Cessy had explained three ownership commands before the palace answered the blood itself. A pressure line entered the western window wards, crossed every royal seal without breaking them, then turned toward the evidence case beneath the desk.
Lucan struck the closed route with one black palm, preventing the pulse from using their crossing bodies as an easier bridge while the impact drove him against the frame and Cessy tore her unfinished diagram from the air.
"The command came from below us," he warned, keeping his palm fixed against the darkened seam, "your foundation recognized it as royal maintenance before the demonic trace joined the route."
White-gold light entered the floor around Didi and climbed toward the sealed vial. Every drop of dark blood pulled against Vella's paired seals, carrying the child's scent toward something waiting beneath the palace.
