Kungwan was almost done writing his last letter when knocks sounded on his door. After jotting down the last line, he put it in an envelope, sealed it, and slipped it into the drawer of his desk, alongside the two dozen envelopes with the same message he had been writing for an hour. He knew how hard it was to make a decision like abandoning your homeland, which was more of abandoning your faith. Not everybody would follow him to Gorania now. Some would without hesitation because they believed in their Archmage. Others would need more time to ponder the facts and decide. For those, he had written these letters.

"Come in," Kungwan shouted, and at once, Jihoon pushed the door open and scurried to the desk Kungwan was sitting behind.

"Imperial guards, Kungwan Sen," Jihoon began, his eyes betraying his worry. "They stormed Sun Castle without informing us. We heard them say they were headed to the Portal Yard."

The imperial guards' sole job was to protect the Emperor. Seeing them outside the Imperial Palace was a rare event. What game was being played? A few days ago, the Emperor had sent his snake to investigate the recent incidents, and today, his dogs? This is Hanu's doing.

"Summon every Red Cloak in the castle to the Portal Yard." Kungwan pushed to his feet and stalked past Jihoon toward the door.

"We are not fighting the imperial guards, are we?" Jihoon asked, catching up with Kungwan at the corridor outside the office.

Kungwan hoped they wouldn't have to do that. Not on the eve of their escape. "Just be ready."

Jihoon went the other way to see to his master's orders. Kungwan himself, rushing through the hallways and down the stairs, urged every mage he ran into to join him. When he reached the Portal Yard, he was leading a squad of seven Red Cloaks against two dozen imperial guards under the command of his old friend Wei.

"What is happening, Wei Sen?" Kungwan asked firmly, eyeing the imperial guards who were hammering silver plates on the floor.

"Kungwan Sen." Wei inclined his head toward the Archmage, and then he gestured for his old friend toward the corridor behind him. "Why don't we talk elsewhere?"

"I'm not going anywhere before you order them to stop," Kungwan pointed at Wei's men. "Or I shall stop them myself."

"Kungwan Sen," Wei called out flatly. "All of these men look up to you. You won't make them watch their role model disobey the Emperor's orders."

Nonsense! Wei might fool anybody with this farce, but not Kungwan. Leaning forward, he whispered into Wei's ear, "You mean Hanu's orders?"

"She is acting on the Emperor's delegation to oversee the investigations," Wei justified, his voice low. "You do not question His Radiance's choice, do you?"

Kungwan heaved a sigh, staring at Wei's open hand. His friend's offer of resuming this conversation somewhere else was still standing.

Without saying a word, Kungwan walked Wei to the nearest unoccupied room, which happened to be a small chemistry lab. After slamming the door closed, Kungwan snapped, "This is becoming unacceptable, Wei. Your men can't just storm the castle without even notifying me!"

"You seem to forget how things are run here, Kungwan." Wei's voice was suddenly harsh, unlike the reserved tone he had used a few minutes ago in the Portal Yard. "Those men belong to the Imperial Guard. They answer to no one but His Radiance."

What Wei stated was the law, but Kungwan was talking about the norm. Out of respect, he expected a different kind of treatment. A treatment befitting his status as the most eminent mage in the Koyan Empire.

Kungwan wiped his face with one hand and took a deep breath. "What is your business here, Wei Sen?"

"I carry orders to fulfill." From his pocket, Wei produced two rolled parchments. He handed Kungwan one of them and continued, "This is a ban on teleportation until the end of the investigation."

He can't be serious. A ban on teleportation? Now? "What is the point, may I ask?"

A wry smile slipped from Wei's face. "That's something Hanu Sen might answer. I am here to execute the order."

More nonsense from his old friend. Only a fool might believe that Wei was not aligned with his malicious cousin. What is she up to? Does she know anything about our escape? Even if that was the case, Hanu's ridiculous order would delay his move, but it wouldn't foil it. Dozens of portals existed outside Sun Castle, still.

"I shall report all of this to the Emperor." Kungwan wagged one firm finger at Wei. "I shall let him know how his subordinates have misused their authority. And I'm quite certain he won't be glad when he hears that his soldiers and their commander have been disrespected in his name."

