The invasion began at dawn.
Border scouts sent word by fast courier. Rumanth forces crossed the treaty line in three locations simultaneously, moving with coordinated precision that confirmed everything we'd suspected. The eastern provinces were under attack.
The palace exploded into controlled chaos. Military advisors running between chambers, messengers arriving every few minutes, the Emperor issuing orders from the war room. My uncle's maps proved invaluable, showing defensive positions and supply routes the military hadn't fully documented.
I stood at the edge of it all, watching the machinery of war engage, and felt the weight of what we'd prevented. If we'd waited another day, if I hadn't pushed so hard, the eastern garrisons would have been completely unprepared.
Harven had died for this. Maer had been captured for this.
It had to be worth it.
"Captain." A guard appeared at my elbow. "Someone's asking for you at the east gate. Says it's urgent. A magistrate's envoy named Sael Varr."
My pulse quickened. Sael had been scarce since the ministers' arrest, working his House Theylan connections, gathering intelligence. If he was coming here in person, it was important.
"I'll go."
Joss fell into step beside me as we headed for the gate. "You think he found something?"
"He must have. He's been too quiet."
We found Sael waiting just inside the gate, and I knew immediately something was wrong. He looked exhausted, his clothes rumpled, dark circles under his eyes. But more than that, he looked scared.
"Ryn." He gripped my arm. "We need to talk. Privately. Now."
I led him to an empty guard room off the main corridor. Joss stayed by the door, watching the hallway.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I found proof. About who's coordinating with Rumanth." He pulled out a folded document, hands shaking slightly. "It took me two days, calling in every favor my family owed, bribing three different clerks. But I got it."
He spread the document on the table. It was a letter, sealed with the imperial crest, addressed to a Rumanth trade minister. The contents made my blood run cold.
*Provisional terms for eastern territory occupation. Imperial cooperation guaranteed. Delays in garrison response confirmed. Payment schedules attached.*
And at the bottom, a signature I recognized from official documents I'd seen in the council chamber.
Princess Theron.
"She's been coordinating this for months," Sael said quietly. "Using her position to access her father's correspondence, forging authorizations, moving pieces while pretending to protect the court. She's the one who sent Maros Welle's instructions. She's the one who bought the ministers."
"How did you get this?"
"House Theylan has been negotiating trade agreements with Rumanth. My father's involved, though he doesn't know about the military coordination. I used his connections to access diplomatic correspondence." He looked at me. "Ryn, if Theron finds out I have this, she'll kill me. She has resources, reach, people who'll do anything she asks."
"Then we take it to the Emperor immediately. With this, he can arrest her, stop whatever else she's planning—"
"No." Sael grabbed my wrist. "If we go to the Emperor now, she'll know someone betrayed her. She'll burn evidence, eliminate witnesses, disappear anything that connects her to this. We need to gather more proof first, lock down her network, make sure she can't escape."
"Sael, we don't have time. The invasion is happening now—"
"The invasion is already being handled. What we need is to make sure Theron can't do this again. To anyone." His grip tightened. "Give me one day. Let me track down the rest of her coordination network. Then we go to the Emperor with everything, and she can't slip away."
I looked at the letter, at Theron's signature, at proof of treason in black ink.
"One day," I said. "But you don't do this alone. Take Joss with you—"
"No. If I'm seen with Wardens, it'll raise questions. I need to move through House channels, use my position." He released my wrist. "I'll be careful. I've been playing politics my whole life. One more day of it won't kill me."
Famous last words.
But I nodded. "Where will you be?"
"Following Theron's money. There's a banker in the merchant district who handles her private accounts. If I can get his records, we'll have the financial proof to match the diplomatic evidence." He refolded the letter and tucked it inside his coat. "Meet me tomorrow at the old cartographer's temple. The one you visited on the road. Noon. I'll have everything by then."
"Why there?"
"Because it's neutral ground. No one watches it closely. And because I know you have good memories there." A ghost of his usual smile crossed his face. "Sentimental of me, I know."
He moved toward the door, then paused and looked back.
"Ryn. If something happens—"
"Nothing's going to happen."
"But if it does. Make sure my family knows I chose this. That I didn't betray House Theylan for politics or power. I did it because it was right." His voice softened. "And because I couldn't watch you fight alone anymore."
"Sael—"
"I'll see you tomorrow. Noon. Cartographer's temple." He opened the door. "Be careful, Ryn. Theron is more dangerous than you think."
He left before I could respond.
