“don't be such a baby,” a nine-year-old sehun says, tugging on his younger sister's arm.  “come on.”

sehee glances around the forest, bites her lip.  “we shouldn't be here.  what if...” she trails off, gives sehun a worried look.

“there haven't been any fires for weeks.  nothing's going to happen to us.”

“father wouldn't like this.”

“we're just doing a little exploring.  there's nothing wrong with exploring.”  sehun trips and snaps a twig in the process, thinking little of it until the twig catches fire.  they stop in their tracks.

“who goes there?” a voice demands.

sehun frosts his throat and blows out the fire, pulls sehee against him.  “i thought you said nothing would happen,” sehee says in a panic.

“i guess i was wrong.  let's go,” sehun says as he heads toward home.

“hey, i worked hard on that fire!” the voice whines, tone childish now.

sehun turns to see a pouting boy crawl out from behind a tree and sit beside the scorched twig.  “who are you?”

the boy looks up.  “my name's jongin.  who are you?”

sehee clings tighter to her brother, whispers, “he's an ignis boy.  we have to go home.”

sehun ignores her, finds this jongin boy harmless.  “i'm sehun.  why are you here, in a forest?”

jongin tilts his head to the side.  “why are you in a forest?”

“it's boring to sit at home forever just because of a stupid war.  i hate it.”

jongin's eyes light up and he flashes a smile.  “me too.”

“coast is clear,” jongin whispers, and before sehun can take a look around to assure himself, jongin pulls him into the hall and shoves him into his room.  jongin snorts out a giggle before shutting the door quietly behind him.  “the maids are clueless.”

“you never know,” sehun murmurs as he takes a look around.  “they could be hiding in the shadows.  i should be caught any moment now.”

jongin raises a brow and leans against his door.  “you don't look too worried about it.”

sehun pauses in the midst of running his fingers over a journal on jongin's desk, stopping to consider this.  “i don't have anything to lose.”

“what do you mean?  what about the plan?”

sehun resumes his curious exploration.  “they can kill me if they want.  the plan isn't contained in first glacies.”  he thumbs the journal's clasp.

jongin pushes himself off the door and swats sehun's nosy hands away.  “so why are you alive then?  what's the point,” he takes the journal away when sehun doesn't give up, “of sparing you if the other cities are going to attack?”

with a sigh, sehun settles into the desk chair.  “i'm a hostage.”

jongin's eyebrows furrow in confusion.  “why not the entire royal family then?”

“wake up and inform yourself on your own military plan, .  my family's dead because your hotheaded army likes to ruin stability.  i'm alive because the other five cities love me and will do anything to save me.  do you get it now, am i free from your little interrogation?”

frowning, jongin nods.  “sorry, i just can't wrap my head around it.  i mean, i know i'm the ‘enemy’ but i—we're—i didn't think this would happen.”

a hint of a smile shows on sehun's face.  “you were never one for war.”  he clears his throat and points to the journal in jongin's grasp.  “you got a big secret in there or something?”

jongin flushes.  “no, it's nothing important.”

“so let me read it.”

jongin thinks his face is on fire.  “no, i really don't think you should—”

“what, do you, like, write out your fantasies in there?”  sehun scrunches his nose.  “they're not about sehee, are they?”

a nervous laugh escapes jongin's mouth.  “shouldn't you be grieving or something?”

sehun's jaw tightens, his expression gone sour.  “there's no point.  i can't bring them back.  can you?”

“i didn't mean it like that.”

sehun brings his knees to his chest, rocks back and forth, lets the anger dissipate.  “i know.”  he lets a silence sink in before he speaks again.  “jongin?”

“yeah?”

“if we live through this—if we're both alive to take our thrones,” he closes his eyes, “help me end this war.”