The first file was six pages long. The punishment inside it had lasted eleven months. I read the name twice. Nora Bell. Kitchen worker. Rank reduced after "insubordination." No hearing. No outside witness. No appeal date. My stomach went cold.

"Where is she?"

The

I woke before sunrise because for five years, sunrise had meant work. No bell rang. No guard kicked the door. No one told me which floor needed scrubbing. I lay still for another minute just because I could. Then I got up. My borrowed royal clothes were folded o

The royal tribunal chamber was smaller than Blackthorn's banquet hall. That surprised me. I had imagined justice needing more space. It didn't. It needed records. Three judges sat behind a low dark bench. No throne. No Alpha chair. No place for anyone to