By the time I left the auction house, the capital already knew.
News traveled quickly in noble circles, but scandal traveled faster. A five-hundred-gold purchase and a Duke casually announcing an "advance on our engagement" was the kind of story people repeated before the ink had time to dry.
By morning, the rumors had grown legs.
Eli opened the study door without knocking.
"My lord," he said carefully, "you have visitors."
"That sounds threatening."
"Royal visitors."
That sounded worse.
I set down the letter I had been pretending to read and leaned back in my chair.
"How many?"
"Two palace messengers and a guard."
"Of course."
The palace never did anything halfway.
I stood and straightened my coat. The house still smelled faintly of dust and old wood, but there was no time to worry about appearances now.
When I stepped into the front hall, the messengers bowed.
