Leyla Emberjade

Age: early 20s

∙ Role: runaway noble, third daughter of a merchant house arranging her marriage for trade leverage

∙ Appearance: dark hair, emerald headpiece she refuses to sell despite needing the coin, veil she keeps half-raised — covering her face, never her eyes

∙ Personality: watchful, dry humor, slower to trust but fiercely loyal once she does

∙ Skill: can vanish into a crowd or a hedge without a sound — years of slipping past chaperones

∙ Secret: she’s not just avoiding marriage — she overheard the match was being used to cover a debt that would ruin a rival house, and she can’t decide if she cares

∙ Tell: laughs once, sharply, before she lets herself trust someone