Chapter 6 - The Spider's Web
Chancellor Vane moved with the quiet, practiced stealth of a man accustomed to operating in the dark corners of power. He muttered to himself, pulling a small leather pouch from his robes and sliding it behind a row of heavy tax ledgers on the nearest shelf.
Eloin held her breath, pressing tighter against Kalin’s chest. The physical heat of his body and the steady, rhythmic thrum of his heartbeat drowned out the panic threatening to rise in her throat. She could feel the raw power vibrating beneath the king's skin—a predatory readiness to strike.
Vane lingered for a moment, adjusted his cloak, and slipped back out into the corridor, sliding the heavy archive door shut with a muffled click.
Kalin waited three agonizing minutes before stepping out of the shadows, his expression grim. He walked straight to the shelf where Vane had hidden the pouch, slid the ledgers aside, and pulled it out.
Inside sat a small, intricately carved silver amulet bearing the royal crest of Ashenmore—and a sealed letter written in blood-red ink.
Kalin broke the wax seal, unfolding the parchment. By the dim, flickering light of his restored torch, he read the contents aloud in a voice barely above a whisper.
"The girl is beginning to see too much. The scullery witch’s daughter must be disposed of before she uncovers the truth about the princess’s transport to the southern border."
Eloin stared at the paper, the final puzzle pieces clicking violently into place. "Princess Meera isn't dead. She was smuggled out of the kingdom to the southern border by Vane's men."
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"And he knew we were searching these archives," Kalin added, his eyes flashing with lethal intent. "He planted this here to frame us—or to draw us into a trap."
"Then we walk right into it," Eloin said, her voice hardening with quiet resolve. "If Meera is alive at the southern border, we don't wait for Vane to make his next move. We use his own conspiracy to drag him into the light."
