the secret passage under her bed, but Yongsun surely would have discovered it by now, with Soojin also disappearing from Shuhua’s room too. At the very least, Yongsun would have stationed guards outside.

It wasn’t like the other girls didn’t want to help. Soojin had taken Krystal’s side, arguing with Soyeon that they should at least try to rescue Amber before leaving. With Moonbyul gone, Yongsun’s army would be in disarray. But Soyeon simply asked for a plan and even Soojin couldn’t come up with one. So, Krystal was forced to concede that rescuing Amber now would be impossible. Yuqi pointed out that if Yongsun kept Amber alive now, she probably would continue to do so, to use Amber against Krystal. 

Now though, with no one around, Krystal felt her façade crumbling. She curled up in a ball and hugged her pillow close to her chest.

I’m sorry Amber, but I’m going to have to come back for you later.    

The pang of guilt pierced Krystal’s heart and she let herself indulge in a quiet sob. Only for a moment though. Because she was an ice princess and ice princesses didn’t let themselves wallow in self pity. Krystal closed her eyes. They were going to ride out in a few hours and she needed all the rest she could get.

--

“Krystal!”

Krystal’s eyes flew open and she vaulted from her bed. But wait, she wasn’t in her room at the safehouse anymore. She was back underneath the castle, trapped in a cave.

“Amber?” Krystal called uncertainly. “Amber, is that you?”