"You could've figured that out sooner," Ty replied, his tone half-joking.
Before they could catch their breath, voices reached them from the corridor they had entered. Ty hardened his expression and motioned for JJ to follow him up the stairs.
They emerged back into the corridor with the voices close behind.
"We need to move," Ty said. "They're closing in."
Meanwhile, far away in the King's chamber, the mood was anything but calm. The three assassins who had failed to kill Osalf knelt before the King, their bodies trembling under his cold, stare.
General Omina stood nearby, her arms crossed and her expression unreadable.
"You failed me," the King said, his voice low and dangerous. "Not only did you fail, but you allowed the Black Bulls to escape with their lives."
One of the assassins, his voice shaking, tried to speak. "M-my lord, we were... ambushed by an unknown force. A woman appeared... she brought them back..."