I stood in the empty room, staring at the space where he'd been, fighting the urge to call him back, to insist he take guards, to not let him walk into danger alone.
But he was right. If he showed up with Wardens, it would raise alarms. And we needed that proof.
One day.
Just one more day.
The next day crawled past like torture.
Reports from the eastern front came in throughout the morning. The invasion was being contained, barely, our forewarned garrisons holding defensive positions while reinforcements mobilized. Casualties were mounting but not catastrophic. My uncle's intelligence had saved hundreds, maybe thousands of lives.
It should have felt like victory.
Instead, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Noon came. I left the palace with Joss, both of us armed, both of us watchful. The cartographer's temple sat quiet in the afternoon sun, its stone walls casting long shadows.
We waited.
Noon became one hour past. Then two.
"He's not coming," Joss said quietly.
"Give him time. Maybe he's delayed—"
"Ryn. He's not coming."
I knew he was right. Knew it in my bones.
Something had happened.
We searched the merchant district first, asking questions, following Sael's likely route. No one had seen him. The banker he'd mentioned claimed no one had visited. Every lead turned cold.
By evening, we expanded the search. Sael's men helped, spreading through the city, checking safe houses and contacts. Nothing.
It wasn't until after dark that one of his men found something.
A spot of blood on cobblestones in an alley near the river. Scuff marks suggesting a struggle. And a piece of torn fabric that matched Sael's coat.
"There," Joss pointed to the water. "If they wanted him to disappear..."
"No body," I said. "We need to find a body."
We searched the riverbanks until midnight. Nothing. Guards dragged sections of the river. Nothing.
Sael Varr had disappeared as completely as if he'd never existed.
I reported it to the Emperor the next morning.
"Sael Varr. House Theylan. He found evidence implicating Princess Theron in the Rumanth coordination. He was supposed to meet me yesterday with additional proof. He never arrived."
The Emperor's face went very still. "Evidence implicating my daughter?"
"A letter. Signed by her. Addressed to Rumanth trade ministers. Discussing terms for eastern territory occupation." I pulled out the copy Sael had left with me before he went for more proof. "He had this. He was gathering more to ensure she couldn't escape justice."
The Emperor read in silence. When he finished, his hand trembled slightly.
"Where is Sael Varr now?"
"Missing. Possibly dead. We found signs of struggle near the river but no body."
"And the additional evidence he was gathering?"
"Gone. If he had it, whoever took him has it now."
The Emperor set down the letter and walked to the window. For a long moment, he said nothing.
"My daughter," he said finally, his voice hollow. "My own daughter. Trading the realm for power."
"Your Majesty—"
"I need proof beyond this letter. If I move against Theron with only this, she'll claim forgery, manipulation, conspiracy against her. I need evidence that can't be denied, can't be explained away." He turned to face me. "Find it, Captain. Whatever it takes. Find me proof that my daughter is a traitor, and I will deal with her accordingly."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"And Captain. Find out what happened to Sael Varr. If he's alive, I want him found. If he's dead..." He paused. "Then I want to know who killed him. And I want them to pay."
That night, I sat in my quarters with Joss and my uncle, spreading out everything we knew about Theron.
"If she took Sael, she knows he found proof," Joss said. "Which means she's either destroying evidence or preparing to run."
"Or she's preparing to strike first," my uncle added. "If she's desperate enough to kill a great house son, she's desperate enough to make a bold move."
"Then we move faster." I looked at the documents we'd compiled. "We need to find her network. Her contacts. Anyone who can testify against her."
"And if they're all dead or disappeared?" Joss asked.
"Then we build the case from what we have. The letter. Sael's testimony if we can find him. The ministers' confessions about taking orders from someone in the palace." I stood. "We have three days before the Emperor's patience runs out. Three days to prove his daughter is a traitor."
"And if we can't?"
"Then she wins. And Sael died for nothing."
The words hung in the air, heavy and final.
My uncle squeezed my shoulder. "You'll find it. You always do."
I wished I shared his confidence.
Because for the first time since I'd arrived in Cerasis, I wasn't sure I could finish what I'd started.
Sael was gone. Probably dead. Another person who'd helped me, who'd trusted me, who'd paid the price for my mission.
I thought about his last words. *Make sure my family knows I chose this.*
And I wondered if choosing right was worth the cost.
If justice was worth the bodies it left behind.
But I pushed the thoughts away and returned to the evidence.
Because wondering didn't change anything.
And I still had work to do.