The doors closed behind them with a weight that had nothing to do with sound and the girl could feel the questions radiating off of them, even though none had spoken as yet.
The royal sanctum unfolded in quiet layers rather than spectacle, a wide circular chamber carved downward rather than upward, its ceiling lost in a soft haze of light that never quite revealed its source. The floor was polished stone veined with sigils so old they no longer announced themselves as magic, only as authority. Every step carried resonance here, none of which was an echo; it felt more like acknowledgment, as though the room itself kept count of who entered and why.
The council was already seated along the curved perimeter, figures draped in robes and reinforced attire alike, some physical, some projected through anchored constructs of light. At the far end, elevated only slightly, sat the king and queen, their presence balanced rather than imposing, a practiced illusion of neutrality that did not quite conceal how tightly the space bent around them.
The king's gaze found her at once.
It did not linger on her wounds or her disheveled state, nor on the faint residual glow that still clung to her skin like memory. It went straight to her eyes, as if he expected them to answer something he had already asked long ago.
Selene stopped with her at the center of the chamber and did not release her guiding hand.
That alone caused a subtle shift, since they had never seen her so protective.
Several council members exchanged looks, some irritated, some alarmed, and a few openly calculating. Selene's authority was unquestioned in matters of defense and execution, but here, in a place meant to weigh truth rather than enforce it, her refusal to step aside carried meaning.
"Lady Selene," the king said at last, his voice calm, resonant, and carefully stripped of judgment. "You arrive under unusual circumstances."
Selene inclined her head, just enough to satisfy protocol without conceding ground. "So does she," she replied evenly. "I brought her as requested. Nothing more. Nothing less, I suggest we stick to conduct."
The queen's eyes flicked briefly to Selene's hand, then to the girl's face. "You may release her," she said gently, though the words were not a request.
Selene did not move and first, the pause stretched until finally she loosened her grip, not stepping away nor breaking alignment, simply allowing the girl to stand without contact. The message was clear enough for anyone paying attention.
She is not alone.
The girl remained still, her shoulders squared, chin level, resisting the instinct to look for the figures who were trying to get to her on her own.
"Before we begin," one of the councilors said, voice clipped and precise, "we require confirmation. What occurred in the containment wing was not a malfunction, was it?"
Selene's gaze hardened. "If you already know the answer, do not insult us by pretending otherwise."
Murmurs rippled through the chamber, which was quickly subdued.
The king raised one hand and silence fell again, obedient and immediate. "What happened," he said, "was unprecedented. The city's wards registered a resonance that could resonate with these criminals. That alone would warrant concern. What complicates matters is that it did not behave like an intrusion."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "It behaved like it was meant to be there, like this was bound to happen."
Hearing his words, the girl felt her core stir at the word, a quiet hum rather than a surge, as if something within her had lifted its head.
"I did not summon anything," she said before Selene could stop her, her voice steady despite the sudden weight of attention. "If something noticed me, it did so on its own."
Selene's head turned sharply, but she did not reprimand her, since it was the only way to go about this.
The queen studied the girl for a long moment, then nodded faintly. "That," she said, "may be the most concerning part."
From the edge of the chamber, the princess stepped forward once again.
The movement was unhurried, graceful, and entirely intentional. She did not wait for permission, nor did anyone attempt to stop her. Her presence slid into the center of the sanctum, drawing attention without demanding it.
"Father," she said calmly, her voice clear and unstrained, "with respect, you are asking the wrong questions."
The king turned to her, surprise flickering across his features before settling into something more guarded. "This does not concern you. I told you to not get involved."
"I know, but it does," she replied, eyes never leaving the girl. "It has for a long time."
A ripple passed through the council, sharper than before and Selene's muscles tensed, every instinct screaming that this was a complication they had not accounted for.
The princess stopped a few steps away from the girl, close enough now that the hum beneath the floor seemed to align with both of them at once. "You are not being investigated," she said softly, not to the council, not to Selene, but directly to the girl. "You are being verified."
The girl's breath caught, just slightly.
"Verified as what?" she asked.
The princess smiled, not kindly, not cruelly, but with the calm of someone who had reached the end of a long calculation. "As a point that should not exist," she said, "and yet does."
The words sent a quiet shock through the chamber.
Selene stepped forward instantly. "That is enough."
But the princess did not yield.
"I have seen the records you buried," she continued, finally turning her gaze to the king. "The fragments dismissed as myth, the cycles labeled anomalies because acknowledging them would mean admitting the city was not the first, nor the last. You taught me to read between the lines, remember?"
The king's expression tightened.
The girl felt it then, the same suspended stillness she had glimpsed before, brushing against her senses. "Play along, do not get overwhelmed. I will come to you."
She tensed, then took a deep breath and clenched her fists. She wanted to know more, so she would follow the unknown voice's instruction.
The princess's eyes met the girl's again, violet, sharp, and unwavering.
"You are exactly where the pattern breaks. You are causing a stir that has not happened in a while."
For a heartbeat, the room seemed to tilt.
The sigils beneath their feet pulsed once, slow and deliberate, then settled again as if nothing had happened, but several councilors had gone pale, and the queen's fingers tightened around the arm of her chair.
The king exhaled slowly. "This session is adjourned," he said, voice firm, final. "We will reconvene when we understand what we are dealing with."
The princess stepped forward, blocking their path. "Father, I think she should
be sent to the new high priestess. I want to evaluate her; I think she should be behind a cage."
Selene's hand went to the hilt of her blade and the girl's eyes immediately lit up and her claws came out, her survival instinct screaming.