The scent of blood still lingered in Seraphina's chamber when they carried Marly's body out beneath the knights' steel. Her hand twitched at her side, as though she wished to reach for the girl, but she stood motionless, the ticking clock at her waist striking the seventh hour of the evening.
A voice, sharp and cold, brushed her ear.
"How could an assassin breach our walls?" Elowen's words cut like winter.
Seraphina glanced at her,at the pressed lips, the rigid shoulders and yet Elowen did not meet her gaze. She passed by, skirts whispering like blades drawn from sheaths.
"Investigate the barrier," she ordered without turning.
Seraphina's fist curled tight. So she doubts me.
"I'll find the culprit," she said, her voice low. Then her presence flickered, and she was gone.
Beyond the palace, the Royal Ring brooded in silence, the midnight wall of the sphere rising like a shadow that smothered moonlight. Seraphina halted before it, Audie at her side. His hand was bound in fresh wrappings, fingers restless against the cloth.
"My lady… tread carefully."
Her steps ceased, and she looked at him over her shoulder. "Afraid, Audie? A silver guard should know better."
His chin dipped, shame pulling his shoulders down. "Forgive me, my lady."
The gate groaned open with a screech, iron crying against iron. She entered, eyes sweeping the undergrowth where lamps floated, pale moons caught beneath the true one. The beauty of it drew her lips apart, though her gaze soon sharpened.
A knight knelt at the entrance, sweat shining on his neck where a cut lay raw across the muscle.
"Have you kept this post all month?" she asked.
"Yes, my lady," he stammered.
"None suspicious entered?"
"No… no one." His voice cracked.
She strode deeper. Every knight she passed bent the knee, silence heavy as stone. When she turned to face them, the hush grew tighter.
"Did anyone breach the sphere?"
A click of teeth. Then...
"No one, my lady. Only the message you sent yesterday, through the guard at the gate."
Her eyes narrowed. "Message? When?"
"I… I cannot say, my lady. The bearer demanded audience with the serving one."
Her jaw hardened. "Troubling." She moved on.
Audie's hand ghosted over his sword. "Shall I kill the gate-guard?"
"Don't speak unless I command it," she hissed, her stare enough to still him.
She touched the sphere. Its rotation faltered, silk of air tearing open to reveal a path. Without hesitation, she stepped through.
Blood painted the floor within. A man lay sprawled in white cloak, stilled forever.
Audie knelt. "Dead."
But Seraphina did not pause. Her eyes lifted to the floating black disk above. Stars shimmered across its surface. Then pain tore through her back.
Cloth split in jagged strips. Flesh parted, steel unfurling in cruel arcs until a wing of metal curled behind her. She bit her lip to silence the scream; a bead of blood fell, pattering on the stone.
Her body rose, brushing the disk. Her eyes found the hollow.
"The small sphere is gone."
Audie draped his coat across her shoulders. Together they turned toward the gate. The entrance guard still knelt, trembling. Seraphina's gaze carved into him.
"Speak the truth, or face steel."
The man's jaw clattered, teeth striking like dice. "Last night, I heard a sound in the trees. I went to see… but sleep took me, sudden and heavy. Before darkness claimed me, I glimpsed a sword,the hilt red and tentacles coiling from the hilt. When I woke, dawn was near." His legs shook.
"And yet your comrades swear you stood watch," Seraphina said.
"Yes, my lady… they saw me. And the knights within claim I bore your message to the serving one. But I was insensate. How can I be in three places at once?"
Seraphina turned, coat tight in her grip. "Audie."
"My lady?"
Her eyes moved toward the noble ring, across the river where the nobles' houses gleamed in pale moonlight. "Do something for me."
"Anything."
She watched him vanish into shadow, then lifted herself to the night sky. "The goldsmith, then."
In the noble ring, Audie stood within Valey's hall. The air was heavy with wine.
"So you've come to kill me," Valey mused, sipping, as though death were a mild curiosity.
"What do you know of the defence breach?"
"Nothing." Valey's shoulders lifted in a languid shrug. "A man with a false hairpin slipped inside, took what he wished, left unseen. That's all."
"And yet it was you who proposed the formation to the queen."
"Am I guilty of treason for advice?" His eyes gleamed.
Audie's throat worked, but no words came.
"If I were you, I'd question the smith who forged that pin." Valey rose, footsteps echoing until the room was empty.
Outside, Audie turned his path toward the magnates' quarter.
Seraphina alighted in the square. Black towers and glass inlay shimmered beneath the moon and floating lamps. Her shadow stretched across the stones as she entered the great building.
The doors creaked, lavender rushing out. The clamor inside died at her arrival.
"Where are my hairpins?" Her voice carried.
Servants scrambled. One returned breathless, box in hand.
"My lady… forgive us. There was… a delay."
Her eyes froze him. "Why?"
Sweat trickled down his jaw. "One pin was stolen, on the fourteenth of the Serpent. The guards gave chase… but the thief vanished, leaving the pin behind. We… we were cleansing it of stench before delivery."
"What happened that day? Tell me all."
The servant swallowed. "Captain Edward had just left when the master returned. But another cloaked man entered beside him
no guard stopped him. He climbed as though he knew the way. Took a pin. Leapt out the window. Knights gave chase, but… they split. Each swore he'd seen the thief take the path he followed. Then suddenly, the pin fell to the road, as if from the air."
Seraphina's eyes glimmered, ice cold. "Two thieves?"
"I saw only one."
"And Edward? Why was he here?"
"Edward is the master's friend. He comes often… sometimes with his vice-captain."
Outside, the streets were quiet, moonlight draped across the stones. Seraphina waited.
Audie approached and dropped to one knee. "I found nothing."
"Good. Then hear me. Seek Captain Edward. With him, uncover the kidnappers in the Commoners' ring."
"Edward." The name spilled bitter from his mouth. His fists trembled.
She lowered herself, eye to eye. "What troubles you?"
His jaw tightened. "Nothing, my lady."
In Vessan's chamber, goblets clinked.
"When do we eat?" Terrow sprawled, boot upon a golden table.
"Patience." Valey's lips brushed his cup.
Beyond them, muffled cries seeped through the walls. A woman, bound and sodden with sweat, writhed in the dark. A broken butterfly pin tied her hair.