The air aboard the Ashen Dagger was thick with tension. Raizen stood at the prow, eyes locked on the horizon, but his thoughts were behind him — back on Neutral Ground, where the duel with Gravemoor had changed the world. He had expected enemies to rise in response. He hadn't expected betrayal to come from within.
Below deck, in the war room lit only by flickering lamplight, the truth unraveled.
Sura, the crew's quartermaster — sharp-eyed, sharp-tongued, and Raizen's companion since the early years — stood surrounded by the others. A sealed cipher stone, encoded with World Government markings, sat on the table between them. It had been found hidden among her personal effects.
She didn't deny it.
"I was never your enemy," she said, her voice steady. "But I was never truly one of you either."
Shock rippled across the room. Lyra reached for her pistol but stopped at Raizen's gesture. Silence reigned as Sura continued.
"I was born in the lower tiers of Enesia," she said. "Where the Government's peace is paid for in silence. They said the law protected us — but it never reached us. So I joined the Watchers. Not to spy. To see."
"The Watchers?" Rook asked, aghast.
Sura nodded. "A splinter unit within Cipher Pol — buried under codes and lies. We believed change could come from within. That if we watched the corrupt long enough, the truth would rise."
"And all this time?" Lyra demanded. "You watched us?"
"I believed in Raizen's vision," Sura said. "Still do. But something changed when we found the Shadow Archive. When we learned the Crown's creation was rooted in the very founding of the World Government… my superiors ordered your deaths. That's when I broke."
Raizen finally spoke. His voice was calm — too calm.
"You could've told me."
"And you could've killed me for it," Sura said. "I didn't want justice twisted into revenge."
The room fell silent again.
Then, Raizen walked to her and placed the cipher stone in her hand.
"Then prove it. Stay. Not because we trust you, but because we need to know you've chosen us now. Not the oath you broke. The one you're willing to keep."
Sura looked at him, something like gratitude in her eyes — or perhaps grief.
"I'm still watching," she whispered. "But this time, I'm watching with you."
END OF CHAPTER14