CHAPTER 130
The council chamber emptied slowly, murmurs trailing behind the elders like smoke. Grace stood for a long moment after they had gone, her fingers pressed hard against the edge of the table where the parchment still lay. She did not want to touch it again, as though contact would burn her skin.
Mathew had excused himself, promising to double-check the markings and track any records that could tie Robert's hand more securely to the supplies. But Grace barely heard him leave. She could only hear the silence that followed, the kind that never truly was silence at all.
Because in that silence, he came.
Robert's ghost lingered near the doorway, watching with hollow eyes. No words. Never words. Just that stare, as if waiting for her to act faster, to bring final ruin on his name.
Grace's lips trembled. She whispered, "I did what you asked. I stood before them. What more do you want from me?"
The figure did not move.
