The evening stretched longer than Circe would have liked. The dignitaries, who had seemingly grown tired of idle chatter, now droned on about Lamora's current crisis that had been spreading through the kingdom like wildfire. People snatched right off the streets with no trace left behind.
Almost a quarter of their provinces had been affected, and the phenomenon was spreading toward the towns and major cities.
Ragnar listened intently, his expression darkening as one of the men mentioned that some still believed it to be the work of raiders or foreign leaders trying to incite chaos in the kingdom, while others swore they heard the lilting voice of a woman outside on the nights people went missing.
"The people are growing restless," one of the men said gravely. "The king's decision to enforce a curfew will reduce the number of people being taken, but it does nothing to help those who are still missing. He hasn't said anything about the victims."
