Vol. 1 Chapter 6: Mutual Hostages

“What do you need from us?”

“Time,” Princess Aurelia said.

Hayes leaned back in his chair.

“That sounds affordable.”

Princess Aurelia looked at him.

“It will soon not be.”

Carter ignored him. Her attention stayed on the princess.

“Time for what?”

“To prevent everyone who learns of your arrival from deciding what you are before any of us understand what happened.” Princess Aurelia rested both hands on the table. “To prevent the Church from claiming the marks. The council from claiming jurisdiction. The military from claiming necessity. And to prevent your existence here from destabilizing my position before I understand what happened, what you are capable of, or who intends to use you against me.”

She let that settle before continuing.

“For tonight, I need your cooperation. No public statements. No private contact with anyone outside this estate. No demonstrations of the marks or your unfamiliar devices that could injure someone or create further panic. And temporary confidentiality concerning what actually occurred in the sanctum.”

“The part where nothing occurred,” Morgan said.

“The part where no one summoned you,” Princess Aurelia replied.

“And the Covenant you made up,” Hayes added.

“Yes.”

Bennett glanced among his friends. “And what do we get in exchange?”

“Shelter. Food. Continued possession of anything that does not present an immediate danger. Access to records under my authority. An investigation into the sanctum and any possible means of returning you home.” Her gaze passed across the five of them. “You remain together. No outside authority examines or questions you tonight. No one removes you from this wing without warning. No concealed observation will be used inside your assigned rooms.”

Bennett reached for the charcoal.

Mercer noticed.

“No.”

“The first one worked.”

Bennett pulled the serving tray closer anyway. Morgan regarded it with immediate disgust.

“You are making another stand-up.”

“We are sitting.”

“So now it’s a workshop.”

Hayes nodded. “At least that one’s billable.”

Bennett ignored them. The earlier headings were still there.

CURRENT OBJECTIVES.
CONFIRMED.
ASSESSMENTS.
UNKNOWN.
RISKS.

He found an unused section beneath the existing notes and wrote:

UNTIL MORNING

Mercer glanced at the windows. “We don’t know how long their night is.”

Every face turned to Serina again.

She straightened in her chair. “A little over nine hours until first light.”

Hayes nodded. “So even the hostage negotiation has a deadline.”

Carter closed her eyes. “Do not call it a hostage negotiation.”

Bennett divided the unused space into two columns.

WHAT WE NEED

WHAT PRINCESS AURELIA VALERIA VEYR NEEDS

“Immediate terms only,” he said. “We are not resolving permanent residence, citizenship, divine law, or interworld diplomacy before anyone sleeps.”

The first terms came quickly.

They would remain together. No private questioning before morning. No Church or council access that night. Princess Aurelia agreed to all three.

Carter drew the harder line.

“No testing the marks.”

Lara shifted. “Observation may be necessary.”

“You can observe them from where you’re sitting.”

“In the future, magical examination may be required.”

“No one cuts, burns, drains, binds, suppresses, enchants, injects, or removes anything from any of us.”

Lara blinked. “I had not proposed any of those.”

“I’m covering possibilities.”

Bennett wrote:

NO INVASIVE OR MAGICAL MARK TESTING TONIGHT

“Without informed agreement later,” Carter said.

Princess Aurelia considered her. “Later examinations will be discussed before they occur.”

“That is not an agreement.”

“No,” the princess said. “It is not.”

Carter’s expression hardened.

Bennett intervened before the argument consumed the meeting. “For tonight. Everything beyond that gets reviewed after rest.”

Carter leaned back. “Fine.”

Mercer took the next point.

“No hidden observation inside our rooms.”

“No concealed observation within your assigned quarters,” Princess Aurelia agreed.

“Corridors?”

Varris answered. “Entrances, corridors, courtyards, and exterior grounds may be watched by guards and covered by security wards.”

“Tell us where.”

“No.”

Mercer studied him. “I want to know where your definition of public space begins.”

“And I want you not to know the placement of every security measure protecting the princess.”

Bennett summarized the compromise.

NO CONCEALED OBSERVATION IN PRIVATE QUARTERS
PUBLIC AREAS MAY BE MONITORED

Their belongings took less time. Weapons, blades, fuel, and the hatchet would remain secured. Everything unfamiliar but not obviously dangerous could be isolated for a specific safety review instead of being confiscated simply because the locals did not understand it.

