The words struck the chamber like a blade sliding between ribs.
The inner archives have been breached.
For one brief second, no one moved.
Snow still battered the shattered windows. Firelight still flickered across the marble floor. The battle continued outside the palace walls, but inside the western audience hall, the air changed completely. The southern faction was no longer a distant threat pressing at the gates.
They were inside.
Kael turned at once, his expression empty of everything except lethal focus.
"Which section?"
The guard was shaking so badly his answer nearly broke apart. "The lower sealed archive, Your Highness. The restricted bloodline records."
Lucien's face drained of color.
Selene noticed immediately.
Interesting.
That section mattered to him more than the others.
The guard swallowed hard. "Several palace scholars were found unconscious. The attackers took old covenant documents and one royal registry box."
