Kieran burst into his safehouse, quickly closing the windows behind him as he doubled over, struggling to catch his breath.
He had rushed out from the royal citadel as fast as he could so as to not have any trailing figures. The safehouse was hidden deep within the city's slums, nestled between two crumbling stone buildings, accessible only through a narrow alleyway that reeked of damp rot and refuse.
From the outside, it was just another abandoned shack, forgotten by time and overlooked by the city's patrols. It was only upon arrival, he began to recover his breath and fatigue.
The small, dimly lit room was barely more than a forgotten storeroom, a hideaway carved into the underbelly of the city.
Unlike the fragile, run-down shacks that littered the slums, the place had been reinforced with purpose. Heavy iron bars had been fitted onto the door's frame, secured with a series of thick locks that could only be unlatched from the inside.
