Sparrow Lord set down the document as the alarm sounded. He crossed to the window and looked down from Sparrow Tower. A knock came at the door.
"Enter."
Two men stepped in.
Both stopped before the desk while their lord remained at the window. The alarm had already announced that something was wrong; they had come to tell him how close it had happened to his own seat of power.
Peacock Lord and Yue'er were still in the room. Neither interrupted. The two guards had to give their report with the former ruler listening beside the man who now commanded them.
"What happened?" Sparrow Lord asked indifferently. His back was still facing the newcomers as he kept monitoring the situation outside, but the pressure suffusing into his question caused the two to tremble all over.
One guard hurried to answer: "My lord, we've discovered the bodies of the guards responsible for overseeing Mei Hengkong's prison."
