“Impossible.”
Elara faced him.
“You knew where I had been before you saw the documents.”
“You were alone in a restricted hall.”
“You also recognized the resin mark.”
“I recognized nothing.”
“You told the guards I stole royal documents. You could not have known what I carried unless you already knew what had been hidden.”
Sorrel’s mouth opened.
No answer came.
Lucian handed the documents to Captain Rovan.
“Seal the Archive.”
Sorrel stared at him.
“Your Majesty?”
“No one enters. No one leaves. Detain every keeper with access to military seals.”
“This is an insult to an institution that has served your family for centuries.”
Lucian’s gaze hardened.
“Then a few hours of questioning will not damage its honor.”
Aurel Thorn descended from beside the throne.
“Lucian, the winter envoys are waiting. We cannot shut down the administrative heart of the empire because one frightened clerk found irregular numbers.”
Lucian looked at his chancellor.
For a brief moment, Elara expected him to agree.
Aurel had advised the imperial family for three decades. He had served Lucian’s father, negotiated the end of two wars and governed the empire during the months following the old emperor’s death.
Lucian had inherited the throne at twenty-six.
Aurel had stood beside him every day since.
But the emperor turned back to Elara.
“Can you prove the oath-seals were redirected?”
“Not in this hall.”
“Where?”
“The Founders’ Bell.”
The oldest verification bell in the empire hung beneath the palace. It was used only for coronations, declarations of war and the binding of royal marriages.
Aurel’s pleasant expression disappeared.
“That chamber has been closed for eighty years.”
“Then it will be quiet,” Elara said.
Lucian’s mouth almost moved.
It was not a smile.
Not quite.
“Captain,” he ordered, “open the chamber.”
Chapter Two: Beneath the Palace
The Founders’ Bell was large enough to stand beneath.
It hung in a circular cavern carved before the city existed. Silver roots spread across its surface, forming the ancient symbol of the first wolf sovereign. Dust covered the stone floor. Pale fungi glowed along the walls.
Lucian entered with Elara, Captain Rovan, Chancellor Aurel and six armed guards.
Keeper Sorrel had been taken to the prison tower.
The emperor carried the grain-transfer order himself.
“If the seal is true,” he said, “what should happen?”
“The bell will answer the authority placed inside the wax.”
“And if the authority has been redirected?”
“I do not know.”
Aurel folded his hands behind his back.
“An inspiring foundation for a charge of treason.”
Elara ignored him.
She approached the bell and found the narrow opening at its base. Coronation records stated that documents should be placed inside while the reigning sovereign touched the outer silver root.
Lucian removed one glove and set his palm against the metal.
The chamber changed.
The fungi dimmed.
A low vibration moved through the floor.
Elara placed the grain order inside the bell.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the Founders’ Bell screamed.
The sound struck the chamber like a physical blow.
One guard fell to his knees. Another covered his ears. Dust rained from the ceiling.
The parchment burst into black flame.
Within the fire appeared two symbols.
The first was Lucian’s imperial wolf.
The second was the broken circle.
The symbols twisted around one another until a line of fire stretched from the document toward the palace above.
Elara followed it with her eyes.
It did not point toward the Archive.
It angled east, toward the administrative towers.
Toward the offices of the imperial council.
Lucian removed his hand.
The sound stopped.
The burned parchment fell to the floor.
No one spoke.
Aurel recovered first.
“The corruption could have occurred anywhere along the chain of verification.”
“Correct,” Lucian said.
“Then the clerk has proved only that a seal was altered.”
“She has proved that my authority was used to certify a lie.”
Lucian’s voice remained calm.
That calm was more frightening than anger.
He turned to Captain Rovan.
“Take Chancellor Thorn back to the conclave.”
Aurel’s eyebrows lifted.
“You are dismissing me?”
“I am preventing every member of my government from learning what happened here.”
“You believe I cannot be trusted?”
“I believe someone with access to my council is stealing from the empire.”
Aurel studied him for a long moment.
Then he bowed.
“As you command.”
After he left, Lucian ordered the guards to wait beyond the chamber doors.
Captain Rovan hesitated.
“Your Majesty, remaining alone with an unsearched prisoner—”
“Elara Venn has had three opportunities to attack me.”
Elara blinked.
“I have?”
“In the hall, on the stair and when I touched the bell.”
“I was occupied.”