Mercer accepted that after an argument with Varris over whether “unknown” automatically meant “hazardous.”

Bennett wrote the result down and moved on.

“Records,” Mercer said. “The sanctum, the marks, previous bearers, the recognition formation.”

Lara checked Princess Aurelia before answering. “You may review records held in the western archives.”

Mercer immediately started asking about unedited versions, restricted records, and Church copies. The final answer was less satisfying than he wanted. They would receive access to records under Aurelia’s authority, be told when something was restricted or unavailable, and requests could be made for material held elsewhere.

Bennett wrote:

ACCESS TO WESTERN ARCHIVES
DISCLOSURE OF RESTRICTIONS AND REFUSALS

“Returning home,” Carter said.

The charcoal stopped for only a moment.

Then Bennett wrote:

CONTINUED RETURN INVESTIGATION

Serina studied the words. They looked smaller than the question deserved.

Princess Aurelia examined the other column.

“My requirements.”

“Temporary confidentiality,” Bennett said.

“And cooperation.”

Mercer looked at her. “Define temporary.”

“Until we have an explanation that keeps you out of immediate danger, does not leave me trapped by the explanation I gave in the sanctum, and does not hand the Church, the council, my rivals, or any foreign power an advantage before I understand what actually happened.”

Mercer watched her for a moment.

“So until you have the political situation under control.”

“Under control would be optimistic.”

Hayes almost smiled.

Princess Aurelia continued. “Until I can speak publicly without giving another faction grounds to claim authority over you, accuse me of concealing you, or use what happened here against Arvenia.”

Mercer frowned.

“That could take years.”

“It could.”

“So indefinite.”

“No.”

“You just admitted it could take years.”

“Regular review,” Bennett said.

Princess Aurelia considered that. “We reassess the confidentiality terms at fixed intervals.”

“How long?”

Bennett caught Serina’s eye again.

She wished people would stop doing that.

“Ten days is a standard administrative review period.”

Bennett wrote:

CONFIDENTIALITY SUBJECT TO TEN-DAY REVIEW

“No private negotiations with outside factions,” Aurelia said.

Rob’s face fell.

“What if they approach us first?”

“You inform me.”

“What if they offer money?”

“You still inform me.”

“What if the offer is extremely good?”

Nicole turned toward him.

“Rob.”

“I am testing the boundary.”

Alec wrote:

NO PRIVATE EXTERNAL AGREEMENTS

“No public declaration concerning the observatory or Crown Covenant,” Aurelia said.

“Without prior discussion,” Alec added.

Aurelia considered him.

“Yes.”

“No individual expansion of our role,” Kevin said, looking toward Rob.

Rob looked offended.

“I acted under emergency conditions.”

“You volunteered guidance to an empire we met thirty seconds earlier.”

“I created diplomatic value.”

“You created scope.”

Aurelia looked directly at Rob.

“No individual may redefine, expand, reinterpret, or volunteer additional functions of the witnesses without collective agreement.”

Rob stared at her.

“That appears discriminatory.”

“It is based upon previous behavior.”

Bennett wrote it down.

Princess Aurelia read the growing list.

“One more. No uncontrolled demonstrations.”

Morgan’s attention dropped to the blue-white mark on her arm.

“That one might be difficult.”

Varris regarded her. “Why?”

“We don’t know how to control them.”

“Then do not use them.”

Morgan turned her wrist slightly, studying the nested lines. “I don’t know how to not use it either.”

Serina noticed the change before anyone answered.

Mana had begun gathering beneath Morgan’s skin. The blue-white lines filled one by one as the room slowly cooled around them. At first it was little more than a chill across Serina’s hands and face, but the air around Morgan’s palm was growing warmer.

Serina sat straighter.

“Do not concentrate on it.”

Morgan glanced at her. “I wasn’t.”

The mark brightened.

“You are now.”

Serina was already standing. Morgan studied the lines across her arm as if seeing them for the first time.

“I’m looking at it.”

“That is concentration.”

“How do I stop concentrating on something I cannot feel?”

“Stop attempting to feel it.”

Morgan frowned.

The mana gathered faster.

The chill deepened through the chamber while the heat around her hand sharpened into something Serina could feel from across the table.

Bennett noticed Serina standing. “Liza...”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“You have the face.”

“What face?”

Serina came around the table. “The mark is drawing ambient mana.”

