The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 525

Liora’s POV

The mindlink came in just before two. I was lying on top of the covers with my boots still on, like I might have anywhere to run, staring at the ceiling, when I felt the message pathway open up.

“Barracks are ours,” Marcus’s voice said, calm and steady. “Stay the course. Bide your time.”

The connection dropped before I could respond, and then I was alone again with only the sound of the guard moving outside my door to keep me company.

I tried to sleep after that, but I couldn’t. Belinda’s words kept swirling around in my head until it was all I could think about. I knew those very words were designed to keep me afraid and compliant. I knew she was trying to get in my head because she knew I had big plans for tomorrow.

But still. I couldn’t stop thinking about my mother, laying sick in a bed just like this one, at risk of winding up in the ground just like Mia. No matter how strained our relationship had been throughout my life, I didn’t want my mother to die.

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I sat up, running my hand over the length of my braid, and listened.

There were bars on the windows preventing my escape, like they had been put there with the express purpose of keeping me inside if I returned—probably to avoid a repeat of the last two escapes. So that wasn’t an option. Instead, I pricked my ears, listening to the guard’s movements.

The guard outside was pacing, and had been since he’d switched with the last one on duty. I recognized those footsteps; he’d always been like that, even in training. A little impatient in the feet, like he might go crazy if he stood still for too long. It was something Marcus had tried to drill out of him to no avail on many occasions.

I’d never quite gotten his name, but I could picture his face even without seeing him. I recalled the night of Bianca’s banquet, the look of guilt and horror in his eyes as his new leader gave him the orders to turn against the princess he was once sworn to protect.

He wasn’t like the others. He might be swayed.

I stood up, walked to the door, and knocked twice.

There was a pause before I heard his voice say through the wood, “Pri—I mean… Milady. Did you need something?”

But to my surprise, the lock turned.

I stepped back as the door creaked open. The guard was in his uniform, his eyes dark in the dim light. He had one hand on the sword at his hip, the other hanging loose but ready at his side, just like Marcus had taught us. Prepared for a fight.

I held my hands up. “There isn’t even a letter opener in here,” I said. “I’d be stupid to pick a fight with a man with a sword. Especially when I know that witch gave you kill orders if I act up.”

The guard’s throat bobbed. He looked me up and down, then looked both ways over his shoulders.

“Five minutes,” he said, grabbing my arm. “If anyone sees us, I walked you to the bathroom and you got away from me. We clear?”

“Clear as glass,” I said, letting him take my arm and pull me out of the room.