Chapter 5: The Prince's Decree
The morning at the Hel Estate didn't begin with the song of birds, but with the thunder of hooves and the blare of a royal horn.
I was in the library, surrounded by open law books and half-empty inkwells, when the heavy oak doors burst open. I didn't jump. I didn't even look up from the scroll I was annotating. I had expected this. In litigation, once you file a motion that threatens the opposition, they don't retreat they escalate.
"Seraphina von Astra!"
The voice was arrogant, high-pitched, and dripping with a sense of entitlement that made my skin crawl. I recognized it from the "original" memories. It was Crown Prince Alaric, the man who had supposedly loved the Saintess so much that he threw his own fiancée into a hole to rot.
I slowly placed my quill in its holder. I smoothed out the skirts of my midnight-blue dress my new armor and stood up.
Alaric marched into the room, his golden armor gleaming under the library's chandeliers. Behind him stood six Royal Knights, their hands on their sword hilts. He looked like a man coming to claim a prize.
"Your Highness," I said, my voice as cool as the Northern wind. I didn't curtsy. I didn't bow. I simply stood my ground behind the mahogany desk. "I wasn't aware the Royal Palace had such a shortage of messengers that the Heir to the Throne had to deliver his own mail."
Alaric stopped, his face flushing a bright, angry red. "You dare speak to me with such insolence? You are a prisoner fleeing justice! Guards, seize her!"
The knights took a step forward, but they didn't get far.
From the shadows of the balcony above, a heavy, metallic clink echoed. Cassian stepped into the light, leaning casually against the railing. He wasn't wearing his formal coat, just a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, exposing the powerful muscles of his forearms.
"Alaric," Cassian said, his voice a low warning. "You are in my house. And those knights are currently trespassing."
"Trespassing?" Alaric sneered, holding up a scroll with a heavy gold seal. "I carry the Emperor's Mandate! The guardianship you claimed is voided under the 'Emergency Security Act.' Seraphina is to be returned to the Imperial Dungeon immediately to await her execution."
The knights moved again, but I raised a single hand.
"Stop," I commanded.
The authority in my voice was so sharp that even the Prince's elite guards hesitated. I picked up a small, leather-bound book from the desk the Compendium of Royal Prerogatives and flipped it open to a page I had bookmarked with a silver ribbon.
"Your Highness, let's discuss your 'Emergency Security Act,'" I said, walking around the desk to face him. "According to the Imperial Constitution, an Emergency Act can only be invoked during times of war, plague, or a direct threat to the Emperor's life. Which one are we currently experiencing? Is the Saintess's indigestion now considered a national plague?"
Alaric's eyes widened. "How dare you...."
"Furthermore," I continued, stepping into his personal space, "Section 22, Clause 5 of that very Act states that a Mandate must be countersigned by the High Chancellor and the Head of the Noble Council. I see the Emperor's seal here, but where are the other two signatures?"
I pointed to the bottom of his scroll. It was empty.
Alaric pulled the scroll back as if it had burned him. "It... it is an executive order! My father's word is law!"
"His word is law in the streets, perhaps," I countered, my smile turning predatory. "But in a court of law, a document without proper signatures is nothing more than expensive toilet paper. By bringing armed men into a Great Duke's estate based on an incomplete Mandate, you haven't just committed a procedural error, Alaric. You've committed 'Unlawful Entry' and 'Harassment of a Ward under Protection.'"
I turned my gaze to the knights behind him.
"Gentlemen, you are all high-ranking soldiers. Do you really want it on your permanent record that you participated in an illegal kidnapping? Because I am currently recording this entire encounter through a 'Memory Crystal' hidden in this room. If I am taken, that crystal goes straight to the High Chancellor's office."
The knights looked at each other, their grip on their swords loosening. They weren't just soldiers; they were nobles' sons. They knew that a legal scandal could ruin their families' reputations for generations.
"You... you viper!" Alaric hissed, his hand trembling. "You think these petty rules will save you? You tried to kill Isabella! You are a murderer!"
"Am I?" I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper that echoed in the silent library. "Then why are you so afraid of a trial? If the evidence is so 'indisputable,' why did you feel the need to forge a Mandate to drag me back to a cell where I can't speak? A man who is sure of his victory doesn't resort to sloppy paperwork, Alaric. A man who is terrified of the truth does."
Alaric lunged forward, his face contorted with rage, his hand raised as if to strike me.
Before he could reach me, Cassian was there. He didn't drop from the balcony; he seemed to simply materialize between us. He caught Alaric's wrist with a grip that made the Prince gasp in pain.
"The Lady asked you a question, Alaric," Cassian said, his violet eyes glowing with a dangerous, dark light. "Why are you so afraid of a trial?"
"Let go of me, you Northern brute!" Alaric thrashed, but he was like a child against a mountain.
"Leave," Cassian commanded, his voice vibrating with the power of his bloodline. "Before I decide that your presence here is a 'threat to the Duke's safety' and exercise my right to self-defense."
Alaric looked at Cassian, then at me. The smug prince who had walked in ten minutes ago was gone. In his place was a humiliated boy whose authority had been dismantled by a woman with a book.
"This isn't over," Alaric spat, backing away as Cassian released him. "The 30 days are still counting down, Seraphina. You can play with your books all you want, but the guillotine doesn't care about your loopholes."
"We'll see about that," I replied, returning to my desk as if he were nothing more than a minor annoyance. "And Alaric? Next time you try to arrest me, make sure the Chancellor signs the paper. It's embarrassing for both of us when you're this incompetent."
The Prince turned on his heel and stormed out, his knights following him with their heads bowed in shame.
The silence that returned to the library was different now. It was charged, electric. I sat back down, my heart finally beginning to thud in my chest.
"You're shaking," Cassian said. He walked over and poured a glass of water, placing it on the desk in front of me.
"Adrenaline," I said, taking a sip. My hands were indeed trembling slightly. "It's one thing to argue with a judge who has to follow the rules. It's another to argue with a man who thinks he is the rules."
"You handled him better than any general I've ever met," Cassian said, leaning over the desk. He looked at the law book I had used. "Was that actually the 'Compendium of Royal Prerogatives'?"
I flipped the book over. The cover was blank.
"It's a cookbook for Northern desserts," I admitted, a small, tired laugh escaping my lips. "I haven't found the actual Compendium yet. But Alaric doesn't know the law. He just knows the feeling of power. I just had to make him feel like he was losing."
Cassian stared at me for a moment, then he threw his head back and laughed. It was a loud, genuine sound that seemed to chase the gloom out of the room.
"You lied to the Crown Prince's face using a recipe for honey cakes?"
"A lawyer never reveals her sources," I teased.
But then, my face went serious. "He's right about one thing, Cassian. The clock is ticking. He's going to go back to the Emperor, and next time, the paperwork will be perfect. I need to find the maid, Emily. If she's the one who provided the 'eye-witness' testimony, she's the key to the whole frame-up."
"She's been hidden," Cassian said, his eyes darkening. "The Saintess's faction moved her out of the city the night you were arrested."
"Then we find her," I said, standing up. "I don't care if she's in the dragon's den. I'm going to put her on a witness stand, and I'm going to make her tell the truth."
Cassian looked at me, and for the first time, I didn't see the "Monster of the North" or a "Cold Duke." I saw a partner.
"I'll prepare the horses," he said. "If we're going to hunt a witness, we might as well do it with the full might of the North behind us."