Morgan’s attention sharpened immediately.

“How?”

“I do not know.”

“Can you see it?”

“Yes.”

“What does it look like?”

“Stop.”

Morgan lifted her arm. The mark pulsed brighter.

Serina reached for her wrist, then stopped short. She had no idea what direct contact with an active divine mark would do.

Morgan noticed the hesitation.

Instead of waiting, she stood.

Bennett rose with her. “Where are you going?”

“Somewhere not pointed at people.”

She crossed to the window and pushed the lattice open. Cold night air entered a room that was already cooling, but the heat around her palm remained tightly concentrated.

Varris left the door and moved beside Princess Aurelia, placing himself within reach of her while keeping Morgan in view. One hand settled near his sword.

“Morgan.”

“I am being safe.”

“You do not know what you are doing.”

“That is why I’m pointing outside.”

“Stop.”

Morgan extended her hand through the lattice.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the air around her fingers began to shimmer.

Hayes leaned sideways in his chair. “Try believing harder.”

Carter snapped her attention to him. “Do not encourage her.”

A spark appeared above Morgan’s palm.

Hayes pointed. “It’s fire.”

Morgan grinned.

Bennett started around the table. “Liza.”

“I almost have it.”

“You do not know what ‘it’ is.”

“Exactly.”

Serina reached the window and immediately felt the difference. The room behind her was cold. Morgan’s hand was hot enough to feel without touching her.

“Release the mana slowly.”

“How?”

“Stop shaping it.”

“I’m not shaping it.”

“You are imagining fire.”

Morgan glanced over her shoulder. “How did you know?”

“Because it is becoming fire.”

The spark stretched.

Orange light curled around a blue-white center as the heat around Morgan’s palm tightened with it.

Then Serina understood the real problem.

Morgan was no longer trying to stop.

She was fascinated.

Every answer only gave her another thing to concentrate on.

“Stop looking at it.”

Morgan did not answer.

The forming flame swelled.

Serina moved before it could stabilize. She caught Morgan by the sleeve below the elbow, where the mark did not reach, and pulled her arm sharply down.

“No. Look at me.”

Morgan’s eyes left the flame.

The structure collapsed with a sharp pop.

Orange sparks scattered through the open window. A brief wave of heat washed across Serina’s face, then vanished. The glow around Morgan’s palm disappeared with it.

Morgan stared at her empty hand.

“No.”

Serina kept hold of her sleeve.

“I almost had it.”

The chamber door flew open. Two guards rushed inside with weapons half drawn.

Varris was already beside Princess Aurelia. He raised one hand.

“Hold.”

Both stopped.

Varris checked the window, the floor, Morgan’s hand, then called down into the courtyard. A guard answered after a moment.

“No damage,” Varris said. “No injuries.”

The tension remained.

Morgan was still staring at her palm.

“I almost made a fireball.”

Bennett stared at her. “You kept going after the mage told you to stop.”

“I was trying to figure out how it worked.”

“You were trying to figure it out while it was happening.”

“Yes.”

Mercer folded his arms. “Technically, that is exactly how she figures most things out.”

Bennett turned his head.

Mercer stopped there.

Morgan looked at Serina. “But that was fire.”

“Yes.”

Her expression brightened again.

Serina regretted answering immediately.

“I’m a mage.”

“You almost formed one spell.”

“A fire spell.”

“Yes.”

“So I’m a mage.”

Bennett rubbed his forehead.

Mercer regarded Morgan for a moment. “Congratulations. You are now a magical girl.”

Her satisfaction vanished.

“No.”

“You are magical.”

“No.”

“You are a girl.”

“Do not reduce the genre to its component words.”

Hayes started to say something.

Carter cut him off.

“No.”

He closed his mouth.

By then Carter had reached Morgan and caught her wrist.

“Any pain?”

“No.”

“Burning?”

“No.”

“Numbness?”

“No.”

“Dizziness?”

“No.”

Carter checked her pulse while Serina examined the mark. The active glow had faded quickly, but traces of mana still moved through the geometry before settling.

“Well?” Morgan asked.

“The spell was poorly shaped, inefficient, and unstable,” Serina said. “You gathered more mana than you needed, concentrated heat without a proper boundary, and continued feeding the structure after I told you to stop.”

Morgan’s expression fell with every point.

Serina continued.

“And you did it without an incantation, focus, formation, prepared structure, or previous training.”

