*Daphne*
I met the man right on the border of our grounds, my eyes moving back and forth with heavy paranoia. It wasn’t unlike me to go out for a walk around the grounds. While these days, my parents preferred I didn’t wander unaccompanied, I could normally slip out undetected as long as I left just a couple of hours before dawn.
A dark figure stepped out of the shadows. We both met at the gate and I wordlessly slipped some money through one of the gaps. He nodded politely to me, reached into the pouch on his belt, and produced a small, folded-up piece of paper. I took it eagerly, thanking the man, who nodded again before disappearing back into the early morning shadows.
I pocketed the note and rushed back across the grounds and into the palace, taking the stairs two at a time back up to my room, my heart racing madly. With shaking hands, I unfolded the note and read the report.
My eyes moved rapidly as they processed the words on the small page.
