Book 7, Chapter 69

High Stakes

Within a lavish residence in Lower Faust, Duke Myron was watching a group of soldiers hauling another shipment of goods to the Archeron island from his balcony. Beside him was a tall woman with a lofty aura whose brows were knitted together, “Is this worth it just for Link? You can hire ten runemasters for some time with this; if Link doesn’t have the talent we think he does…”

“No!” the Duke snapped, “Richard didn’t commit even to the second offer. If I hadn’t raised the ransom, Link would have been killed. Tell me this; would you give up so much to kill off an ordinary runemaster? What threat would Link have posed to him that drove him to such a decision?

“The public execution was to show his stance. If Link had actually raped Rosie, there wouldn’t even be an announcement before he died. Now, since there wasn’t any substantial damage,...