The cellar's silence was absolute, a stark contrast to the collapsed inferno above. It smelled of damp earth and time. Eleanor lay on the floor, each breath a painful, precious victory against the smoke still clawing at her lungs. Her hands were a wreck of burns and blisters, but the sharp, specific pain was a welcome anchor to the living world. She had survived.
The Phoenix Ledger hovered nearby, its steady golden light a silent companion in the oppressive dark. It felt less like an object and more like a presence. A witness. She pushed herself up, her borrowed dress—Eleanor's dress—torn and filthy. She was inhabiting a life that was now officially over.
Her mind, the mind of the Shadow Hand, began to sort through the chaos. This Ledger wasn't just a strange magical artifact; it was a system. It had rules, a currency, and a clear directive. She had built an empire by understanding and exploiting systems. This would be the same.
Ledger. Status report, she commanded mentally.
The glowing script flowed onto a new page.
[User Profile: Eleanor Thorne (née de Ranes).] [Vessel Condition: Critical. Stamina: 12%. Burns and lacerations across extremities. Internal smoke damage.] [Current Balance: 9 RP.] [System Utilities Unlocked: Attunement (Tier 1).]
The assessment was bleak. This body was fragile, in no condition for a prolonged fight or flight. She needed to recover, and fast.
Can I use Restitution Points for healing?
[Negative. RP is a resource for acquiring information and system utilities. Direct physiological enhancement is a Tier 2 function, currently locked.]
So, no easy fix. It made sense. The system rewarded strategy, not brute force. Information was her weapon, and she needed it now.
Map of the manor. Show guard patrols and any concealed exits.
[Query Cost: 2 RP. Confirm?]
Confirm.
[2 RP Spent. Current Balance: 7 RP.]
A three-dimensional schematic of the Reid estate bloomed in her mind, a flawless architectural rendering. She saw the main exits, all heavily patrolled by Reid's men. But she also saw a thin, faint line snaking from the wine cellar to the stables—a forgotten servant's tunnel, sealed for a century. The Ledger highlighted a section of the cellar wall, marking its structural integrity as compromised. It was her way out.
She ripped a strip from the hem of the ruined dress, wrapping it clumsily around her raw hands. Finding the weak point in the wall was simple with the Ledger's overlay. Breaking through it, however, was another matter. She found a loose stone and began chipping away at the old, crumbling mortar. It was exhausting, punishing work. Her shoulders screamed, her hands throbbed, but a grim satisfaction settled in her. This was the first act of her new life: tearing down a wall to escape a tomb.
After what felt like an hour, a section of the wall gave way. She pulled the stones free, revealing a narrow, pitch-black opening. She slipped through, emerging into the hay-scented air of the stables. Through the large stable doors, the sky was just beginning to soften from black to a deep, bruised purple. She was almost free.
Then she heard voices. Two guards, their armor bearing the Reid crest, were approaching on their patrol.
She ducked behind a stack of hay bales, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She was cornered. She was too weak to fight.
Ledger. Threat assessment on the guards. I need leverage.
[Query Cost: 5 RP. This is a Tier 1.5 Insight, requiring a higher energy expenditure.]
It was nearly all she had left. A costly, desperate move. Do it.
[5 RP Spent. Current Balance: 2 RP.] [Guard 1: Theron. A veteran with gambling debts owed to the Pike syndicate. Pragmatic, values self-preservation.] [Guard 2: Joric. A young recruit, fiercely loyal to his family. His younger sister is critically ill, requires a rare alchemical cure he cannot afford.]
The data was a key. It unlocked a strategy that went beyond simple violence. Bribery was out—she had nothing. But desperation… desperation was a language the Shadow Hand spoke fluently.
She took a breath and stepped out from the shadows, making enough noise to startle them. The guards spun around, their hands instantly on their swords.
"Hold," Theron snapped, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"My lady…?" Joric whispered, his face paling. "But… Lord Reid said you were…"
Eleanor didn't let him finish. She held up a hand, her posture not of a frightened victim, but of someone in absolute command. She fixed her gaze on the younger guard.
"Joric," she said, her voice quiet but carrying the weight of an order. "Your sister's lung fever is getting worse."
The young man froze, his jaw slackening. "How… how could you possibly know that?"
"I know a great many things," Eleanor said, letting the implication hang in the heavy air. "I know the alchemist in the lower city has the cure, and his price is fifty gold crowns. I also know you will never be able to afford it."
She took a slow step forward, her eyes never leaving the young guard's face. Theron watched, his hand still resting on his sword, his expression a careful mask of neutrality. He was a man waiting to see which way the wind would blow.
"My husband tried to murder me tonight," she stated, her voice flat and cold. "He believes me to be dead. It is an error I plan to let him continue making. But I will survive, and I will reclaim what is mine. And when I do, I will remember those who showed me loyalty." She held Joric's gaze. "Fifty gold crowns is nothing to me. Your sister's life, however, is not."
It was a perfect gambit, built on a sliver of impossible knowledge. The silence in the stable was thick with the smell of hay and fear.
Then, Joric slowly took his hand off the hilt of his sword.
Theron let out a quiet breath and did the same. He was a pragmatist. A dead noblewoman was a problem. A live one with secrets and the promise of future payment was a much more interesting opportunity.
"The south gate patrol is at the far end of the grounds," Joric said, his voice barely a whisper. "You have ten minutes. Go."
Eleanor gave him a single, sharp nod. "You have made a wise investment," she said. Then she turned and walked, not ran, out of the stables and into the waking city, leaving two very confused and frightened men in her wake. The first brick in her husband's wall had just been loosened.