The courier arrived at dawn with a letter bearing my uncle's seal.
I broke the wax and read the cramped, familiar handwriting.
*Ryn—*
*Got your letter. Coming to Cerasis. Finished mapping the eastern routes two weeks early when I heard you were in trouble. Don't argue. I'll be at the palace by noon.*
*—Uncle*
I stared at the words, something tight loosening in my chest. Uncle Garren. Here. The man who'd raised me after my parents died, who'd taught me to read maps before I could read words, who'd never once asked me to be anything but myself.
I folded the letter carefully and tucked it into my coat.
"Good news?" Joss asked.
"My uncle's coming. He'll be here by noon."
"The cartographer? What's he doing in Cerasis?"
"Coming to check on me, apparently." I stood and checked my weapons. "The Emperor wants witnesses today. Let's move."
We spent the morning tracking down the men who'd agreed to testify. The treasury clerk came reluctantly, his wife crying as he left. The merchant was drunk before breakfast but came anyway. Terrik Vane took the most convincing, hiding in a boarding house near the docks, knife in hand when we knocked.
"Absolutely not," he said when I explained.
"The invasion is happening. Tomorrow, maybe the day after. We need your testimony to arrest the ministers."
"Then find someone else."
"There is no one else. You were at the meeting. You heard Maros coordinate everything."
He stared at me, jaw working. Then he cursed and grabbed his coat. "You're going to get me killed."
"Probably."
By midday, we had five witnesses standing in the palace council chamber while the Emperor questioned them one by one. Their testimony was damning. Payment records, threats, coordination networks, ministerial involvement laid out in brutal detail.
When they finished, the Emperor's face was cold and terrible.
"Arrest Ministers Corvas, Hallon, and Greave," he said to his guards. "Bring them here in chains."
The guards left at a run. The Emperor turned to me.
"You were right, Captain. About everything." He didn't sound pleased about it. "Border scouts confirmed Rumanth movement three hours ago. Two battalions positioning along the treaty line. They're not hiding anymore."
"How long do we have?"
"A day. Maybe two. Not enough to fully mobilize, but enough to position defenses." He studied the map. "When this is over, I'm offering you a position. Imperial Warden. Direct authority to investigate threats to the realm. Think about it."
Before I could respond, a guard entered.
"Your Majesty, there's a cartographer here requesting to see Captain Halvar. Says he's expected."
"My uncle," I said. "He just arrived from the eastern provinces."
The Emperor nodded. "Let him in."
Uncle Garren entered, and I felt something I hadn't felt in months. Relief. He looked older than I remembered, grey in his hair, deeper lines around his eyes. But his expression when he saw me was the same. Worry mixed with fierce love.
"Ryn," he said simply.
I crossed the room and he pulled me into a hug. Brief, tight, the kind that said everything without words. When he released me, his hands stayed on my shoulders.
"You look terrible," he said.
"I've been busy."
"I can see that." He glanced at the Emperor, bowed slightly. "Your Majesty. Garren Halvar. I apologize for the intrusion."
"You're the cartographer who mapped the eastern trade routes?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Then your timing is convenient. We may need those maps." The Emperor gestured to the table. "Stay. This concerns the borderlands you've been documenting."
My uncle moved to stand beside me, and his presence steadied something I hadn't realized was shaking. He studied the map, the military positions, the evidence we'd compiled.
"You've been thorough," he said quietly.
"I learned from the best."
"You learned stubbornness too, apparently." He pointed to a section of the map. "This junction here. I documented three major disruptions in the past six months. Shipments delayed, merchants threatened. I suspected coordination but couldn't prove it."
"We can prove it now." I showed him the payment records, the witness testimony. He read in silence, his expression darkening.
"Gods," he breathed. "It's worse than I thought."
The doors burst open. Guards dragged in three men in ministerial robes, hands bound, faces twisted with fury.
"Your Majesty," Minister Corvas sputtered. "This is an outrage—"
"Be silent." The Emperor's voice cut like a blade. "You're arrested for treason. Coordination with foreign powers. Profiting from border raids while people died."
"These are lies!"
"I have five witnesses. I have payment records. I have border scouts confirming Rumanth troops exactly where Captain Halvar predicted." He stepped closer. "You will be tried. If found guilty, you will hang."
Minister Hallon's voice shook. "Your Majesty, we were following orders. Someone with authority promised us protection—"
"Who?"
Silence.
"WHO?" the Emperor repeated.
"We don't know," Minister Greave said finally. "Instructions came through intermediaries. Maros Welle, yes. But he worked for someone in the palace. Someone who could coordinate everything."
The Emperor looked at me. "Someone close. Someone I trusted."
My uncle's hand found my shoulder. A quiet anchor in the chaos.
The Emperor ordered the ministers to the cells. When they were gone, he turned back to the map.
"Someone in my family," he said quietly. "That's what you're thinking, isn't it, Captain?"
"The evidence suggests palace involvement. Someone with access, authority, ability to move pieces without drawing attention."
"My children." He didn't phrase it as a question. "Edrin. Theron. Kaelen. One of them is trying to destroy the realm."
"Or profit from its instability," I said carefully.
"Find out which. Report only to me. No one else can know what you're investigating." He met my gaze. "Can you do that?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Then do it. Before whoever this is realizes we're looking."
I left the council chamber with my uncle beside me. We walked in silence until we reached a quieter corridor.
"You've gotten yourself into something dangerous," he said.
"I know."
"Investigating the imperial family. Ryn, if they discover what you're doing—"
"I'll be careful."
"That's what you always say." He stopped, turning to face me. "I got your letter. The one you sent before you left Droupet. You said you were delivering the folio and coming straight back."
