“An assassination is either successful or it isn’t, Cyrus. If Gordian Goldleaf still breathes, then you failed, and failed miserably. You damn fool. No plan. No hope for success. Worse, you’ve revealed our ability to enter the castle at will. They’ll be on guard now, and likely find the hidden tunnel. A secret weapon, wasted, all because you have the patience of a toddler.”

The older man struck the wall with his fist. Wood broke beneath strength that shaped metal. Cyrus had never seen Thorda like this before, not even half this angry all throughout his training. It terrified him.

“Three years! Three years, we invested in you. We built you from nothing, molded you, trained you, all while planting the earliest whispers of your return. Yet you could not afford us similar courtesy before striking out on your own? Damn it, we are so close, so very close to a meaningful victory. The people’s faith in you is but a seed, and it will blossom, but not if you die alone on a fool’s errand! Everything about you, from your appearance to your weapons, has been carefully chosen. I sought to bequeath you a reputation of invincibility, an air of undeniable death. Yet tonight you tried to assassinate Thanet’s regent, and you failed.”

“I regret that I failed,” Cyrus said, unable to endure such an assault in silence. “But would you rather I do nothing? How could I not after Stasia’s and Clarissa’s lives were in danger?”

“Our lives are always in danger,” Thorda seethed. “Since she was twelve, Stasia has fought against the Everlorn Empire’s cruelty. Do you think her a stranger to these risks? Do you deem her incapable of seeking her own vengeance? You murdered a magistrate and a paragon. Are you so dense as to believe the empire would not retaliate?”

“Of course, but to do nothing—”

“Is not the same as being patient!”

It was Cyrus’s turn to lash out in frustration. He turned and kicked the closed door behind him, rattling the wood.

“Patient?” he asked. “Patient, while people are suffering and dying? You trained me to kill, gave me these swords, and told me to unleash my rage upon the empire, and so I did! How can I focus on anything other than the unspeakable things being done to my people? We have to retaliate. We have to act.”

His master stepped close, and his voice dropped to a dangerously slow and steady cant.