When the Ground Betrays Us

The moment the ground gave way beneath Mikhailis, he felt a flood of panic surge through him, followed by a single thought that rang loudly in his mind: This is the kind of trouble I really hate. It wasn't like the playful trouble he usually flirted with—like sneaking out of late-night royal banquets or avoiding Queen Elowen's stern lectures whenever she caught him fiddling with "forbidden" books on entomology. No, this was the kind of trouble that ended with tombstones and regrets, the worst sort of adventure he could stumble into.