Chapter 34: Of Dust, Dung And Dignity
Lyria's POV
He considered me.
Then nodded once.
"You have six minutes."
"If you are not back within six minutes," he continued evenly, "I will be obliged to report the delay to the Princess. And I would prefer not to invite her displeasure."
"I u–understand, sir," I told him.
No one who worked in the palace wanted to invite the displeasure of the royal family.
"Do not make me regret extending the courtesy," he told me.
"I w–will not."
He gestured toward the courtyard.
"Go."
I curtsied without thinking and turned at once.
I moved as swiftly as I could.
The path back through the palace felt longer than before.
My breath burned faintly in my chest as I climbed the stairwell to my chambers two steps at a time. The narrow wooden steps creaked beneath my hurried feet, the sound sharp in the quiet shaft of stone and rail.
Six minutes.
I counted them in my head as I moved.
One breath.
Two.
Three.
My door yielded beneath my hand.
