Lydia locked up her office and stopped in the lab to return the scroll to its case. She couldn't resist taking the ring out of its secret compartment and looking at it again. It was such a beautiful work of art it was a shame that it had been hidden away all these years. She turned it over and over in her gloved fingers. Who had worn it? Had it been a gift of love? A wedding ring? The symbol of some office or title? It was definitely feminine, though the serpent was usually a masculine ...