Morvienne snapped her head toward the voice, her pupils dilating as she recognized the deep, commanding tone. The distraction was instantaneous and fatal.

Seeing their opening, two of the remaining rogues lunged from either side and drove two heavy iron-tipped spears straight into her torso. One pierced her right side, the other her left, the shafts shuddering as they punched through her flesh and emerged from her back.

Morvienne's body jerked violently, and a wet, hacking cough tore from her throat, spraying a thick glob of blood across her chin and chest. Her breath hitched, her lungs struggling to expand against the metal, but through the haze of pain and...