Josh attempted a smile, hands raised in a gesture of surrender, but the sight of the gun's barrel trained on him filled him with dread.

The cold, dark muzzle pointed at him sent a shiver of fear through him and his bodyguards. Josh's bodyguards were all unarmed and stood no chance against Norah's armed stance.

“Who are you? And why do you have a gun here in Otland?" Josh was bewildered. In his circle, a gun license was a symbol of ultimate authority, yet here was Norah, a seemingly fragile figure, brandishing a weapon with ease. He wondered whether she held more sway in Otland than he had imagined.