They put the floorboard in the center of the council table. Not the evidence folder. Not the royal seal. The board. Lucian had asked me that morning if I wanted it introduced privately. I said no. For five years, Blackthorn had made my punishment public.

The record coul

The first file was six pages long. The punishment inside it had lasted eleven months. I read the name twice. Nora Bell. Kitchen worker. Rank reduced after "insubordination." No hearing. No outside witness. No appeal date. My stomach went cold.

"Where is she?"

The

I woke before sunrise because for five years, sunrise had meant work. No bell rang. No guard kicked the door. No one told me which floor needed scrubbing. I lay still for another minute just because I could. Then I got up. My borrowed royal clothes were folded o