"I swear on what little I have left."
Lucien turned away, the words already forming in his mind. "Then we start gathering. Rowan, call the hidden allies. Every noble family who's been slighted. Every bannerman who lost a son during the court purges. I want a list."
Rowan nodded and was gone.
Lucien turned to Liora. "And you?"
She straightened. "I'll speak to the Valcour envoy. Layla trusts me more than anyone in that palace. If Cirisia's gold is moving through the borderlands, someone in the Valcour House will know where."
Lucien gave a single nod. "Good."
But as he watched her walk away, his hand tightened around the scroll Alaric had brought.
In the quiet that followed, Alaric said, "She's more dangerous than you realize."
"I know," Lucien said. "That's why I'm keeping her close."
