"This was left at a safe house in the lower quarter with instructions for a man answering to that name," he said. "It was suggested I look near the mountain road if I wanted to find him."
Erich took the tube.
His fingers knew what to do.
He cracked the wax with his thumb, slid the rolled paper out, and scanned it.
His jaw tightened by degrees.
"What is it?" Lyan asked.
"News," Erich said.
He took a breath, the kind that court taught you to take when something awful arrived at a banquet and you had to read it anyway.
"Gilded Morrow made a move," he said. "They're pushing harder into the lower quarter. Using that apothecary network. Someone in court tried to push a law that would give them a legal shield as 'medical suppliers.' It was delayed. Barely."
"Let me guess," Lyan said. "Someone whispered that the prince is too busy chasing songs to watch his own city."
Erich's mouth pulled.
