Velrosa's smile vanished. She straightened, regal once more.
"Very well," she said, smoothing her coat. "Eli—handle the gold. And prep our people. If we're going to rob this city blind…"
She paused for a beat in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder with fire in her eyes.
"…we do it properly."
———
Velrosa adjusted the silver trim of her coat as she stepped onto the outer terrace of the estate. The sun had dipped low behind the marble towers of Esgard, leaving the sky streaked in amber and crimson.
A mild wind stirred the garden hedges and rustled the silk curtains trailing from the arched windows.
Seated at a blackwood table beneath the vine-covered pergola was Liam Xavier—the Fourth Chair of the Council.
He rose as she approached, clad in an immaculate crimson doublet with gold buttons that gleamed like polished firelight.