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It was her fault.

If she could go back in time, she would have stopped herself.

I helped put him in that stupid dungeon.

“I tried to order a meeting with Wren about the Duskwalker’s capture, but they said she was unavailable. You didn’t tell her I helped you, did you?”

“It slipped my mind,” she muttered honestly, grunting when she attempted to yank her arm away multiple times.

Then she winced at the tight pressure around her forearm, like he was trying to snap it in half.

“If you didn’t want to continue being a useful fucking hole anymore, that’s fine, but the least you could have done was not be a bitch and hog all the glory to yourself.” He shoved her until her back met the wall, and the back of her head thudded against it. “You will tell her, or I’ll start telling everyone what a whore you are. How easy it was for me to get you to lower–”

He didn’t even get the chance to finish. Bryce went cross-eyed with fury as she kneed him so hard in the balls shesworeshe felt something pop. Maybe she was imagining it, but it was oddly satisfying.

He let her go as he silently screamed, tears welling in his eyes. While clutching his junk, he sagged to his knees.

“I don’t have time for your shit,” she snapped down at him. “Feel free to tell everyone what you want. I’m a whore, a bitch. I really,reallydon’t care.”

She was utterly sincere about that.

“Ugly... bitch,” he wheezed, unable to stand.

Okay, so that one hurt a whole lot, but Emerie tried to ignore it as she stormed off.

Why do guys always call you ugly when you don’t give them what they want?And of course, Bryce would know. She was particularly sensitive to that insult.

Then again, she couldn’t remember if he’d ever complimented her.

I can’t. I can’t think about this right now.

She could dwell on it later... if she was still alive.

Emerie went down a few levels so she could enter the armoury. The guard wrote down that she was obtaining supplies, but didn’t stop her. Why would they? It was normal for guild members to come here for training purposes.

She headed back to her room, navigating the long and windy hallways slowly emptying of people. Zagros Fortress had always felt cold and foreboding, but it sent a chill through her more than usual.

She looked out the window, noting dusk was barely casting enough light to see the red and orange autumn leaves.I need to pack my jacket.

Every time she added a new item to her list, her chest hollowed out. How pathetic would her full bag look next to her corpse? She was being foolishly hopeful.

Rushing to get this over and done with before she changed her mind, she finished packing her bag, storing the rope inside it. Then she clipped her whip and sword to her waist, knowing no one would bat an eye at them.

Her bow and quiver, on the other hand, might cause eyebrows to raise.

Her jacket was made from the animals she’d hunted for food on her travels and was made up of mismatched patches. She threw it over the top of her bow to hide it, even though the ends stuck out past her shoulder and behind her leg. Her quiver made a noticeable impression behind her, but she shrugged.

It was the best she could do.

With her mask and hood firmly in place, she exited her room, not even sparing a moment to glance back at it. The four grey walls carved from stone, her timber-framed single bed, her tiny writing desk that had carvings in it from other dead guildmembers... Nothing belonged to her. It was just a place to sleep, and it had never really felt like home.

Emerie made sure to avoid other guildmembers as much as possible, going the long way to the ground level. People were sparse down here, and it wasn’t difficult to sneak her way to the cleaning house.

She acquired a mop and bucket, using the mop head to hide the top of her bow, and calmly made her way to the doors that would take her down to the dungeon level.

The Master rank member guarding the doorway to the top of the stairs let her pass freely, used to seeing her go down to clean the Duskwalker’s cell. She wasn’t sure if it was complacency or stupidity on their part that they didn’t notice she wasn’t being escorted.

Considering no orders had been sent to clean it, the Elder rank member guarding his cell barred her from entering.