Wei curled his nose. "You are exaggerating, Kungwan Sen. These are just routine measures in such a situation."

Measures? The word echoed in Kungwan's mind as he glanced at the other parchment Wei was still holding. "What's in this?" the Archmage asked warily.

The Commander of the Imperial Guard cast Kungwan a crooked smile as he handed him the second parchment. "Just another routine measure."

Growing impatient, Kungwan broke the seal, spread the parchment, and skimmed through it. "A confinement order?" He almost tore up the parchment apart in a moment of fury, but he knew better that he shouldn't do that to a document that had the Emperor's seal. At least, not in front of the Commander of the Imperial Guard.

"Once we arrest those who set fire to the chemistry room in the castle, all these measures will become invalid."

Kungwan glared at Wei. "Tell Hanu that whatever happens within the walls of Sun Castle is my business alone. After I'm done with my own investigations, I shall return to the Imperial Palace." He wagged a firm finger, hoping Wei would buy his act. "I shall make sure you and your cousin receive the sanction you deserve for this insolence."

Wei heaved a sigh. "If anybody else said what you said, I'd arrest them at once, but as a matter of respect to your glorious past, I'll pretend I've heard nothing. My piece of advice to you now is to keep your head together and try to right the wrongs you have done." He leaned forward toward Kungwan. "Your daughter and your nephew will be a good start."

Kungwan tried to sound calm when he asked, "What about them?"

"They have to be part of your investigation, Kungwan Sen," Wei said curtly. "May I ask why they are not here in Sun Castle as we speak?"

"They are punished."

"While the investigation is still ongoing?"

Inwardly, Kungwan cursed those reckless teenagers for putting him in such a situation. "I told you: Whatever happens in this castle is my business alone."

"Not anymore, Kungwan Sen. Not after you allowed vandals to sabotage your castle." Wei gnashed his teeth. "Not after you killed my son with your extreme training methods!"

Kungwan wasn't too surprised that Wei still blamed him for Lan's death. Still, it was a cheap move by Hanu to use her cousin's loss against a rival of hers. "I should have known it from the beginning." He nodded, smirking. "This is not about the damned investigation. It's just you and your cousin seeking personal revenge." He pointed an accusing finger at Wei. "I thought you were better than that, my friend."

"You accuse us of taking matters personally." Wei sneered. "Perhaps you shouldn't have hidden your daughter before you say that."

"I didn't hide her anywhere," Kungwan lied. "Who knows where she went after her expulsion? She is an adult after all."

Wei nodded silently, a strange smile on his face. "Maybe you don't know for real. Maybe it's her dear cousin who does."

Hells and demons! Kungwan had made it clear to his daughter that nobody should know where she had gone, even Akira. Especially Akira. Entrusting her erratic, fanatic cousin with such a secret would be a foolish act.

For some reason, Wei's smile widened. After a moment of awkward silence, he opened the door of the lab, and before exiting, he looked over his shoulder at Kungwan. "I promise you; we will find her. And you both shall get the sanction you deserve."

Kungwan inhaled deeply, mustering all the composure he needed lest he crush the man who had just threatened him and his daughter. Let him go, Kungwan, he told himself, watching the rascal return to his men at the Portal Yard. His words are just hollow. Hollow words mean nothing.

To give himself a chance to calm down, Kungwan slowly walked back to the Portal Yard, the small crowd of Sun Castle mages making way for him to come through. "Everybody! Back to your duties!" he demanded, and at once, his mages swarmed out of the corridor leading to the Portal Yard. The only mage who lingered was Jihoon, who stared quizzically at Kungwan as the latter approached him.

"You ordered me to summon our mages," Jihoon reminded him, his voice low.

"And now I realize I don't need them."

Jihoon looked at him doubtfully, as if asking, 'Are you sure?' Then he turned to Wei's soldiers, shaking his head in disapproval as he muttered, "They are almost done fusing the tunjesten with the ground. Now we must burn the entire floor before we can open this portal again."

