Chapter 114 - The Locket's Truth, A Daughter's Inheritance of Danger

The locket dangled from my trembling fingers, its silver surface catching the lamplight as I slowly turned it over and over. Each time the raven etching came into view, my stomach clenched with dread. This small piece of jewelry connected me to my mother in ways I'd always longed for—but now that connection terrified me.

"She wore this," I whispered, my voice barely audible even to my own ears. "She kept their mark close to her heart."

Alaric leaned forward, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Not necessarily by choice. It could have been forced upon her as some kind of claim or reminder."

I nodded, trying to find comfort in that possibility while searching deeper in the wooden box. My fingers brushed against something at the bottom—a folded piece of paper tucked beneath a false bottom that had loosened with age.

"There's more," I said, carefully extracting the yellowed paper.