The observatory was cold that night, even with the hearth lit in the hallway beyond. Liora sat cross-legged on the marble floor, the map unfurled before her, weighed down by two candlesticks and a leather-bound journal she had borrowed, without permission, from Rowan's personal collection.
She had copied the strange crescent symbol onto a scrap of paper and matched it against old estate schematics. Something didn't align. The estate grounds should have ended at the rear wall near the stables, but this map showed a pathway curving deeper, past what should be solid earth.
"There's something here," she whispered, eyes narrowing. "A tunnel."
A knock startled her. Not loud. Deliberate.
She pushed the map under the journal and called, "Enter."
It was Samuel.
He stepped in with a bowed head, glancing toward the hidden map with faint curiosity. "You missed evening supper. Rowan sent me to check."
