Moira struck the copper rod once. “Procedure stands. Records, then questions. Prisoner will answer to the council. If he attempts compulsion or tests the bindings, the lattice tightens and this hearing ends.”
Valerius’s pale eyes showed nothing. “Proceed,” he said, too calm.
The eldest vampire envoy rose first, a scroll in his hand. “House Ruther, House Keir, House Northgate—all three report compelled service under your command. Oaths broken by your will. Do you deny compulsion?”
“I do not deny,” Valerius replied. “They were weak. The strong set the course so the weak do not flail and drown.”
The envoy’s jaw clenched. “Record shows blood-price levied, ledgers altered, heirs cut off from their lines.”
“They were reallocated,” Valerius said.
“People are not inventory,” the envoy snappe
