The royal detention block was a world away from the academy's infirmary or the sun-dappled pavilion. It was a place of cold stone, hushed echoes, and the faint, metallic scent of fear. Seraphina Vale had been swallowed by its depths, but the machinery of justice, once set in motion, ground forward with relentless precision.
With the physical evidence of the vial secured, the focus returned to the human element: the confessing servant, Gil. His initial, panicked admission in the pavilion had been the first crack in Seraphina's façade. Now, in a stark interrogation room deep within the block, that crack was to be widened into a chasm under the full, formal pressure of the Crown's investigation.