"I shall fix this misunderstanding with the Emperor himself when the time is right," Kungwan said, making sure Wei and his men had heard him. "Until then, we shall prove how compliant we are." He patted Jihoon on the shoulder, stealing a glance at the clowns executing the orders of Hanu Sen.

If only they know how absurd this is.

* * *

Fortunately, today's encounter with the imperial guards ended peacefully.

After Wei's soldiers were done tunjestening the Portal Yard and left the castle, Kungwan summoned Jihoon and Tashihara to his office. The instant his two subordinates sat across his desk, Tashihara asked impatiently, "What is this all about, Kungwan Sen? Do they know?"

Those who knew were not supposed to be that many. "I'm not sure." Kungwan leaned his elbows on the desk, his hands clasped together, mulling over all he had heard and seen today. "Perhaps Hanu suspects something." It was just an assumption, but come to think of it, it made sense. "If she knew something for sure, she would definitely arrest us without hesitation."

"But the ban on teleportation. And the confinement order," Jihoon said, an inquisitive look on his face. "What is the point of these measures?"

Kungwan had no idea, but surely, Hanu wouldn't come up with these decisions unless she believed they would hurt him somehow. "It doesn't matter. These measures change nothing in our arrangements. Tomorrow night, you two will be on board the Wraith with our supplies. Natsu will need your help to boost the power of her engine during the entire voyage."

Jihoon didn't seem satisfied. "I don't know, Kungwan Sen. Don't you think we should postpone our move for a while? With that order of confinement, I'll be surprised if the imperial guards are not watching our castle right now."

"They will be watching our walls; that's for sure," Kungwan said confidently. "But a steep sea cliff? I don't think so."

Both Jihoon and Tashihara looked at each other. Their fear was understandable, even without Hanu's worrying actions today. We are not just abandoning our homeland. We are abandoning all the beliefs we have been raised to embrace.

"Before you load the Wraith with our supplies," Kungwan went on, "tell Kyong about the letters. He must make sure that every section in Sun Castle has at least one copy of my letter."

Tashihara looked down, a nervous smile on her face, and then she prompted, "You are expecting a lot from that letter, Kungwan Sen."

"It's our only way to bring more men on our side," Kungwan said. Without exaggeration, delivering those letters was as crucial as smuggling the supplies across the Koyan Sea. That was why Kyong would be staying a few days after the escape of Kungwan and his two senior subordinates. "They must know that we are not doing this because we wish to fight them in the future alongside the Goranians; it's the total opposite. All of this is about stopping a war that will doom us all."

Jihoon nodded, his lips pressed together. "And when they eventually decide to fight us nonetheless?"

Kungwan doubted that his actions in the coming few days would pass without consequences. Fighting his people seemed to be inevitable. The best he could aim for was delaying that fight. "Then, let's pray to the Light that we won't be on our own when the time for that fight comes."

"What about you, Kungwan Sen?" Tashihara asked. "If you're not coming with us, then you will definitely break one of Hanu's orders, if not both."

Hanu could burn with her orders. Kungwan had a daughter to rescue. Arresting her would complicate his situation. "You are not wondering how I'm going to sneak outside Sun Castle, are you?" He couldn't help smiling when he asked her.

"To me, it's obvious that Hanu is luring you outside the walls of Sun Castle to prove you have broken the order of confinement."

His daughter was a bait to catch him, he knew. But what choice did he have? If Akira did know where she was staying, then Hanu would eventually find her. "Two days later, I will be called a traitor. You think I'd care if I break an order or two?"

* * *

Knowing that he might be spending his last few hours in Koya, Kungwan gathered all the potions he might need and put them in the pockets of his dark-blue cloak. He doubted he would need any of his stamina-boosting potions—no mage in Koya would dare to start a fight with the Archmage—but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Despite the order of confinement, Kungwan demanded that his carriage to be readied for a three-day trip as soon as possible. Shortly after, he headed to the courtyard, where he found his gray-haired coachman standing by the door of the carriage. "Are you aware of the recent order of confinement?" Kungwan felt obliged to alert the man who had been working for him for two decades.

The coachman grinned, as if telling him that he knew, but he didn't care. "Where do you wish to go, Kungwan Sen?"