"Plans changed."
"Plans changed." He studied my face. "You've changed. You look like you're carrying the entire realm."
"Someone has to."
"No, they don't. That's what you've never understood. The realm will survive whether you break yourself for it or not. But you won't." His voice softened. "I raised you to be strong. I taught you to fight, to think, to never give up. But I never taught you how to stop. How to know when enough is enough."
"It's not enough yet."
"When will it be? When you've lost everything? When there's nothing left of the girl I raised?" He gripped my shoulders. "Ryn, I'm proud of you. Prouder than I can say. But I'm also terrified that one day I'll get word that you're dead because you pushed too hard, gave too much, forgot that you're worth saving too."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him I was fine, that I knew what I was doing.
But he knew me too well for lies.
"I don't know how to do it differently," I said quietly.
"I know. That's what scares me." He pulled me into another hug, this one longer. "Just... remember you're my family. You're not just a Warden or an investigator or a weapon the Emperor can use. You're Ryn. My niece. The girl who used to fall asleep in my study reading maps. And that girl deserves to survive this."
I nodded against his shoulder, not trusting my voice.
He released me and stepped back. "Now. What do you need?"
"Information. About eastern province routes, supply lines, anything that might show where Rumanth is planning to cross."
"I have maps. Detailed ones. And observations about troop movements I documented three weeks ago." He paused. "I also have theories about which nobles in the eastern territories might be cooperating with foreign interests."
"Names?"
"Three families. All with trade connections to Rumanth. All financially strained. All positioned along key routes." He pulled out a small journal. "I was planning to include this in my official report, but given what you're investigating, you should see it first."
I took the journal. Inside were detailed notes, maps, observations written in his precise hand. Evidence of coordination stretching back months.
"Uncle, this is—"
"Useful, I hope. I'm a cartographer, not an investigator. But I know how to see patterns. And the patterns I saw worried me enough to come here."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. Just promise me you'll be careful. And that when this is over, you'll come home to Droupet. Even if just for a visit. Let me make sure you're still the girl I raised, not just the Warden you've become."
"I promise."
He nodded and squeezed my shoulder once more. "I'll get those maps to the Emperor's military advisors. You do what you need to do. But Ryn? Don't forget you have family. You're not alone in this."
He left, and I stood in the corridor holding his journal, feeling steadier than I had in days.
Not alone. Not entirely.
It was small comfort.
But sometimes small was enough.
***
I found Edrin in the palace gardens that evening. He stood alone near a fountain, watching water fall in the fading light. His wife was nowhere visible.
"Captain," he said without turning. "Come to update me on your progress?"
"The ministers are arrested. The Emperor believes the intelligence. Border defenses are positioning."
"Good." He glanced at me. "And the deeper investigation? The one about who's really coordinating this?"
"I can't discuss that."
"Of course not. The Emperor wants it quiet." He smiled slightly. "Which means he suspects his own family. Probably me. Definitely Theron. Maybe even Kaelen, though he's too young to pull off something this sophisticated."
"I can't confirm—"
"You don't have to. I know how my father thinks." He turned to face me fully. "For what it's worth, it's not me. I've been helping you because I actually want to stop this. Not because I'm playing both sides."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. I've had opportunities. Private meetings. Moments when no one was watching. I could've arranged an accident, blamed the conspiracy, and no one would've questioned it." His expression was serious. "But I didn't. Because I meant what I said. I want to help you."
"You also want me."
"Yes. Both things are true." He stepped closer. "I'm married to a woman I barely know for political advantage. I sit on councils and play games I despise. I watch my father grow weaker while my sister schemes and my brother sulks. And in all of it, you're the only real thing I've encountered in years."
"I'm not a thing. And you being married matters."
"I know it matters. But it doesn't change what I feel." He reached out, fingers brushing my jaw. Not possessive this time. Almost gentle. "I'm not asking you to love me, Ryn. I'm asking you to consider that when this is over, you'll need allies. Powerful ones. And I'm offering to be that."
"Because you want something in return."
"Of course I do. I want you to stay. I want you close where I can see you, work with you. Maybe more, if you ever let yourself want it." He withdrew his hand. "But even if you never do, even if you reject every offer I make, I'll still help you. Because stopping this conspiracy benefits me too."
"How very practical."
"I'm a prince. Practicality is survival." He studied me. "Your scout left, didn't he? The healer."
"That's not your concern."
"No. But I noticed you didn't fight to keep him. Didn't chase after him. You let him go because the mission mattered more." His voice held something between respect and satisfaction. "That's why I'm not threatened by him. Or by Sael, or anyone else. Because they'll always ask you to choose them. And you'll always choose duty."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
"It's an observation. You and I are the same, Ryn. We both know what we want and we're willing to sacrifice everything else to get it. The difference is I'm honest about it."
He walked past me toward the palace, pausing at the entrance.
"Think about my offer. When the Emperor makes his, remember mine too. Power and position, yes. But also someone who sees you clearly and wants you anyway."
He left me standing in the gardens as twilight deepened.
I thought about his words. About duty and desire and the difference between them.
About how he was right. I'd let Maer go. I'd let everyone go.
Because in the end, the mission was all I had.
The gardens emptied as night fell. I stood alone, watching stars appear one by one.
Tomorrow the invasion would begin.
Tomorrow I'd start investigating the imperial family in earnest.
Tomorrow Sael would... I didn't know yet. But something was coming. I could feel it.
I turned and walked back inside, carrying my uncle's journal, Edrin's offer, and the weight of everything I'd chosen.
One day left.
Then everything would change.