“No,” Kaen said as he reached down and grabbed me by my laevos. “You won’t stop this.”

“Don’t do this and then be surprised when she plots against you and your family. What do you expect? Loyalty? Duty? You might have gained loyalty if you had freed her!”

“She has no honor or loyalty. She’s evil, a force of chaos, and I should have killed her years ago.” He pulled me back against the desk, and I didn’t fight him that time. He released my hair even as I heard Wyrga scream. I knew when I turned back, I’d see blood streaming down the old woman’s face.

It didn’t matter that Wyrga had tried to kill me or that she was thoroughly horrible. She was a slave, and she was helpless. I had to do something. I knew better than to attack Duke Kaen, so what could I do? What options did I have? What could I possibly use as leverage?

I did have something. One thing that Kaen evidently valued. I pulled my dagger from my belt and set the edge against the corner of my eye. “Order her to stop, Your Grace, or we’ll both lose our eyes.”

Azhen Kaen turned back to me, eyes wide with surprise. “You—what?”

I took a deep breath, ground my teeth together, and pushed the edge in.

The sharp dagger ensured I didn’t register the result as pain right away. Cold and wet and unpleasant, a sharp icy claw reaching right through my skull. Something wet and oozing started sliding down my cheek.

I’m told I also set the drapes on fire. And the table.

“Wyrga, ignore your last order! You stupid fool!”

That last part was directed at me.

Then pain spiked through my whole skull and I screamed, folding up into a tight ball. “Help her!” Azhen Kaen ordered Wyrga.

Help is an open-ended command, but Wyrga did something.

Everything turned black, and nothing hurt.

When I woke, I found myself in a guest room at the top of the pyramid, the sort with beautiful mountainside views. Perhaps most importantly, I could see from both eyes. I checked. Both were present and accounted for, uninjured.

I sat up from the bed, noted I remained dressed, and walked over to the slanted crystal window. I watched the storm-shrouded mountains, noting that someone had put me in a southern-facing room looking out toward Jorat. I couldn’t see my adopted homeland from here, but I knew the direction. And as I watched, I saw Aeyan’arric sporting along a ridgeline, a giant sparkling diamond of white death.

“You’re going to have to learn magic, you know.”