Unbound

"Are you certain about this, my Lord?"

Felix glanced at Master Tier walking beside him. The man was in his forties, with a splash of gray salting his brown hair at the temples, but he was tall and broad shouldered beneath his dark brown robes and chain of office.

"Did you have somewhere better to go, Caron?"

"Er, no, sir."

Felix made sure to smile. "I know you're nervous, but this’ll work out. It is just so unlike what we've done before. When Grandmaster Umber still lived, he was dead set upon claiming the Violet's throne."

"And you didn't agree with that?"

Caron shook his head. "No. How did you know?"

Felix shrugged. "Just a feeling. The same one that makes me sure that you and your mages will be a great asset to Wellspring Keep." He gestured to the armored guards behind them. "The Umber Hulks, too.”

Since the Umber Tower contained the Shadowgate, Felix was intent on incorporating it into Wellspring Keep. He could have simply forced the issue. After all, he had lifted the Tower from its resting place and attached it to the Keep already. There was little the Umber mages could do against that, mainly because the Umber Tower had no Grandmaster—Not since the Violet Tower assassinated him. Master mage Caron had been running the day-to-day operations ever since.