LIRO || completed

• 12.1 •

It had been two days since the Queen had unveiled to Liro her plans for the Eastern Kingdom.

One day since the seamstress had taken her measurements, and crafted her a dress so unlike the one for the ritual.

Two days until she and Kier would depart, to wreak havoc on the life of a man they had never met.

The time was slipping between Liro's fingers, and she couldn't help but wonder if she was going just as mad as the Queen was. The words slipping from the Queen's mouth should have been foreign; words that her mortal ears had never heard before, that they could hardly comprehend.

Yet Liro knew that dangerous language well. And as much as she hated anything in common with her sisters, the words of deception were oddly comforting.

The grunts and groans of the training grounds rang around her, and Liro was shoved to the ground and out of her reverie. Her hip and elbow connected with the soil, and her teeth were bared as she stared into the face of Tyras.

"What the hell was that for?" Liro demanded, pushing to her feet angrily.

Tyras pointed behind her, to an arrow protruding from the target. "They weren't paying much attention, and neither were you. You would have been skewered, and as my promise to keep the peace goes, I can't allow that."

Liro's cheeks flushed. She was most certainly going mad. Her thoughts were taking her too far, and it was distracting her from even the simplest of tasks. Much like keeping herself alive, though some would argue that it was harder than it should have been.

"Wouldn't it be more fun to have just let the arrow take me?" she argued, pushing around him and walking towards the training blades.

"Certainly." Tyras didn't miss a beat. "Though I doubt I'd get the same amount gratitude." He eyed her pointedly, and Liro scoffed. He expected her to thank him.

Even though it was the right thing to do, and even though Kiers earlier statements rang in the back of her head like a bell, she forced her lips to remain shut. His arrogance was enough to dig her fingernails into her palm and bite her tongue.

Tyras sighed. "I would have left you alone if you'd only shown me your appreciation."

"I shouldn't have to do anything akin to grovelling for you to respect my boundaries," Liro snarled, baring her teeth as she did so.

Tyras gripped her arm tightly at the elbow and pulled her behind the corner of the castle, away from the prying eyes of the training grounds. Liro yelped, and reached towards his face with her fingernails angled towards his cheek. His fingers wrapped around her wrist tightly, holding her in place.

"This is the part where you call for help," he said, his voice low.

Liro kept her eyes staring into his. "This is the part where you realize you've made a mistake."

Tyras snorted, releasing her and taking a step back. "I think it's difficult for either of us to make mistakes."

"Your pride gets in the way of your judgement." Her voice was barely more than a hiss, and her eyes were bright with fury. She wanted to rub her wrist, but she wasn't about to let him see that he'd hurt her.

Tyras leaned against the castle wall, crossing his arms over one another and studying her. Every twitch of a muscle, every shifting of weight, he saw it. Liro made a point of making him as uncomfortable as she was.

"What is the Queen up to." He said it with little to block the blow of his words. Liro would have been taken aback if she hadn't been expecting words of suspicion to leave his lips.

"Nothing," she replied, forcing herself to relax her stoic posture, and she cocked her head to one side. Portray indifference.

Tyras raised his eyebrows. "And would Kier agree?"

"Yes."

Tyras looked at the ground, a smile splaying itself across his face. The tone of his laugh made her freeze. He didn't believe a word she was saying, and it didn't appear that he particularly cared.

"Just do me a favour," he said, eyeing her.

"I promise nothing."

He ignored her. "Make sure it isn't anything illegal."

"If a monarch is commissioning it, you can hardly perceive it to be illegal."

Tyras' eyes turned dark. "That depends on whether you're loyal to the Queen, or to the crown."

Liro swallowed, her words going down her throat in what felt like a solid lump.

He proved so many points, and although Liro held no particular preference for the Queen, she at least didn't seem as half-witted as the King. She seemed like the safer bet if Liro wanted to stay alive. And so long as she completed the task in front of her, Liro knew she would be close to proving her devotion.

Not that the Queen would ever trust her. She could never trust anyone in the castle besides herself - though a begrudging respect would come from the completion of the newest assignment.

"I can keep my head about me," Liro said stiffly.

"Of course. That arrow back there wasn't even aimed at your head."

Liro glared. "Are you done?"

"Hardly. Though I get the sense that you are."

Liro doled her own arms across her chest. "Thank you for keeping me alive. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job." She turned to leave, her face contorting with all the emotions fighting for dominance.

"Remember this," Tyras said, his eyes on her as she turned around to face him, her lips as flat as rock. "This is a life debt, and in this business, chances are that I'll come collecting." His lips twitched upwards in a smile.

Liro rolled her eyes. "You were told to keep the peace. This has nothing to do with the intricacies of a life debt."

Her feet carried her away from him, and she was careful to scan the entirety of the training grounds before taking so much as a step. She didn't want him anywhere near her until she was certain she had a way to get out of it.

It occurred to her in the sparring ring, following a blow to the head that made her see stars, that Tyras might not have been as aloof in his proclamation as she had thought.

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