"Why come to me?"
"Because Rowan Vale sent word. Said if anyone would listen without silencing me, it'd be you."
Rowan, Liora thought. So he was working quietly already.
Myra placed a small cloth-wrapped bundle on the table. Inside: old coins, a broken signet ring, and a sealed letter bearing the crest of Revanth.
"Minister Farren's 'trade deals' weren't trade. He was smuggling mercenaries and funds. Someone's building an army in the shadows."
Liora inhaled slowly. "And you think it's Lord Ismere?"
Myra nodded. "Him....or the one he serves."
That evening, in the private corridors behind the court hall, Rowan and Lucien waited.
Liora joined them without being summoned.
She handed over the bundle Myra had brought, her fingers smudged with ink.
Lucien frowned. "You met someone?"
"She found me," Liora replied. "And I listened."
Rowan flipped the letter open, read the first few lines, and exhaled through his teeth. "This… this is damning."
