Chapter 47 – The Knives Beneath the Banner
Gildcrest's spires came into view just before dusk. Smoke curled from chimneys, banners flapped in the breeze—and yet, the air felt wrong.
Jean sensed it before she saw it. Whitney's fur bristled, and Cassien reached for his blade instinctively.
Black banners with a silver eye.
The Shadow Guild had arrived.
The city's gates were closed, guards doubled. But the figures that stood outside the walls were not a siege force. They were not an army.
They were ghosts in armor. Cloaked figures. Masked assassins. Silent, waiting. Watching.
"Why would the Guild come openly?" Cassien whispered. "They never do."
Jean narrowed her eyes. "Because they're not here to hide. They're here to send a message."
From the center of the formation, a lone figure stepped forward.
She wore a long black cloak embroidered in crimson thread, her face half-hidden by a porcelain mask shaped like a fox. But Jean knew her instantly.
"Kara."
The woman removed the mask, revealing sharp violet eyes and a cold smirk.
"It's been a long time, White Flame," she said.
Cassien stared, stunned. "You know her?"
Jean's voice was tight. "We trained together at the Academy. She vanished years ago. I thought she was dead."
"I was," Kara said. "To the world. But the Guild found me. Showed me what the Luther Clan never would."
Jean stepped forward. "What do you want?"
Kara held up a black scroll sealed with a red sigil.
"A contract," she said. "From the Grandmaster of Shadows himself. Not on your life. Not yet. But on someone close."
Jean felt the chill before she heard the name.
"Silvia Luther."
Cassien drew his sword. Whitney growled low.
Jean took the scroll, broke the seal, and read the terms. Her jaw clenched.
"They want me to surrender Silvia… or watch Gildcrest fall from the inside."
Kara tilted her head. "You've made enemies in every corner of the world, Jean. The dragons, the Magistery, the Empire. Now the shadows come, too."
Jean looked her former classmate in the eye.
"Tell your master this," she said coldly. "If he touches Silvia—I'll drag his heart out of the dark myself."
Kara smiled. "We'll be watching."
And with a flick of her cloak, she vanished into smoke.
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