The carriage moved through the residential streets for another few minutes before the road widened and the buildings gave way to the kind of architecture that announced old money without needing to try.
These were buildings with high walls, maintained stonework, and gates with guards who stood at attention.
It seemed one of the merchants that had been kidnapped wasn't one of those ordinary merchants.
The carriage slowed, then finally stopped before a gate.
One of the guards approached, his hand raised. He arrived at the carriage window, and Daisy produced her badge without being asked.
The guard collected it, studied it, straightened, and said something to his colleague.
The gates opened.
The carriage rolled through, wheels crunching over a gravel path that curved around a central fountain before opening into a wide courtyard.
The main house rose ahead of them, looking neat yet abandoned.
The carriage stopped, then Daisy and Noah climbed down from the carriage.
