Three night patrol warships nosed to shore. A prickle of dread struck Kasda; he whipped toward the palace, as if a shard of his soul were torn, hollow and aching.

"Lord Kasda—" A commander leapt from a warship like meeting an old friend, but Kasda was chalk-white, his gaze drifting like mist, mind grinding in place.

After a long breath, he returned to himself and locked eyes with the man. "Lambert, you came right on time. I suspect something serious in the palace. Can you send people in?"

Lambert's face tightened like a drawn bow. "But Emperor Aelius issued a strict edict. Without special leave, no one may enter with troops."

"This is that special leave!" Kasda's words cut like a whip. "The palace is in deep trouble. If we hesitate, we can't undo it."

Lambert reeled, because Kasda never lost his footing in his mind’s map. After weighing like scales, he chose to trust him.

"All hands, with me into the city. Keep quiet, and don’t flash steel."

...

"Out of my way!" Elyu flared like a storm crown, shoving three Erene champions who stood like black towers.

"Your Majesty, it’s for your safety," murmured the man with a black pheasant plume. "Outside is chaos. By order of the Commander, we guard you by any means. Lord Draela handles the outside. Stay here. With us, you are safe."

Elyu stepped back two paces, disbelief washing his face. The worst omen he dreaded was hardening into truth.

Far off, Ostos and Tianensai took it all in like hawks on a ridge. Ostos leaned close and whispered, "Tianensai, get Venus and the Queen out. The net isn’t closed yet. If you run, it’s now."

"Run? Why run? What’s happening?" Tianensai blinked, his mind fogged like a wet field. Ostos shook his head. "No time. Don’t ask. Take the Queen and the Princess north. If luck holds, you’ll meet Kasda."

"Then board a ship and sail out of Eunomia. Go anywhere, just not within Eunomia."

"If... if you can’t protect them, then run yourself. Run as far as you can."

Tianensai opened his mouth, but the King’s hard eyes fell like a blade. He swallowed the words.

He scooped Venus into his arms, took the Queen’s hand, and felt along the shadowed wall like a riverbank at night.

Venus thrashed, not understanding, like a young bird in a snare. Penero had foreseen it, soothed her, and left with tears bright as rain.

...

"Your Majesty, the noble factions and the mixed crowds are suppressed," Velledo reported, sweat beading like dew. "Only Tianensai’s three-thousand warband is a variable. Not a real threat, but if we clash, our reasons get tricky."

"Ignore it. Have Parker hold them." Paris dropped the words like stones, strode into the palace, and headed for the grand manor behind.

"Your Highness?!" Lord Draela, tasked with probing and command, collided with Paris head-on.

They met eye to eye, and in that flash both knew everything, like mirrors answering.

"Your Highness... not sitting quiet in your castle at midnight, but coming to the palace to reminisce with His Majesty?" Cold sweat slid down Draela’s spine. He knew Paris was under house arrest, awaiting judgment. He had slipped the leash, and the meaning was plain.

Draela glanced at the woman behind Paris and the packed ranks of White Dragon warriors. He staggered three steps back. "Your Highness, you—"

"Delaia, I’ve admired you, truly," Paris said, his voice smooth as silk over a blade. "That day in Sia City, not killing you in passing was a pity."

"I calculated everything, and severed every retreat you had," he went on, words falling like beads. "I blocked the patrol routes, drowned them in wine and song during Elyu’s coronation. No man says no to that."

"In my plan, on the day of the tsunami, we only needed to crack the west gate. A few would die at most."

"I would spread the tale and bait the Southern Kingdom to harass, even to lay siege."

"Then we’d have cause to levy men, raise taxes, and buy arms, in a blaze of righteous smoke."

"Too bad... that neat plan, which needed only a small sacrifice, was pierced by a single shot from Medith and Haidra," he said, hands flexing like talons. "So I turned the knife, and used Segireneto as a blade."

"With your death, I’d sever one arm from Ostos and smash Elyu’s fame. Then I’d pull him down step by step."

"Too bad, too bad..." The words fell soft, then sharp. "One Medith shattered my board. She saved Sia City, and she saved you."

"And Elyu walked into Sia City and gave a fierce, soaring speech," Paris said, eyes cold as moonlight. "Every faction embraced him, because he cries, he grieves, he rages."

"His feelings are unmasked. That’s him—my dear and detestable brother."

"After that, his throne was iron and stone," he said. "And I almost got exposed—if not for that damned fat pig still nursing scruples for his country girl."

"Luckily, I found her first," he hissed. "Or a feat fit for a timeless emperor would rot overnight."

"I had no choice... It was you! It was Medith!" His voice thrummed like a bowstring. "It was you all, step by step, driving me to the cliff, forcing my last plan."

"But... none of that matters. Tonight, I’ll reach my goal."

The more Delaia heard, the colder he grew, as if standing in a shadowed cave. Paris was the hand behind it all, playing everyone like pieces.

Most terrifying, every player—Ostos, Elyu, even Medith—had moved on squares he had drawn.

Delaia recalled Medith’s recent letters, her suspicion of Paris right after Sia City. Fear tightened his chest like a fist.

She had seen it early, but dared not confirm or speak, as if swallowing coals.

If they had joined Medith sooner, or acted on Paris sooner... The thought was a broken bridge over a raging river.

It was too late. The wheel of history thundered on, like a chariot over stone. Perhaps fate had inked these lines long ago.

"Here’s the tale they’ll write," Paris intoned, voice steady as a judge’s mallet. "Delaia and Lord Kasda masterminded the siege of Sia City."

"They threatened Marquis Powell with royal power, then killed his wife when their plot surfaced."

"In the palace, they stirred the pot—recruiting, bribing nobles, whispering slander about the Prime Minister and princes beside Emperor Aelius."

"Their aim was usurpation, to grasp the crown."

"When exposed, they died with the rebels, cut down by Captain Hibo."

Paris nailed Delaia to ten crimes with a few sentences, bold as daylight. Delaia stood wordless, unable to shake the chains of that forged tale.