I was on my feet before Lydia had fully crossed the threshold, exhaustion momentarily forgotten beneath the sharp spike of urgency in the other woman's voice. "Tell me."
"I went to the King tonight, exactly as we discussed," Lydia said, closing the door softly behind her before continuing, her voice pitched low despite the empty corridor beyond. "I told him what I'd overheard that Alaric's guard had been reassigned without his knowledge, borrowed by his mother's steward for purposes his own son remained entirely ignorant of."
"And how did he receive it?"
"Better than I expected, at first. His paranoia caught the bait exactly as you predicted he grew agitated, demanded to know who had authorized the reassignment, and threatened to summon Alaric immediately for questioning." Lydia's expre
