nytis
"his official coronation date is decided to be on his birthday?" kitae's ears perked up when he heard the news. the prince quickly scampered over to chan and jeonghan who had just come back from the sudden announcement.
"yes, jeobeom died last night and it has been made official that the coronation will be on his birthday." chan glanced over at the prince who seemed lost in thought. "you okay? i'm sorry about your father."
blinking, kitae laughed. "don't worry, my father and i weren't ever very close. anyways, dongyun's coronation on his birthday is great news! it's all working out in our favour!" he waited for people to nod and smile in agreement but the worry contoured on chan's face didn't disappear. "what's the big problem?"
"well you see," jeonghan started, "dongyun might not be too concerned about anything but dojin's bound to go that extra step to make sure everything runs smoothly especially since coronation is such an important event. the security will be much, much tighter."
"ah.." kitae pursed his lips, "let's gather everyone and revise our plan. they all need to know about the changes." the man looked at chan and jeonghan, "don't worry too much you two, we'll definitely scrap up some wild idea before tomorrow." now that both of them were looking a little more optimistic, kitae shoo-ed them off, he himself heading back to fetch the rest of the group as well.
only after a few minutes, people started filing in a quiet alley sitting on whatever they could find and formed a small deformed circle. kitae swept his eyes over them all. seungcheol was sitting in a wheelchair with jeonghan leaning on the handles behind. beside them, chan was leaning against the wall tapping his fingers rapidly on his arm.
jisoo stood in between soonyoung and chan, giving kitae a small bow when he noticed him. minghao sat beside soonyoung on a dented metal pail, sitting incredibly still, it didn't even look like he was breathing.
lastly there was mei, a commoner living in the alleyway who was just as fed up about dongyun. the woman said there were plenty of other commoners who wouldn't mind joining the fight if they needed more people. she smiled at everyone cheerfully and tightened the red bandanna around her head.
"junhui's late again." kitae noted when he only counted seven people. minghao visibly rolled his eyes.
"i'm here! i'm here!" a faint voice traveled to everyone's ears. as the sound of shoes slapping the ground grew louder, everyone watched as junhui appeared from around the corner and skidded to a stop.
"were you really once the captain of the royal guards?" chan asked bluntly. because the now wearing dirty clothing and panting junhui looked nothing like a guard.
the man frowned like a child and dusted off his hands causing a bunch of powders to float to the ground "yes. i was. i'm just not good at... time.. and stuff." kitae held back a chuckle and watched as junhui planted himself in the small space between minghao and mei.
not amused, minghao stood up and moved beside seungcheol, so he was directly opposite of the guard. oh man, a small sigh escaped kitae's mouth, "i'm glad you're here junhui. if there's no more problems, we can start."
now with everyone listening, chan and jeonghan quickly explained the situation and the changes, "we don't know how many more guards will be added but we need to prepare for the worst case scenario which is all the guards."
junhui tapped his chin thoughtfully, "i don't think we'll have to deal with all the guards. there has to be at least a few still in the castle in case something bad happens in there. but still... i assume that the majority will be outside guarding."
the guard continued talking, "for birthday celebrations it's usually held starting from the main castle gates, which will be open, to down the streets and into the markets. the main gates should be guarded the most because that's where all the important people will be standing. it's probably where jihoon will be if he isn't in the castle. but i'd assume that guards will also be littered closer to the people so we'll have to watch out for those too."
"we need to think of how we will achieve our two goals; saving jihoon and dethroning dongyun." soonyoung spoke up, "i believe the previous plan was a more forward attack?" there were a few nods, "should we keep that plan or do something more subtle like sneaking?
"how are you going to sneak kitae back onto the throne." minghao stated.
junhui cut in, "then how will we pass the guards? our people are inexperienced in fighting and the numbers of guards ought to outnumber what we have even if we included mei and the commoners."
"a few of us are decent at fighting.." soonyoung said, eyeing jisoo and minghao.
"what if jihoon's inside?" chan called out, "how will we get into the castle?"
"we don't have any weapons either..."
"we can sneak into the castle!"
"no. sneaking won't work, i already said that, dumbass."
"if we don't get caught there a better chance-
"shut it."
"i think sneaking in is a better idea.."
"no, i think we can handle-
"guys- guys!" kitae yelled and clapped his hands together, silencing everyone. "stop arguing." he sighed, "we're not going to get anywhere doing that. we can't just yell out our ideas either. and..." the prince looked at everyone sternly, "personal conflicts stay out of this."
silence filled the air, no one wanted to talk.
"mei, weapons aren't a problem," soonyoung said, breaking the silence. "i think i can get my hands on some."
seungcheol shifted in his chair, "lets list out our main concerns. first, whether jihoon is inside or outside. second, whether we will be sneaking in or being more forward and how to get kitae back his crown."
"we need to look at each possibility and then plan for it," jisoo's voice floated out. "starting with if jihoon was inside...."
the sun was setting by the time everything was sorted out. planning had almost taken the full day. kitae groaned and closed his eyes, this planning session took less time than all the other ones, thank god it did.
he was dead tired along with everyone else but they all could rest easy now knowing that they had all agreed (mostly) on a satisfying plan.
tomorrow was d-day.
no matter what happened, tomorrow was the day. kitae looked up at the sky which was steadily turning from blue to a pretty orange colour. the prince wasn't a believer in god but at that moment he sent out a silent message hoping everything would turn out okay.
