By evening, the estate had shifted into quiet tension.
Lucien had departed with Samuel under the cover of dusk. No grand sendoff, no torches lit in the courtyard. Just two horses disappearing beyond the western ridge, with Beatrice watching from the upper gallery, her face shadowed by the lantern in her hand.
Inside, Liora walked the hallways with her shawl draped tightly around her shoulders. Every sound echoed more than it should have, a creaking floorboard, a servant's rushed steps, a door shutting too softly.
She paused at the corner where the east wing met the garden hall. This part of the estate had grown oddly silent since Lucien left. Tessa had gone missing from her duties today, and Rowan hadn't returned yet from the outer town.
Liora crossed through the herbal corridor where Beatrice usually kept her potions and salves. But the room was half-empty.
Something felt off.
