It is a simple truth: you cannot keep a secret in a small town.
Myrkentown is nothing if not a small town, held together by tendrils of gossip and whispers traded in the shops and markets and bars. And if you are Agnieszka Kaczmarek, and your job is to pay attention to those rumors, you may easily hear whispers of a semblance of life returning to a certain stronghold some distance from the smelly, dirty streets you're walking. After all, Darkenhold is a Presence in her world, its inhabitants legend-whispers in the dark, smoky rooms where Agnieszka spends her time these days, healing up her cracked ribs and bruised body from that last disastrous fight, feeling completely useless --
-- and despite her wish to disengage from the entanglement that is Ariane Carnath-Emory, this is Myrken Wood, and she is tasked with its defense, and she has learned, and more than that, the curiosity clutches her by the throat; she simply must know.
So she's eaten a good breakfast at the bar, enlisted Rhaena's pretty carriage, and dragged Aleksei along for the ride to Darkenhold. After all, if he is to stand up against the darkness in Myrken Wood, he should meet the woman who bears the scars of that fight on her skin, in her bones, and in her blood.