Page 10 of The Sundered Realms

Create an opportune moment, and run.

Again. Her heart kicked up in readiness.

She was going to be running for a long time.

Finally prepared for her—or so they thought—her guard gave the order to unbind her ankles and let her walk herself, so Liris had done something right.

Or maybe she hadn’t done anything right after all, because they blindfolded her instead, like she really was a spy.

If only. She’d have had resources, in that case.

So Liris was boxed in and trapped, again, this time in terrain she didn’t know. She was still trudging through hallways—gray stone this time, less dusty, still suffocating, and who knew if they were decorated with anything she could use—and Liris’ panic sharpened her focus like a moth to a flame.

She would not go back.

The guards hauled her to a stop, and a door groaned shut behind her.

Blindfolded, Liris realized another flaw in her dyer plan: her nose was so consistently overwhelmed she couldn’t rely on that sense.

All she had was silence.

Into it, a deep, masculine voice that sent gooseflesh erupting over her skin spoke: “Why is she bound?”

Not a local boy, this one: his accent was much softer.

A pause, in which Liris imagined her guards’ confusion. “To make sure she doesn’t escape, Lord Vhannor.”

Lord Vhannor.

Oh gods. When the guard had said “the Lord of Embhullor,” Liris hadn’t realized she didn’t mean just the lord from Embhullor who was visiting, she really meant the Lord of Embhullor.

Since Liris hadn’t specialized, she didn’t know many names associated with Embhullor, but Lord Vhannor was at the top of the list.

He wasn’t some elite student. Lord Vhannor was the leader of the most powerful region in one of the wealthiest realms, so while this had already been bad news, it turned out this was the worst possible news for her.

This man would absolutely have diplomatic ties to Serenthuar and the power to do something about them. What was someone like that doing out here?

“Did she resist arrest?” Lord Vhannor asked in a cool tone, and ice slid up Liris’ spine.

Liris had never even seen the man before, and even she recognized the inherent danger in the question.

The guard said grudgingly, “No, my Lord.”

If she hadn’t been blindfolded, Liris would have blinked.

That was a surprise. The guard could have easily thrown Liris under the proverbial cart.

Which could mean a few things. Maybe the guard just had a sense of integrity.

Or maybe the Lord of Embhullor had so much power that she believed he’d find out anyway, whether or not that was the case.

Or maybe he simply commanded that much respect.

“So,” Lord Vhannor said crisply, emotionlessly, like he was simply, routinely gathering facts before digging the guard’s grave, “you’re treating her like a criminal for what she might do rather than what she has done, then.”

“My Lord—“

“Am I wrong?”

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