The courier arrived with coal ground into the seams of her boots. She asked for water before she asked to see the king, and the guard who brought her through the palace gave her a cup from his own flask. She drank while he checked the seals on the iron packet. Dracula's mark remained unbroken beneath a second mark pressed by Sorel.
The Demon King met her in the lower storage chamber. He preferred receiving bad news there now. Every gate report made the soul door easier to hear, and he would rather know what it touched before anyone upstairs opened a route out of habit.
"I brought this from Harrow Span by the Red Orchard road," the courier said. "My king viewed the contents and sent them on. I crossed with his escort, then rode the last stretch. The station itself cannot be reached by gate."
