The quiet before dawn was a careful thing—softer than silence, yet threaded with anticipation. Alexander and I rose long before the first rays of sunlight crept over Valtoria's gilded rooftops. In the private study off our chambers, we laid out maps, letters, and scraps of evidence we had gathered over the past week. Marisella and Captain Archibald stood by, faces tense yet determined. Our allies—Sybil and Gabriel—waited in the shadows beyond the door, young eyes bright with purpose.
"All right," Alexander said, voice low but steady. "Today we catch our traitors." He tapped the ledger page implicating Hadrian. "Hadrian will bring the envoy here at dawn. Torric and Elowen will accompany him. They think they control the palace's secret route. But we'll be waiting."
