Rain had been steady for two days, soft and constant like a quiet warning.
Victoria looked washed, pale under the lamps.
From the theatre window I watched the water run along the gutters and collected on the roofs, and I thought about how the city hid things under peace the way people hid memories under smiles.
I heard the stairs before I heard the footfall.
Iris moved like a shadow who knew all the safe places.
She kept her face low, hood pulled, braid tucked.
When she reached the stage doorway she dropped the wet hood and smiled without warmth.
"You found anything?"
I asked without turning.
She set a small leather packet on the table and touched the map with fingers that still smelled faintly of coal and smoke.
"Glass Ravens have been tightening routes near Dock Nine.
Their shipments doubled last week.
We followed three wagons ...no weapons on manifests, but the manifests were falsified. Bribes moved, too. A noble's seal appears on one ledger."
