Days before Azulus arrived at Vaingall.
Azulus sat alone on the weathered ledge overlooking the southern promenade of Solvish Keep, legs swaying back and forth in silence. She wore a black instead of the usual, with the oversized sword strapped across her back gleaming faintly from recent polish.
Her ears, round and mouse-like, twitched slightly at the sound of distant footfalls, though her face remained blank.
A courier in dark multi-layered robe approached, face obscured beneath a deep hood marked with a single white feather.
They said nothing as they extended a folded letter, wrapped in velvet string and sealed with a wax sigil bearing the triple-circle crest of Karasu's Obfuscation Division.
Azulus didn't thank them. She merely took the letter, nodded once, and turned away.
She walked toward the inn of the Keep, where the wind from the eastern road stirred through the branches walls and people of the bastion.
"It's been a while since I give Nenen a visit."