"I shall tell you on the road."

Bowing, the coachman held the door of the carriage open as Kungwan hopped on. Through the open window, the Archmage craned his neck and took a quick look at the walls and the gate, and it was plain that the guards posted there were growing uneasy as the carriage started moving, the hooves of the horses clopping on the cobblestone.

When the nervous guards stopped the carriage at the locked gate, Kungwan yelled, "Don't be stupid, boys! Are you really going to stand in my way?"

One of the guards was bold enough to say, "We mean no disrespect, Kungwan Sen. We are just complying with the Emperor's orders."

"These are the orders of a Court Member; a subordinate of mine." Kungwan leaned his elbow on the edge of the window, showing the color of the Court Head's attire. "The Emperor shall hear of this insolence when I go to him." He pointed a commanding finger at the gate. "Now open the damned gate, or I shall open it myself."

The guards still had enough common sense to realize how futile their stand against the Archmage was. To Kungwan's relief, they unlocked the gate, letting the carriage venture outside the walls of Sun Castle. From there, he could head to the Imperial Palace.

Or to Kim's hideout.

Having no doubt that Wei's men would be following him on the road, Kungwan took a sip of the becoba potion to boost his focus. Even if the imperial guards were hiding in the woods on the left side of the road, he would be able to sense their anerjy. For half an hour of traveling down the road, he sensed nothing, though. Can't be. Wei won't be relying only on my men to execute Hanu's orders. Unless I have been overestimating my foes' cunning.

"Stop here," Kungwan ordered the coachman, and the latter didn't hesitate.

"You feel well, Kungwan Sen?"

"I'm fine. Now listen. I want you to tour the Koyan coast for three days. You hear me; three days. No less. After that, you will head to my house. If anybody asks you, tell them that you were doing as your master commanded."

The coachman looked over his shoulder. "I take it I won't see you for a while, Kungwan Sen."

If the plan works? No, you won't, Kungwan wanted to tell him. "Before you resume your trip, there is an act we need to play, just in case someone is watching us."

"I'm not sure I'm good at acting, Kungwan Sen."

"I'm sure you are."

Kungwan did his best to simplify the coachman's role. After five minutes of explaining, the coachman assured Kungwan that he could do it.

The coachman hopped of the carriage, pretending as if he was checking on the legs of one of his horses. Kungwan opened the door of the carriage to see what was going on, and then he clambered down to join the coachman. "He will survive the trip," Kungwan said after a moment of fake inspection on the horse's leg. "Let's go. We cannot afford any delays."

Hoping that whoever was watching believed this stupid play, Kungwan returned to the carriage, and before the coachman could close the door behind him, he mustered all his focus to surround himself with a lightshield and jumped quickly from the carriage. Bearing in mind that the transparent shield deflected both light and air, the invisible Archmage sprinted away from the road until he reached the woods. With one quick glance over his shoulder, Kungwan made sure that his coachman was on his way to start his tour by the Koyan Sea, dragging Wei's guards—if they had been stalking the carriage since it left Sun Castle—away from Kungwan himself.

The air inside the invisibility shield was running low as Kungwan ventured through the woods, away from the main road. After ten minutes of walking, Kungwan broke the shield and gasped for air, his eyes scanning his surroundings. He wouldn't need the lightshield here anyway; the ancient towering cedar trees would curtain his moves.

The cottage he had sent Kim to was an hour's walk away from here. He should reach it and take his daughter to the nearest portal before nightfall. And tonight, Tashihara and Jihoon would start their voyage across the Koyan Sea. After three days of sailing on board the fast Wraith, Jihoon and Tashihara would be far enough from the Turtle Ships. Hopefully, by that time, Kungwan's letter would bring him more followers. He would need an army, not to face his own folks in battle, but to prevent that from happening.

The cottage was visible when Kungwan sensed a sudden flow of anerjy nearby. He stopped and looked around, the external flow of anerjy growing stronger. Someone was approaching, but where was he? The tree trunks were not helping at all.

And then, he appeared. Literally, out of nowhere. Kungwan was not the only one who had wielded a lightshield today, it was clear.

"Surprised to see me, Uncle?"