She folded the note again and looked at Rowan.
"I was sent here to stay out of the palace games," she said softly. "And yet... they found me."
Rowan didn't argue.
Because he knew she was already in it.
Lucien paced before the hearth, arms crossed tightly, his gaze burning holes into the flames. Rowan and Samuel stood nearby, maps and old correspondences spread across the table between them. The doors had been locked, and not even Beatrice had been allowed near.
"This wasn't an accident," Lucien muttered. "Someone is feeding Petra intel, perhaps even arms."
Samuel looked up. "And you think it's Alden's inner court?"
Lucien's jaw tightened. "Not just court. Someone with military access. Those seals... I trained under them. Only a few would remember how to replicate them."
Rowan's brows furrowed. "So this is more than rebellion. It's calculated sabotage."
