Chapter 35
XXXV.
brYNN
They were moving through corridors barely wide enough for two people, forced into single file past alcoves where guards could hide. Holes gaped in the ceiling above. Positions for archers.
Every step deeper felt like walking into a throat that could swallow them.
"Efficient," Brynn observed.
"War teaches efficiency." Seraphina shrugged like she'd designed these traps personally. "Pretty corridors don't stop enemies."
Dante said nothing. He'd fallen into step behind her when the corridor narrowed, close enough that the cold radiating off him brushed against her back.
She caught the way his eyes moved over every feature, every potential threat. Assessing. Calculating. His shadows stayed tight against his boots, coiled and ready.
At least one of them was focused on the actual danger here.
They passed through doors into a chamber that felt different from the rest of the fortress. The walls were carved with symbols that pulsed with energy. Ward-magic, old and powerful, hummed against her skin like static.
At the center stood a ward-stone nearly eight feet tall, its crystalline surface shot through with veins of red that matched the desert stone outside.
Even from the doorway, Brynn could see fractures spiderwebbing across the surface in patterns that made her skin prickle.
"There." Seraphina jerked her chin toward the stone. "See what your expertise makes of that."
Dante positioned himself where he could observe both the stone and Seraphina. The same way he'd positioned himself in the throne room.
"When did this damage first appear?" His voice was cool, professional.
"When do you think?" Seraphina's smile turned edged. "Your pet claims to understand this magic. Let her tell us."
Pet. Brynn's jaw tightened, but she let it go. Not worth the ammunition. And rising to the bait would only prove Seraphina right about her.
She approached the stone, aware that every movement was being judged. Scarring radiated from several points across the matrix, forming a web that she recognized immediately.
She'd seen this signature before. In the Forsaken domain, in the emergency repairs they'd made. The saboteur's work.
But admitting that now would be foolish.
"The damage suggests stress over time." She let her hand hover along the crystal surface. Not touching, not revealing how much she actually understood. "But I'd need to examine the residue to determine specifics."
"Would you now?" Seraphina moved closer. "And what makes you think I'll let you put your mortal hands on my ward-stone?"
"Because you brought us here to survey the damage," Dante said, his voice carrying an edge that made the guards by the door shift their weight.
Brynn glanced at him. The tension along his jaw. The stillness in his body. Fighting his instincts. Letting her handle this but coiled to intervene.
She looked away before Seraphina could read anything in her face.
"I brought you here to see if your little thief could recognize what she was looking at." Seraphina's tone was designed to provoke. "So far, she's managing basic observations. Impressive for a mortal, though."
Impressive for a mortal. High praise from someone who collected corpses as décor.
Brynn kept her focus on the ward-stone. Her fingers curled against the crystal.
"The damage is unusual," she said. "I'd need to touch the stone to understand more."
"Unusual how?"
She chose her words with care. "The breaks follow lines in the structure rather than spreading randomly. It suggests targeted stress points."
"Targeted." Seraphina's laugh held no humor. "Such an interesting word choice. Are you suggesting someone deliberately damaged my ward-stone?"
The trap was set. Admitting their suspicions to a potential saboteur would be foolish, but refusing to answer might end their investigation before it started.
She could feel Dante's attention on her back. Waiting. Trusting her to navigate this.
"I'm suggesting the damage warrants examination," she said, threading the needle between truth and caution.
"How diplomatic." Seraphina studied her for a long moment. "Very well. Touch the stone. But know that if you damage it further, the consequences will be painful."
"Threaten her again."
Three words. Dante's voice had gone so soft it was barely audible, but the temperature in the chamber dropped ten degrees. His shadows spread across the floor, no longer coiled but reaching, and the guards by the door took an involuntary step back.
Brynn's heart slammed against her ribs.
He hadn't moved. Hadn't raised his voice. But the Reaper had just made it very clear what would happen if Seraphina touched her.
Seraphina raised an eyebrow but said nothing more.
Brynn placed her hands flat on the crystal surface, forcing her attention back where it belonged. Ward-magic hummed against her palms, familiar now after days of training. But underneath that familiarity, wrongness pulsed through the stone.
The fractures followed too precise a pattern. Targeting exactly the right points to cause disruption while appearing natural.
Sabotage. No question.
She wasn't about to announce that conclusion.
"The signature is complex," she said. "There are layers of different energies here."
"Layers?" Seraphina stepped closer to the stone. "What kind of layers?"
"I'd need more time to analyze them properly. And ideally, I'd want to compare this to your other ward-stones."
"Would you?" A flicker crossed Seraphina's face, gone before Brynn could read it. "And in the process, you'd gain intimate knowledge of my defensive network. How convenient."
The accusation hung in the air.
"If we wanted to attack your domain, we wouldn't announce ourselves and request a tour," Dante said. He'd pulled his shadows back under control, his voice level again.
"Wouldn't you? The best way to learn an enemy's weaknesses is to offer help while gathering intelligence."
Seraphina trailed her hand across the fractured surface. She wasn't examining it—she already knew every crack.
Dante's shadows went rigid against the floor.
"We aren't your enemies," he said. His voice was level. The power crackling around him was not.
"Enemies often hide behind friendly faces." Seraphina circled the stone, trailing her fingers along the crystal. "Tell me, Reaper. How do I know this investigation isn't a cover for sabotage?"
"Because your ward-stones have been failing faster than what you reported at the council," Brynn pointed out, trying to pull the tension back from the edge before it snapped.
The words were out before she could catch them.
Idiot. She'd just handed Seraphina ammunition to deflect suspicion.
Seraphina went still. "Faster." She repeated the word like she was turning it over, examining its edges. "I reported failures at the council meeting, yes. But I never mentioned their rate. Or that they'd been accelerating." Her smile widened. "How do you know that?"
The blood drained from Brynn's face.
The council had disclosed that all courts were experiencing ward failures. But the speed, the escalation, the pattern of increasing frequency—Seraphina hadn't shared that. They only knew because of what they'd found in the Forsaken domain and pieced together from the sabotage patterns.
She'd just revealed they knew more than they should.
"The residue on your stone suggests recent damage layered over older breaks," she managed, keeping her voice steady through sheer force of will. "That implies acceleration."
"Does it?" Seraphina pressed closer. "Or did someone tell you what to look for before you arrived?"
Brynn's pulse quickened. She kept her expression steady.
"The way the energy still resonates. Older damage would have settled differently. This feels fresh. Within the past few weeks."
An educated guess. She committed to it anyway.
"Interesting." Seraphina's tone gave nothing. "And you base this on what training, exactly?"
"I'm a fast learner."
"Indeed you are. Fast enough to identify sabotage. Fast enough to recognize targeted damage." She was closer now, close enough that Brynn could feel the heat radiating off her skin. "One might wonder where you learned such things."
They were losing ground. Seraphina wasn't just being evasive. She was turning the investigation back on them.
Making them the suspects.
"Perhaps we should examine your other ward-stones," Dante said, reclaiming the room. "A broader sample would provide better data."
"I don't think so."
"If you're not willing to cooperate—" His voice dropped.
"Oh, I'm perfectly willing to cooperate," Seraphina interrupted, pleasant as poison. "But cooperation requires trust. And trust, Reaper, must be earned."
She moved toward the chamber exit. "When you're ready to share what you really know about these failures, and who you really suspect, perhaps we can have a more productive conversation."
Seraphina had revealed almost nothing while extracting information they hadn't meant to give. Whether innocent or guilty, she was playing a game several moves ahead of them.
And they'd just shown her their hand.