The forest had fallen quiet again, the battle's echoes swallowed by the damp earth and dark canopy. The air smelled of iron and smoke, thick with the memory of blood. Rowan crouched by one of the fallen assassins, his fingers deftly prying a crest loose from the man's leather harness. He turned it in his hand, eyes narrowing at the familiar etching of a serpent coiled around a crown.
Liora watched him carefully, her own breath still unsteady. She kept close to Lucien, though he had stepped forward into the shadows, his back rigid and unreadable.
"This isn't random," Rowan finally muttered, tossing the crest to Lucien. "They weren't after you only. They were after her."
Liora flinched, feeling the weight of both men's gazes fall on her.
Lucien caught the token, his jaw tightening as he studied it. "The Serpent Sigil," he said flatly. "House Valcour's hidden hand."
Liora's heart skipped. "Valcour?" she whispered, her lips barely moving. "That's… Ellora's family."
