Until very recently (eight minutes ago, in fact), the blood spattering the outside of Karina’s ­ brand-​­new tunic had pulsed inside the heart of the dark sorcerer known as Shadow-fade. Brock, the knight she traveled with who did most of the laundry, would be appalled when he saw it. But Karina the Tempest, Protector of the Queen’s Realm of Mereth, chose to think of the stain as a rather dashing and intimidating addition to her look as she strode through the castle grounds, blade in hand.

Karina searched for movement atop the black stone battlements that stood watch like hulking sentinels over the expansive gardens. The carefully groomed paths flanked by topiaries and flower beds were full of poisonous blooms, no doubt, but greener and more cheerful than she would have expected from a villain like Shadowfade.

None of this was as she expected. With as fearsome a reputation as Guy Shadowfade had amassed, vanquishing him should have been much more of a trial. Her lingering concern whispered that this had been some elaborate trick.

But Karina would have time for those thoughts later. One way or another, the sorcerer was finally defeated and his minions scattered, meaning it was up to Karina and her companions to make sure they could cause no further harm to the Merethi people.

“She went into the hedge maze!” Maggie cried, her long legs a blur as she sprinted in the opposite direction, her staff in hand as she chased another ­ foe—​­hopefully that dreadful alchemist who had burned through Karina’s favorite pair of boots with his poisons. “Brock and I will take care of the others!”

Karina nodded curtly, her eyes dragging on her partner’s form for only a second longer than necessary before she took off into the hedge maze, sword gripped tightly in her fist. As she navigated the twists and turns of the maze, she kept an eye out for danger. She wouldn’t have put it past Shadowfade to fill his grounds with tricks and traps, but the maze was strangely pleasant, its greenery on full display despite the late-winter season, and its corners staged with cheerful pots of colorful flowers. Like everything else about today, it didn’t meet her expectations, and it only put Karina further on edge.