Page 1714

At least Leo wasn’t looking in this direction. He was just staring at the tank. Perhaps he was thinking about something. Or sleeping, maybe. Hector couldn’t see his face.

Hector considered his options. He had the element of surprise, still. Therefore, the plan to get Roman and escape without being noticed was at least possible. The problem was that hand on Roman’s encapsulated head. As long as that hand was there, Leo would immediately notice if Hector tried to use materialization to move Roman.

So, then... a distraction. How could he distract Leo without revealing himself?

Hector looked around another time. He needed more information.

The Scarf of Amordiin revealed the geometry of the room to him, as well as that of the corridor from which Hector was looking in. The room had a half-circle shape but was mostly featureless beyond that. It seemed to be a gallery of some sort. Paintings hung on all the walls, save the one that was the water tank. A few people dotted the area, apparently admiring said paintings.

Ugh. Not much to go on.

Hector concentrated. Maybe the Scarf could tell him more about Leo himself. He tried to sense the movement of the air around the man, wanting to discern the shape of not just his overall figure but his clothes, too. Was he carrying anything on him? In his coat?

Yes, he was. Something in the inner pocket. A pen. A small key. And some coins. Hmm. What about the other pockets? All empty, as far as Hector could tell. Hard to be sure, though, since the man’s pants seemed to fit him pretty tightly.

Wow. Such useful intel.

Hector wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. What could the man possibly have been carrying that would help Hector rescue Roman?

Agh. Getting distracted. And discouraged. Not the time for that.

He tried to think. To concentrate. To try again. He just needed a distraction. Something that would make Leo move his hand away from Roman.

As much as Hector thought about it, though, he couldn’t think of anything that could guarantee that.

Except maybe attacking Leo. Cutting the hand off. Or decapitating the guy.

Probably a horrible idea. Probably the literal worst idea, in fact.

Part of Hector felt like he might actually be able to pull that off, though. With the element of surprise on his side like this? Maybe. Hector still recalled Lord Abbas’ fight with Ivan. More specifically, he recalled how quickly it had ended and how Abbas had attributed the victory to catching Ivan off guard.

Oftentimes, with the kind of power that Hector had borne witness to, he felt like defeating a significantly older servant was simply impossible, no matter the circumstances. But perhaps that wasn’t truly so. Abbas had overcome an incredible power gap, thanks almost entirely to favorable conditions. To strategy.

It was an encouraging thought.

And a dangerous one.

Hector didn’t want to attack the guy unless he had no other choice. But that was also a problem, wasn’t it? If it truly reached a point where he had no other choice, then it would probably be too late. In a straight fight, Leo would obviously obliterate him.

Agh...