The halls of the Valak estate were usually a vacuum of sound.
It was always so very silent.
Like it had been designed to swallow the secrets of the men who walked them.
But as I rounded the corner near the service entrance to the kitchens, the silence was broken by the sharp, rhythmic clatter of silverware.
There was also the little laughter and conversation of unseen voices of the female house staff.
I slowed my pace, my hand and ears hovering near the cold stone wall.
Usually, the staff fell silent when I approached, their eyes dropping to the floor in a practiced display of the "Bane Protocol."
But they didn't hear me this time.
The thick velvet rug muffled my footsteps, and the door to the pantry was propped open just enough to let their words leak out.
"Did you see the ug
