Dark Under the Lamp (Donghae Historical AU)

Part Two

In the darkness inside of your tent, you quickly dress yourself in the comfortable black clothes that you were so used to. You tie your hair back, a comfortable style that allowed you free movement of your head, but would have been deemed unsuitable for a lady.

You bite your lip, still wondering if this is a good idea. This will take time to accomplish, and without the Clan's help, you have much fewer resources than you're used to.

"Why don't we just ask Abeoji to make it our next mission?" you had asked him, the first words out of your mouth after he had declared his intent to you. 

"I did," he had said, "He absolutely forbade me to go. He said that it's too dangerous."

"All the more reason not to go!" you had hissed.

"I have to do it. Maybe, if I can take something to make me hold an influence over the emperor... I can make a change. And then here might be peace, and you and I can--"

He'd stopped there, and you'd stared at him for a long while, wondering if he had been going to finish that sentence the way you'd hoped he would. But instead he'd put a hand on your shoulder and said, "I can't do this without you."

And then you'd agreed, telling him to give you a few minutes to get ready. He'd said he'd meet you out by the cliff, and tell you the plan there. And then he'd left, leaving you to where you are now. 

You strap your sword on, take a deep breath, and sneak carefully out of the tent.

You doubt that either of you have escaped the notice of the night watch, but the two of you have snuck out together to steal food or play games so many times together that you're pretty sure he won't even give it a second thought.

You meet Donghae in the underbrush next to the cliff, barely able to even make out his face in the shadows of the deep night.

"So we have to sneak into the palace and steal something," he says, with determination.

You raise an eyebrow. "That's it, that's your master plan?!"

He seems taken aback. "Why, what's wrong with it?"

You roll your eyes. "You're an idiot, you know that? 'If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time'! You don't know how we're getting in, you don't even know what we're looking for, we haven't even gone to scope the place out before... If we go with that kind of plan, we might as well just jump off that cliff right now."

He pouts. "I do know how we're getting in, though!"

You cross your arms, leaning back. "Okay, how?"

"Kyuhyun." He says this proudly, like he's already stolen from the Emperor himself.

"Kyuhyun? You mean guy-who-quit-because-he-hated-camping Kyuhyun?"

"Right! But he's still a part of the Clan, right? We have informants all over the slums, but since he works as a guard, he's been telling us about the nobles' weak points for years. Actually, that kid is kind of scary, how ruthless he is, sometimes..."

"Okay, yeah, back on point, how is Kyuhyun going to help us? The guy might be a genius, but he's afraid of bugs. I don't think he can handle actual palace guards."

"But that's the thing! He is a palace guard!"

You stare at Donghae for a really long time. "Okay, so sure, he'll help us get in. But we're going to need more than that. If we're going to do this, we need some supplies, first. Here's the plan..."