The Ministry Quarter occupied the western wing of the Iron Citadel — a complex of interconnected buildings, corridors, and courtyards that housed the seven administrative arms of the kingdom. Each ministry had its own building, its own seal, its own staff of clerks and scribes and officials who kept the kingdom's machinery turning with the impersonal efficiency of people who understood that paperwork was civilization.
Ryn had an appointment.
Every Academy student completed a ministry rotation during their first term — two weeks embedded in one of the seven ministries, observing operations, filing documents, and learning that the distance between a king's decree and a farmer's harvest was approximately four thousand forms and six layers of bureaucratic review.
