"How long?"
Lisa's shoulders shook. She couldn't meet Elara's eyes, staring instead at her own hands twisted together in her lap. The silence stretched—five seconds, ten, fifteen. Each one heavier than the last.
"Lisa." Elara's voice was flat, emotionless. "How long have you been reporting on me?"
"Since..." Lisa's voice cracked. She swallowed hard and tried again. "Since the capital. Before we left."
Elara went very still.
Not weeks. Not days after arriving in Port Crestfall.
Since the capital. Before they'd even left.
"Explain," Elara said quietly.
Lisa's voice was barely audible, each word forced out like pulling teeth. "They approached me a week before your departure was announced. I was running errands in the market district—just normal household tasks, nothing special. A woman stopped me. Well-dressed, noble bearing. She said she had a message for me."
"What message?"
