This part of Sproutland is colder than Nordsleeve since they are very close to the glacier, but Joohyun still feels sticky. The amount of people rioting on the streets is very big and she’s suffocating in her hoodie. She wonders if they rioted like that when his father was the king and if he also killed them all. She’s glad she’s seeing it now, but she also feels sick to her stomach. Every minute she spends among them is a minute she knows she could be discovered and killed. They may be mad about the new administration, but it doesn’t mean they will welcome her with open arms. She’s not that deluded.

She feels like she’s been walking for hours now, and their stop at the lake only made her sleepy and tired. She’ll be lucky if she even makes it to the frontier.

“What time is it? Are we even close?” Jimin drags Joohyun by their joined hands. “I’m huungry.”

“Grab a protein bar like the rest,” Seungwan says. “You’re even more insufferable than the princess. How come she hasn’t complained once and you’re whining about everything?”

Jimin rolls her eyes, leans against a tree, and lets herself fall to the floor slowly.

“I’m tired, Wendy,” she insists, prolonging the 'i'. “No one is following us anymore, I think we can at least sit and eat together. It’s almost sunset again. Look at her. She’s gonna faint any moment now.”

Seungwan looks at Joohyun, and although the swelling has decreased, her temple is still a deep shade of purple dangerously bordering the black. It’s actually a good thing they didn’t hit her eye because with the look of it she would have probably gone blind.

“Okay, we can stop here. I don’t think people will mind us, but rush hour is in about twenty minutes, so no more than that okay?” They both nod. “Can you take a look at her shoulder? Chen sewed it but I don’t think he did it right.”

She helps Joohyun to sit on the floor, and the princess leans against the tree too.

“Wendy, stay there, I need you to block the way so no one can see her while I pull the hoodie off okay?”

“But she’s--”

“I know. I’m just going to look from above, I’m not actually undressing her.”

Wendy reluctantly does as told, turning her back on them to see who passes by. The main road is very close, but they still can see people finishing their workday. It’s Friday, so a rush hour is probably going to be a nightmare. Only then, she catch something weird. There’s a big crowd waiting on the other side of the road. The traffic light is green and the buses are passing by full of workers. They are at the other side where the forest starts. The traffic light turns red. The hoard of workers crosses the big road, but a man stands still in the middle of the hoard, looking directly at her. He doesn’t move, he just stares, his hair shaved off on the sides and standing in the middle, with fading purple dye.

“Wendy, are you listening to me?”

Just when the light turns green again, the man starts walking in the opposite direction of the flow. He walks towards her.

“Wendy--”

“Get up,” The shapeshifter says. “Get up now!”

Karina looks at what Wendy is looking at and immediately stands up, helping Joohyun up. The man doesn’t get to cross in time, standing in the middle of the road while the cars pass by. It’s a matter of twenty seconds or less.

“Wendy, we need to carry her. She won’t be able to walk.

“I’m fine,” Joohyun says, pushing Karina’s hand away.

“Right now is not the best time for you to try this. Hop on, fast.” Joohyun reluctantly climbs onto Seungwan’s back.

They take advantage that there’s another hoard of people blocking the street in protest and they disappear after them. Karina looks behind, watching the man almost getting hit by a truck. He looks around, frantic, but she doesn’t wait around to see if he spots them.

“Just keep running! We’re very close to the frontier.”

“We won’t make it!” Karina yells, loud enough for Seungwan to hear her above the traffic noise and the riots close by. “You heard the news. The borders are closed.”

“Trust me! We will make it. I know a way.”

•••

Kim Minjeong is probably the least trustworthy person in the whole kingdom. She got where she is by literally backstabbing people, after all. How they didn’t catch her is still a mystery, but she believes it is because you can do anything when you’re pretty, and there’s really nothing they can do when she’s already on the throne. However, there’s only one person in the whole kingdom that she would never betray: Bae Joohyun. And no, it’s not out of some goodness in her heart, no, it’s simply because Bae Joohyun never wanted the throne, not even her own, so she’s not exactly the biggest menace you can find. And Minjeong knows it’s not an act. She could tell after a month of spying on her with the imperial eggs she gave her as a gift. And she’s not fond of killing innocent people if it is not completely necessary. Besides, she kind of loves her, in her uncanny way. Maybe love is a strong word, but it’s the closest thing she has come to loving someone.

So it’s rather unfortunate when news gets to her about the attack on the palace. She reinforces the security and confiscates any tool for communication, going on a full lockdown for forty-eight hours. She then watches a recording of The Queen’s assassination and she wonders if her cousin is still alive. If she is, she’s probably a prisoner, but it’s unlikely they would leave her alive. Even she knows how hated The Royal Family was in Sprout Land. They were just too ostentatious, while Minjeong was feared. Her people didn’t hate her because she gave them the bare minimum, but she was too feared for them to even think about going against her. Besides, she was a master manipulator. There was no way they would plan an assassination without her noticing.

She’s never been more grateful for not going to that festival.

So it’s not exactly a surprise when she sees her dear cousin in her secret garden (but she will need to cut some heads later), but what does surprise her is that she’s holding a very blonde girl with short hair at one side and a tall, black-haired girl that looks exactly like a Bae would look, if not much prettier, at the other side. She massages her temple, a headache coming. She’s pretty sure Joohyun doesn’t have friends, so what exactly is she looking at?

They could be her captors, for all she knows.

“Minjeongnieee!” Joohyun runs to her, hugging her so hard that she’s glad the crown princess can’t actually break her bones, unlike the other cousin she has. She hasn’t seen her in years if she doesn’t count the whole spying-on-her thing. She hugs her back with as much force.

Joohyun is weeping, and it’s so odd that Seungwan averts her gaze, giving them privacy. Jimin, however, keeps looking at them with curious eyes. She can’t believe Queen Winter is right in front of her, the most ruthless ruler in the whole kingdom. She shivers.

“Joohyunnie, how did you get here?! Not that I’m not happy to see you alive but the frontier is closed. You could have been killed on sight.” The Queen finally feels Jimin’s eyes on her, returning her gaze with the same intensity. “And who are they?”

“They are friends,” she mutters. “They are Wendy and Karina.”

Seungwan doesn’t miss the use of their fake names, and she’s glad Joohyun is trying to protect them somehow. If she had known they were heading straight to the Winter, she would have never agreed to that plan.

Winter looks at her, curiosity showing on her face. Seungwan looks at Joohyun instead, holding her hand again when she gets to her side.

“Let’s head inside,” she hurries then, laughing. “It’s going to be a cold night.”

Joohyun seems to find it funny and Seungwan vaguely remembers it’s called Winterland for a reason. There has always been speculation about Winter bein