"Catch me, Thomas, you cannot catch me!" Lily's bright laughter drifted through the open bedroom window, waking Leo from a deep sleep.Leo walked down the wooden stairs, his steps light as he entered the quiet kitchen. Lily immediately spotted him from the open back door, abandoning her flowers and running inside to grab both of his hands."Leo, you are finally awake!" Lily cried, tugging his arm with all her strength toward the front door. "No maps today, no swords, and no big meetings with guards! You promised you would spend today with me!"Leo looked down at her hopeful face, feeling a sudden ache deep in his chest. He thought of all the years he had spent hiding in salt mines and sleeping in muddy ditches while she grew up alone."I did promise, Lily," Leo said softly, kneeling down so they were eye to eye. "I have missed too many days of your life, and I am not missing this one.""Really?" Lily asked, her eyes shining with pure joy. "No running away when a messenger knocks?""Not

"Drop the shuttle, Master Tobin," Leo said, his voice quiet as he stepped through the open door of the small weaving shop. "We need to talk about the lie you told Ethan this morning."The wooden shuttle fell from Tobin's shaking hands, clattering against the dusty floorboards as the weaver slumped forward against his loom. He buried his face in his rough wool sleeves, his entire body trembling like a dry leaf caught in a winter storm."Do not kill me, my Lord!" Tobin sobbed, sliding down onto his knees among the scraps of colored thread. "They came to my house in the middle of the night and held an iron blade against my sleeping daughter's throat!"Leo knelt down in front of the weeping craftsman, keeping his hands open and resting loose upon his knees. "Tell me everything they said to you, Tobin. Tell me every single word they whispered in your home.""A man in a dark grey coat said they would slit her throat if I did not send your riders south," Tobin wept, pulling the heavy purse f

"Keep your voice down, Victoria," Leo whispered, pulling his dark coat tight as he glanced back toward the kitchen where Lily was humming a tune. "I do not want Lily to know that Master Alden never made it home.""Thomas is sitting with her at the table, helping her draw birds on her slate," Victoria said softly, stepping onto the front porch beside him. "Where was the tutor seen last?""Near the willow bridge," Leo answered, checking the hunting knife at his belt. "He left his teaching books in his study this afternoon, but his front door was left swinging wide open in the wind."Leo slipped quietly through the garden gate into the dark street, moving fast so the neighborhood would not suspect trouble. He kept his hood low, cutting through the narrow alleys that led toward the modest houses near the northern canal.He reached Master Alden's small wooden cottage, finding the front latch splintered and the front door hanging loose on its iron hinges. The inside of the home was completel

"Our supply wagons were stopped before they even cleared the western gate," Victoria said, slamming her leather notebook onto the wooden kitchen table. "Someone told the enemy the exact hour our drivers were leaving the warehouse."Leo looked up from his cup of tea, his face hardening as he set it aside. "How many people knew about the shipment, Victoria?""Only five senior officials in my central medical council," Victoria answered, her voice trembling with frustration. "I launched a confidential investigation at midnight, keeping every report locked under key, but even the notice about the inquiry was leaked.""If only five directors had the paperwork, the snake is sitting at your main table," Leo said, leaning forward against the wood. "Did your scouts find where the warning message came from?"Victoria hesitated, her dark eyes fixing on Leo with a sharp, guarded look that cut right through him. "The message sent to the raiders carried the wax mark of your personal dispatch runner,

"Step into the light where I can see your hands," Leo said, holding the heavy wooden door open with his sword resting inches from her chest.The woman stepped across the threshold, lowering her hood to reveal dark tangled hair and a thin scar across her jaw. "My name is Mira. I did not come here with weapons, Leo.""Why are you here, Mira?" Leo asked, locking the front door behind her and pointing his blade toward a plain wooden stool. "Sit down and talk before I call the guards."Mira pulled her dusty travel cloak tight around her shoulders, sitting on the stool with her hands open on her knees. "I came because I possess information about the enemy coalition that wants you dead."Leo did not lower his broadsword, his brown eyes cold and steady in the lantern light. "I do not know you, and I do not trust strangers who knock on my door in the middle of the night.""You have no reason to trust me," Mira admitted, looking at the sharp steel without flinching. "I once worked within the in