Snow drummed against the palace rooftops as midnight candles guttered in the corridor outside the eastern catacombs. Leon Seres led Nora and Elsa down a spiraling stone staircase, footsteps muffled by dust and draft. Each step deeper felt as though they were descending into the past—into the hidden marrow of palace secrets.
Nora's heart thundered in her chest. “This passage should take us beneath the throne room," she whispered, consulting the faint red glow of her father's holo-map. “We'll find the archives—and the truth."
Leon's cloak brushed the walls. “And then we confront Vorn?" His jaw was set. “Expose his crimes to the High Council?"
Elsa fell into step beside them, grief and determination etched on her face. “We dissolve the engagement publicly. The nobles will have to choose: c
