Theron stood in the empty intelligence office; three dossiers spread across his desk. Each one represented a potential traitor; someone who had known about the assassination operation and could have warned Thorne.
The candlelight flickered, casting long shadows on the stone walls. Outside, snow fell silently over the palace. Inside, Theron felt the cold in his bones.
The first name was Commander Voss.
It made Theron's stomach turn. Voss had served the crown for twenty years. He had fought beside Kael at the border, taken a blade for Aeron during the conspiracy, protected Seren with his life in the north. But he had also been in Seren's camp when the warning was sent. He had access to messengers. He could have sent a rider north without anyone noticing.
But does he have personal motives? None that Theron could see. Voss had no family to threaten, no debts, no secret allegiances. His entire existence was the crown. If Voss was the traitor, then the world had gone mad.
