Smoke rolled down the west corridor before the first bucket reached the stairs. People ran toward the archive. I ran the other way. Lucian caught my arm with his eyes, not his hand.

"Where are you going?"

"Not into the fire."

That stopped him. I pointed towa

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