She reached the bottom floor, a sealed iron gate looming ahead, engraved with the symbol of House Mimir: a mountain with a single black flame burning at its peak.
"Only those of the blood may enter."
She touched her palm to the central glyph. A soft vibration answered her—a pulse of soulprint recognition. The gate unlocked with a low, grinding groan and opened inward.
The chamber beyond was vast and circular, filled with scrolls, crystal tablets, and soulbound tomes. Magical wards shimmered faintly in the air. The deeper records were sealed with rites only the monarch or high magister could access.
Melina had never been granted full clearance.
But Valeris was not Melina.
She moved past shelves of court law and ceremonial lineage, toward the darker wings—sections labeled with runes that meant restricted, untouched, and unverified. Here were records of failed bloodlines. Betrayals. Hidden executions. The real heart of Mimir's royal rot.
