Hajin pushed the sealed envelope across the command archive table, asking Lana to test the wax before anyone read its contents.
Lana held an amber magnifying lens over the surface, examining the crimson wax markings under the bright oil lamp.
"The seal was opened and resealed twice using court-approved heated brass blades," the archivist reported quietly.
"Every single word in this correspondence was scrutinized by the Duke's chief intelligence inquisitors."
Hajin pulled up a high-backed chair, sitting beside the table with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
"Let me see the parchment," he said, taking the unfolded letter with careful, disciplined fingers.
The ink was black and stiff, filled with formal aristocratic greetings and mundane inquiries regarding winter wheat prices.
Half the sentences were crossed out with broad strokes of official censor ink, obliterating entire paragraphs.
