LYRA

We stood frozen in the corridor while Vargos's guards blocked our escape route, their weapons gleaming in the torchlight and their faces showing the kind of determination that came from being well paid to ensure our deaths. My hand tightened on the knife I still held from our earlier fight, calculating how many I could take down before they overwhelmed us through sheer numbers.

"I underestimated you, Prince Kael," Vargos said, his voice carrying that smooth confidence that came from ...