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

As Tessan swept out, a messenger came in, scrambling to get out of his way. The rangy girl hesitated, looking back and forth between lord and lady, unsure who to relay her message to. She thought Tessan looked thunderous, and speaking to him was the least attractive thing in the world.

Solara snapped her jaw shut so hard her teeth clacked. “What is it?”

The messenger bowed. “My lady, Captain Khar from the Scarlet investigators sent word. She’s been investigating the bodies in the tunnel.”

Solara wanted to go after Tessan and force him to finish the conversation, no matter what decisions he thought had been made. Her irritation, however, was morphing into anger, and she didn’t want to fight. “And?” she said. She forced a breath through her clenched teeth.

“She’d like to speak to you and Lord Tessan, if you’re available, my lady.”

Solara stuffed her dripping wet feet into her shoes. “Take me to her.” Tessan would have to wait.

Outside, Violo waited for her, a worried expression on his face. “Another adventure?” he said.

She smiled. “One more for the day.”

Violo didn’t protest. Solara took one of her faster horses, her headache further soothed by her second round of pain medication. The ride was still wretched, but at least it was quick. They traveled beyond the third ring this time and into the fourth. Though it had been Solara’s original home, the leaning brick apartment buildings and sagging houses felt foreign to her now. Becoming Second to Faisal had changed everything. Marrying Tessan had changed everything again.

The messenger girl, as fleetfooted as a deer, led the way through the narrow streets with confidence, unfazed by the twists and turns through ancient buildings. These were not in immediate danger of falling, but it still reminded Solara of the chapel collapse.

Thought noise, as dense in these populated places as it was amid the shopping district of the third ring, bombarded Solara. Despite the somewhat hazardous living conditions, there was good spirits and humor. The fourth ring was destitution compared to the life Solara had grown accustomed to in the Center, but it was affluent compared to life in the fifth, sixth, or seventh rings.

A thought.

Solara halted her stallion.

One of her four guards groaned inwardly, hoping this was not about to become a repeat of yesterday with Isolde.

“Solara, please,” Violo said.

Solara dismounted, and the messenger doubled back to them. “Is everything all right, my lady? Captain Khar is just a quarter mile ahead.”

“Just a moment.” The thought of going into the mindscape when she knew how much pain it would cause made her stomach clench in anticipation, but it wasn’t necessary.

Two figures came around the corner. The first was a serving boy in tattered livery. He was mud splattered, shoulders hunched, head hanging. Each step he took was a confused shuffle. Beside him, leading him, was Faisal Casarriba.

The striking redhead was the male version of his sister. Tall, lean, and with a haughty lethargy in every step, everything about him screamed luxury: his crisp white suit, the gold watch on his wrist, the diamond earrings. His hazel eyes found Solara, and he smiled. “Hello, warrior queen.”

It had been three weeks since she last saw him at a dinner party, and psychic bond or not, she always missed him when he was away.

“The rumors of your facial disaster weren’t exaggerated, I see,” he said.

Violo rolled his eyes. He couldn’t stand Faisal.

Faisal clapped his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Were you looking for him?”

It was as if the boy’s thoughts were ensconced in cotton. He stared at the ground with glazed eyes, swaying slightly.

“How are you here?” Solara pushed between her guards to approach Faisal. She would have hugged him if they were alone, but he was as unfond of physical affection as his sister, and besides, the guards would gossip. She could trust the four Scarlet officers to protect her life with their own, but they absolutely could not be trusted with gossip.

“I fancied a wander,” Faisal said facetiously. And then, within their bond, he added, You may have summoned me here unintentionally. I felt a tug.

The rules of the bond between them for the most part stayed the same. They were two fortresses side by side, and they’d learned to hold walls between them to keep their thoughts and feelings to themselves. A door existed that could be opened freely from Solara’s end; she was the superior strength. Faisal could open it upon invitation.

But sometimes, like now, things spilled over. You feel exhausted.

Solara shrugged. “Who is this?”

“My lady, can we continue this in the presence of Captain Khar?” Violo said. With five total guards, plus Faisal, they weren’t exactly easy pickings in the street, but the guards would prefer to have reinforcements nearby if Solara planned on performing some psychic surgery.

“I found him on my way in,” Faisal said. The boy stumbled, and Faisal held him up. He’s incoherent. If I had to guess, someone botched building a Second’s bond, but even that… it feels different.

He felt like Isolde, but worse. Solara laid her hand on the boy’s cheek. His thoughts were a frigid wind, swirling through and around her. Pain prickled at the base of her spine. If she pushed, it was going to hurt.

Violo protested weakly, because he knew she wouldn’t listen. “My lady, with the concussion…”

Solara found Faisal’s eyes. “Can I lean on you?”

Faisal offered his hand, and she took it. He gripped her fingers, and she used it like an anchor as she closed her eyes and went under. Forcing her way into the mindscape through the pain was excruciating. Faisal tightened his grip, and she let the pain hold her. The boy’s mind was a mess. He’d felt intense fear, and it tainted him. He was lost deep within the chaos. She couldn’t see any sort of structure through the haze of cold fog. The normal rules of mindscape organization no longer mattered.

Solara shook off her nervousness and became fog to drift over the empty landscape, searching. Where are you? she thought into the void. I’ve come to bring you back.

There was no answer. Had he been disintegrated? Torn apart? Could he possibly survive an assault of that magnitude?

Pain sparked in her hand. Faisal, warning her not to drift too long.

Solara opened her physical eyes, gently detangling herself from the boy. “I can’t reach him,” she said.

“Is he gone?” Faisal asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“Perhaps Captain Khar will be able to discern his identity,” Violo said.

Solara let her hand fall from the boy’s face.

“You took a heavy hit,” Faisal said, still in the same quiet tone. “You might not be able to push as hard as you normally can.”

Naiji’s words echoed in Solara’s head. The bad lady makes stone minds. This mind wasn’t stone. It was almost too ethereal to hold.

The messenger girl bobbed from one foot to another, wondering how much longer Solara was going to stare. Solara let go of Faisal’s hand and turned back to her horse. “Let’s go.”