“But it was supposed to be inescapable!”
“It was. It is,” protested the engineer.
“Then explain to me where he went!” barked the empress. “I...I...” At his stuttering, the woman growled disgustedly. The maze was supposed to be inescapable. She’d overseen the construction herself. If she hadn’t been so set on watching Viper, a famous assassin from the Eastern Coast, die slowly of starvation and dehydration, this would’ve never happened.
“Empress! The entire palace has been searched, and the Viper is nowhere to be found,” reported a guardsman, running up to the Empress and bowing low.
“Order messenger hawks sent to the local townships in the area and notify every patrol in the entire region,” said the Empress after a pause. “Put everyone on high alert. Let it be know that the Viper is to be shot on sight. The body is to be delivered to the palace.”
“As you command, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“And have the palace and the grounds searched once more before you unseal the gates, just in case he was missed the first time,” she added as he turned to go.
“As you command, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“I do not intend to let him get away again.”
