GABRIELLA'S POV
It starts with a scroll. Not even an obvious one. Just a rolled-up, dust-covered thing in the wrong bin. And that is what sets everything off.
Because that is not where that scroll is supposed to be.
The code isn't even right. The seal is off. Something small, something sloppy, but to me, it's loud.
And even if it is meant to be discarded, we don't do it that way.
I hold it in my hand for a moment longer, watching the flicker of candlelight bounce across the wax seal. The pattern is wrong. Barely, but still wrong. Almost like someone tried to copy the original, like a forged signature.
I don't breathe. Not properly. My heartbeat starts picking up. I have seen this before, years ago, back when the border was crumbling and rogues were slipping through crac
