Chapter 11 – Dain
DAIN
Iarranged the meeting for the evening. Private council chamber. Small, windowless. The kind of room where careers ended and alliances shattered.
Perfect.
I arrived early. Set the transcript on the table in the center: crisp parchment, official seal, damning words. Beside it, copies from Korr’s folder. Ledgers, testimonies, messages. Everything I needed to bury them. Then I waited.
The Truthteller’s report had done more than confirm what I already knew.
It had removed the council’s last excuse.
Tywin had been demanding a formal vote on Azaria’s release since the day of her arrest, and they’d stalled him by claiming the interrogation was ongoing, the investigation incomplete.
Now the Truthteller themself had shut it down.
No more questions. No more justification for holding her.
The vote Tywin had been pushing for could no longer be delayed.
All I had to do was make sure it went the right way.
Hallen arrived first. Tall, broad-shouldered, face like weathered stone. He saw me and stopped in the doorway, eyes narrowing.
“What is this?”
“Sit down,” I said quietly.
He didn’t move. “I don’t take orders from?—”
“Sit. Down.”
Something in my voice made him pause. Maybe the cold, maybe the stillness, maybe the fact that I hadn't blinked once since he'd walked in. He sat.
Vareck entered a moment later. Younger, sharper, always calculating. His eyes went to the documents on the table, then to me. He sat without being told. Smart man.
I let the silence build. Let them feel the weight of it. Then I leaned forward, letting the movement carry its own weight. Placed my hands flat on the table. “Read it,” I said, nodding at the transcript.
Hallen’s jaw tightened. “We don’t take orders from you?—”
I slid the parchment across the table. It stopped directly in front of him. “The Truthteller stopped the interrogation because her mind was fractured.” My voice was flat and controlled. “Your illegal detention broke her. That’s on the record now.”
Vareck’s fingers twitched toward the transcript. He pulled it closer and scanned the first few lines. His expression didn’t change, but his jaw tightened.
“The council acted within its authority,” he said carefully.
“The council violated Section 13.5.” I didn’t raise my voice. “No High Lord oversight. No medical supervision. You tortured a Captain. Illegally.”
Hallen snorted. “She’s a traitor?—”
“She passed the Truthteller.” I leaned in, voice dropping lower. Colder. “She told the truth. Every question, every session. And you tortured her anyway.” I watched them sit with that. “Why?”
Silence.
I tilted my head slightly, studying them. “Here’s what I think. Torven Kaelor sent messages from Vasirien. You used those messages to justify this arrest. Which means you took orders from a man in Dravareth-influenced territory.” I let that sit for a heartbeat. “So who’s the traitor?”
Hallen’s face flushed red. “You have no proof?—”
I opened the folder. Pulled out the first document.
Slid it across the table. “Messages. Intercepted from Vasirien. Coded, but poorly. Dates match Torven’s relocation exactly.
” Another document. “Witnesses who coordinated with his contacts, and your son’s gambling debts—fifteen thousand silver owed to the fighting pits.
” Another. “Vareck’s bribery payments to dock inspectors.
Names, amounts, dates.” I stacked them neatly in front of Hallen.
One by one. “And Lady Miren’s testimony,” I said quietly.
“That you acted on Torven’s intelligence without verification.
Without ever seeing the supposed evidence. ”
The silence was thick enough to choke on. I sat back. Let them absorb it.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I said, voice soft and lethal. “You’re going to vote for her release. Tomorrow. Council session. Majority vote.”
Hallen’s hands curled into fists on the table. “You can’t?—”
“If you don’t,” I continued, as if he hadn’t spoken, “I’ll bring all of this to the other captains. To Tywin. To the districts.” I paused. “And then I demand the Truthteller examine you. Let’s see who really has Dravareth ties.”
Hallen shot to his feet, the chair scraping back. “You won’t. You’d destabilize the entire council?—”
I didn’t move. Didn’t blink. I looked up at him with cold, empty eyes. “Try me.”
The words fell like stones. Hallen stared at me. The argument died on his lips. He sat down slowly.
Vareck leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, calculating. “And if we release her?”
“This stays quiet,” I said. “For now. But you’re done coming after her. Done coming after the Thornvales. Done listening to Torven.”
Long silence. Vareck and Hallen exchanged a look.
Finally, Vareck spoke. “We’ll discuss it with the council.”
“You have until tomorrow.” I stood. Left the copies on the table. “Vote for her release, or I’ll start talking.”
I walked to the door. Stopped. Looked back. Hallen was still red-faced, shaking with barely contained rage. Vareck was studying the documents, jaw tight.
“One more thing,” I said quietly.
They both looked up.
“If she dies in there...” I let my voice drop to barely a whisper.
“If her mind doesn’t recover, if the damage is permanent, if she’s not the woman she was before you broke her...
” I held their eyes. Let them see exactly what I was capable of.
“I’ll make sure you both follow her into the dark.
And it won’t be quick.” Then I left. The door shut behind me with a soft click.
My hands were steady. My pulse was calm. But the moment I turned the corner, out of their sight, something in my chest loosened. I’d played every card I had. If they called my bluff tomorrow—if they decided destabilizing the council was an acceptable risk—then I was out of moves.
I pressed my hand against my ribs. The pressure was worse now, a deep, grinding ache that didn’t ease when I breathed.
Nearly five days. She’d been in there nearly five days. I couldn’t afford to doubt or second-guess. Tomorrow, they’d vote.
And if they didn’t release her, I’d keep my promise.