Keep reading for your sneak peek at one of the first scenes of the A Landscape of Shadows sequel!

The sun had set when they arrived back at the palace, and Tessan carried Solara up to the apartment. He dismissed Aliss at the front gates, ordering a set of guards to take her home, and Solara’s last glimpse of her was her friend’s sickened expression as she watched them go. Right behind Tessan was Violo with the girl, who dangled in his arms, still unconscious.

Both family physicians were waiting upstairs. The apprentice took the girl, snapping at her assistants to move quickly; and the other, Agathe, ushered Solara into bed. “Unbelievable,” she said, taking in the wounds. “Your wife is an idiot,” she told Tessan. Agathe had doctored – and mothered – Tessan since he was a babe in arms, and neither his title, his size, or his gruffness intimidated her. “If she wasn’t also the luckiest woman alive, she would have died in that hole. They all would have.”

Solara was too embarrassed to argue. Her headache had widened from just the front of her face to the entirety of her head. Even her jaw ached, making it uncomfortable if not impossible to speak.

“Do your job while you run your mouth,” Tessan said.

Agathe removed Aliss’s handkerchief from Solara’s forehead and hissed in disapproval when she saw the wound. “You’re lucky your nose isn’t broken. You’re far too stupid to be ugly as well.”

Solara smiled faintly and felt the sticky blood across her teeth.

Agathe worked quickly, cleaning wounds. The one on Solara’s face needed stitches, which Agathe dispatched without delay. Tessan held Solara’s hand through it, but she cried silently all the same. There were dozens of scratches and cuts all over her body, and Agathe wasn’t satisfied till each one had been disinfected and covered in minty paste.

“You’re concussed,” she said. “Your head is going to ache. Probably for days. And don’t be surprised if you’re nauseous and dizzy. I’ll have the servants prepare a pain reliever for you every morning. Can I assume you’ll take it or are you going to be rebellious and stubborn about that, as well?”

“Agathe,” Tessan said. Worry had carved new frown lines into his face. “She didn’t survive a building collapse just to be harassed to death by you.”

“She’s lucky she survived at all,” Agathe snapped. “If that stone hit you a little differently, you could be dead. Or it could have crushed that little girl’s skull, making your rescue pointless. Do you understand that, Solara Manfalon? Your recklessness could have cost multiple lives today.”

“Agathe,” Tessan warned. “I said enough.”

Agathe glared at him, and he glared back.

It was rare to see someone stand their ground to him, and Solara would normally be amused by it. “If you’re going to raise your voices, please get out,” she whispered. “My head will erupt.”

“Rest,” Tessan told Solara. He gestured at the door, and Agathe stalked out. He followed, closing the door softly behind them. The apartment doors, despite their ornate carvings and gold trim, weren’t very thick. Solara heard every word of their whispered conversation.

“You are the doctor, Agathe,” Tessan said coldly. “You are not her mother. Watch your tone when you speak to her.”

“I will not,” Agathe retorted. “You don’t have the gift, Tessan. You don’t understand.”

“Understand what?”

Agathe took a deep breath. “She heard that girl cry for help across miles. Miles, Tessan. That is not normal. It shouldn’t even be possible!”

“Lower your voice.”

Agathe lowered her voice by a fraction. “She felt the girl’s emotion so strongly it made her insensible. Unreasonable. That is something else that shouldn’t be possible.” She paused. “We’ve been operating on the belief that Solara is gifted to a degree that we’ve never seen before, but perhaps we should consider that what she has is… an illness.”

“What?” Tessan said tersely.

Despite her headache, Solara sat up. It felt like her heart slowed.

“A perversion of the gift. An abnormality.” Agathe sounded defensive. “And in that case, you should consider it part of your duty as her family to protect her from herself.”

Their silence was thick.

“I’m very fond of Solara, Tess,” Agathe said. “You know I’m not trying to be malicious. Something is wrong with your wife. I know you can see it.”

Still, Tessan was silent.

“That power corrupts,” Agathe said. “If it were possible for people to manage it to this degree, it wouldn’t be so rare. It’s not possible. What do you think that gift will do to her?”

The only sound was Solara’s heart thumping.

At last, Tessan spoke. “If you ever put any of this ridiculous bullshit in her head, I will make sure you never practice medicine again. You’re done here. Get out.”

“Tess–”

Tessan cut her off. “I will not repeat myself.”

A few more seconds of silence drew out, and then Agathe’s footsteps shuffled away. They paused once, her voice faint. “You’re a love-blind fool, Tess. Think about what I said.”

The outer door closed with a final thud.