Chapter 49

Mara's POV

Ilyra refused to tell us the woman's name. That lasted eight minutes.

Lucien was surprisingly effective at asking the same question in increasingly irritating ways.

"You can keep staring at us," he told her, "but eventually I will begin guessing names, and I have terrible instincts."

Ilyra finally turned on him. "Her name was Adeline Vane." Soren went completely still.

"The first Concord Chancellor."

Soren traced the name in the registry. "And one of Severin's direct ancestors. The House may recognize her memory because his founder line descends from hers."

"The last person to close the First House from inside," Ilyra said. "Official history says she died three hundred and six years ago. Custodian records say