When Vane returned from the training ring at the tenth hour, the villa was wrapped in a thick, peaceful quiet. Only the kitchen remained softly illuminated, the lamp dialed down to a warm, amber evening setting. Valerica sat alone at the heavy wooden table. Before her lay four separate documents, perfectly aligned. Even from a distance, Vane could see that the strokes of ink across all four pages were identical in their terrifying, rigid precision.
She finally lifted her head as the door clicked shut behind him.
"The others?" he asked, his voice low so as not to break the calm.
"Isole retired at the ninth hour," Valerica replied smoothly. "Ashe went up a few minutes later." She paused, her dark eyes dropping back to the lined-up papers. "Nyx has not returned tonight."
