The message from Verdant Grove arrived not on vellum or slate, but on a leaf. A single, enormous leaf, tough as leather and veined with silver, inscribed with a delicate, urgent script. It was delivered by a young woman whose eyes were the green of deep forest shadows, and who moved with a silence that was unnerving.
She found the four of them on the wall, as was becoming their custom at day's end. Without a word, she offered the leaf to Elara.
