LIRO || completed

• 16.1 •

Liro twirled Lady Fir around like they were partaking in a dangerous dance. Her hand found Lady Fir's mouth, and instead of closing her lips around a scream, Lady Fir found herself obstructed by Liro's wrist. 

The Lady bit down hard, and Liro fought the urge to scream herself. She tightened her fingers around Kier's dagger, and pressed the point of it up under Lady Fir's ribcage, poised to strike the heart.

Lady Fir stopped moving.

"Do you know what?" Liro hissed. "I would have much preferred to leave you alone. You seemed happy enough in your own little world. But then, you had to go and follow me." Liro pressed the dagger so it broke through fabric and lightly through her skin. "And that won't be tolerated."

Lady Fir whimpered, fisting the skirt of her dress tightly. Liro was sure that whatever sort of reality Lady Fir existed in, this was not part of it. 

Liro pressed her lips against Lady Fir's ear, keeping her voice low as she spoke. "You are going to come with me. You are not going to make a sound." Her voice dipped even quieter in tone, "You will do exactly as I say." She paused, "Am I clear?"

Lady Fir didn't even whimper.

Liro fought the smirk that wanted to crawl its way onto her face. "Good. Now take off your heels. And then, I'm going to lower myself so you can pick them up. Hold on to them tightly."

Lady Fir did as she was told. 

They moved slowly down the staircase, back out onto the mud of the training grounds. Lord Atlor's eyes searched behind Liro and Lady Fir frantically, in search of a guard or perhaps another pursuer. 

"Bind her. Quickly," Liro said to Kier, her irritation thinly veiled. 

Only when Kier had tied her ankles, her hands, and gagged her did Liro removed her wrist from Lady Fir's mouth and hand the dagger back to Kier. Blood seeped through the silk on her wrist, turning the blue of it an awful, rusty colour. 

"You've ruined my dress," Liro said plainly, her eyes connecting with Lady Fir's. 

Kier came to stand by her, turning his back to the captives so they couldn't read his lips. Liro kept her watchful eye on them carefully.

"We now have two captives instead of one. How are we supposed to get the two of them back to the Queen?" Kier hissed, his voice so low even Liro had to strain to hear him. "One aristocrat was one thing, but two? That's entirely another."

Liro turned, so that Kier was listening and now her back was to the captives. She had a perfect view of the entrance to the grounds. If anyone were to spy on them, then she would be the first to know.

"We have a bigger problem. I need to go back inside the palace, past Portrait Hall." Liro bit her lip. "The guards spoke to me. I pretended that I had a message for the Lord. If I don't go back, they'll know it was me."

Kier sighed. He didn't bother turning around. "This complicates things."

Liro wanted to scream in frustration. "Things are already complicated! We need to move them out of the training grounds, and you need to get them both to our transport. I can meet you there. But I need to take suspicion away from us."

Kier's eyes narrowed. "Away from you, you mean."

Liro felt her temper rising. "Is that so wrong? Would you not do the same?"

"We have an obligation to finish this job, not preserve our good names."

"There's something I need to take care of," she said, swallowing a boulder. The prince. "I danced with someone, trying to get a better view of you and Atlor. He'll know my face, and he isn't insignificant."