Valeria's Arc

Chapter 1 of 7

Valeria crouched low in the damp grass and pressed the folded manifest against her chest. Two years of hunting had led her here, to a quiet ridge above a trade road in Needlefall. The merchant who sold her family would pass this way. Her hands shook once, then stilled. She breathed slow and watched the road below. A glint in the dirt caught her eye. She pulled back a tuft of grass and found a rolled parchment pinned by a stone. She unrolled it. A city map, marked with a careful X over a distant district, and beside the X, a fresh ink note: "Goods received. Payment cleared." The paper was still warm from someone's pocket. Valeria's hands shook again, harder now. Another hunter had already reached the merchant. She was no longer first.