"So, what's the plan," Hyunjin blew softly at his mug of coffee to cool it down. "We can't hide in Masan forever."

 Almost had passed since Erin was forced into forming an alliance with Yoongi and his group and since then Seungmin and Jeongin had been sent back to bring all the Busan soldiers and townspeople to Masan where they immediately began cleaning up the area, making it fit for living.

"Well," Erin shrugged. "The main goal is to kill the King so we'll have to build everything upon that."

"The King is often unpredictable," Yoongi told them. "Very unpredictable. So whatever we come up with, it will have to be a flexible plan in case the King sees our attack coming."

"Stealth. It's the Guardians' best strength and the Royal Army's greatest weakness. We don't have to make a big deal out of it as long as we find a way to sneak up on the King without his soldier's knowledge," Youngjae revealed.

"To do that we'll need access to the Palace," Erin reminded them. "We will need help from someone inside."

"We could always send Minho back to help us out," Hyunjin mentioned.

"No way," Daniel shoot his head. "I don't trust that kid. Besides, even if we did hand him back to the King, why on Earth would he help us assassinate his father? Sure he is a jerk but he is still his father at the end of the day."

"He's right. Besides, if we return him, the Royal Army will know we are planning something," Erin added.

"I say we just gather all our armies and head for the Palace. A war will break out regardless so why not get it over and done with instantly?" Yoongi stated.

"That's risky. We don't know what the King has up his sleeve, remember?" Erin commented.

"But we know -- my army knows -- the numbers of their soldiers and what they are capable of. If we plan properly, there's no way we can ever lose."

"Losing the war isn't my concern," Youngjae spoke up. "Looking at what we have compared to them, winning is inevitable. My concern is what we will have to lose to eventually win. We have already lost two whole towns to this feud, what more will the King rob from us before he finally goes down? You know him. He's a coward that hides behind his Palace. Just think of how many of our people he has captured and is keeping for the perfect moment. If we present him with our full forces, he'll kill all of them, remind us of his power once more before he dies. But if we sneak up on him and him in particular, not his army, he won't be able to hurt anyone."

Hyunjin shook his head, "it's too risky. We will have to pass all the guards without being caught and if the plan backfires, we are already in the King's domain. He can do whatever he wants with us."

"But Youngjae has a point. They have plenty of prisoners, many of whom originate from Guardian Territory. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were Guardians captured during the Palace battle ten years ago. We need to think of them too. We need to attack in a way that will limit the number of deaths. And the easiest way to do that is to work from the inside," Yoongi mentioned. 

"Perhaps we don't have to think too deeply about a plan," Seungmin approached them, inviting himself into the conversation. "I know you guys said I should sit out of this meeting and spend time with Chaeyeon but I couldn't help but eavesdrop. As I was saying, Youngjae and Yoongi are right about having to work from the inside but maybe the plan has already been set out for us."

"What are you getting at?" Erin furrowed her eyebrows causing him to hold up a scroll with a smile.

"Chaeyeon and I did a little exploring in the forest nearby -- you know, the one owned by bandits. Turns out, the Royal Army had paid us a visit and brought this."

Yoongi instantly grabbed it out of his hands and glared at it, "a scroll? The King is the only one who sends scrolls."

"Well then open it quickly," Erin rolled her eyes, attempting to pry it out of his hands but he simply moved it out of her grasp.

He untied the loosely tied red strings and searched the writing before giving them a surprised look.

"It's an invite," he stated.

"An invite?" Hyunjin scoffed. "For what?"

"A feast... A three-day-feast and I think it says with a special guest but I'm not sure whoever wrote this has a terrible handwriting."

"The King is calling out a feast with the Guardians and Busan soldiers? Seems legit," Erin huffed. "If he wanted a battle, he could have been more subtle."

"I don't think it's a battle he wants," Youngjae took the scroll out of Yoongi's hands, earning some curses thrown at him but he chose to ignore them. "He wants something... I don't know what but it is certainly not good..."

"What's that?" Daniel questioned, pointing to a small piece of text written on the otherwise blank side of the scroll. 

"It's a hint," Youngjae revealed, eyeing it. "It says the special guest is someone we all know and love..." He glanced up at Hyunjin. "It says you would know exactly who it is. That you watched them take this person."

"Nathan..." Erin muttered, eyes widening. "You said you say them take him to the woods, didn't you? They have Nathaniel. The King has Nathaniel. We have to go. We have to save him. We have to-"

"Calm down, Erin," Daniel placed a hand on her shoulder. "We can't just barge in there and ask for Nathaniel back. That's what he wants. That is the trap."

"Maybe not," Youngjae hummed. "I've only seen this once before: a feast with the King. It was a few weeks before the Palace battle. We were called for a feast of some sort. The actual trap is in the fact it isn't a friendly event at all. It is a trade. The King wants us to trade something to get Nathan in return... And I'm afraid he doesn't just want Minho..."