Morgan brightened again.

“So I’m doing great.”

“No,” Bennett said immediately. “You are doing dangerous things while we are trying to negotiate what happens.”

Hayes raised one hand. “Does any of that violate one of the agreements we already made?”

Bennett stared at him. “Rob.”

“I am asking before somebody decides it did.”

Princess Aurelia considered the question.

“No. We had not yet agreed to a restriction on using the marks.”

Hayes nodded. “Good.”

“That does not make what she did acceptable,” Bennett said.

“I did not say it did.”

Varris dismissed the two guards. They hesitated before leaving, and he closed the door after them.

He did not return to his old place.

He stayed beside Princess Aurelia.

Serina noticed.

The room had changed in small ways. Carter still held Morgan’s wrist. Bennett had the charcoal in hand again. Mercer had stopped commenting and was studying the mark. Varris remained beside the princess.

A few minutes earlier, the marks had been symbols supported by old records and religious doctrine.

Now one of them had drawn mana from the room, concentrated enough heat to cool the surrounding air, and begun forming fire before Serina broke Morgan’s concentration.

Bennett returned to the board and wrote:

NO MARK TESTING WITHOUT AGREED SUPERVISION

Morgan read it. “Serina was supervising.”

Serina nearly choked. “I was trying to stop you.”

“You provided guidance.”

“I told you to stop.”

Bennett underlined the rule.

“No more.”

Morgan sat beside the power station again, still far too pleased with herself.

The meeting did not resume immediately.

Carter checked Morgan’s hand once more before finally releasing her wrist. Serina returned to her chair. Varris remained beside Princess Aurelia rather than going back to the door.

Bennett still held the charcoal, but for once he did not write anything.

The room stayed quiet.

Serina could hear the faint movement of guards outside and the occasional crack from the fire. Morgan rubbed her palm with her thumb, watching for another flicker that did not come. Mercer had gone back to the fireplace. Hayes no longer looked amused.

Eventually Princess Aurelia spoke.

“This arrangement gets us through tonight.”

Bennett looked at the board.

“Until morning.”

“Yes.”

Another silence followed.

Carter was the one who finally asked the obvious question.

“And after morning?”

Princess Aurelia did not answer immediately.

“If you remain under my protection, we continue the investigation under the terms we have discussed.”

Mercer folded his arms.

“And if we don’t?”

“Then you leave my protection.”

Bennett looked between them. “Meaning we leave the estate?”

“Eventually, yes.”

Lara shifted beside the folio. “There is also the possibility that another authority assumes responsibility for you.”

That drew several expressions Serina did not need help interpreting.

Mercer frowned.

Princess Aurelia did not appear enthusiastic either.

Bennett finally looked down at the charcoal.

“So that is what we actually have.”

He moved to another unused section of the board.

“Stay with you. Leave on our own. Or go under someone else.”

Princess Aurelia nodded once.

“In practical terms, yes.”

Only then did Bennett write:

1. REMAIN UNDER AURELIA’S PROTECTION

Princess Aurelia explained the first option simply. They stayed at the estate while the investigation continued. They received shelter, food, access to records, legal protection, and limited access to Arvenia.

“The cost,” Mercer said, “is dependence.”

“Yes.”

“Confidentiality.”

“Yes.”

“Temporary restrictions.”

“Yes.”

Bennett added each beneath the heading.

After a moment, he wrote the second.

2. LEAVE AURELIA’S PROTECTION

Carter looked at the door. “You already said we would be stopped tonight.”

“Tonight, yes. The sanctum remains under investigation, and your status is unresolved. After that, you may choose to leave.”

Mercer considered her wording.

“And then?”

No one answered immediately.

The problem became obvious once they started saying it aloud.

They had no local currency, recognized identity, readable maps, knowledge of the roads, laws, borders, political factions, dangerous animals, monsters, diseases, or religious restrictions. They had no safe destination and no way to know which settlements would tolerate five foreign divine-mark bearers and which would report them immediately.

“We have tents,” Morgan said.

Varris regarded her for several seconds. “That is not the part of the problem I would emphasize.”

Hayes leaned back. “So leaving is technically possible and practically suicidal.”

“Dangerous,” Princess Aurelia corrected.

“Politically phrased suicidal.”

Bennett wrote:

NO RESOURCES
NO LEGAL STATUS
NO SAFE DESTINATION
HIGH EXPOSURE RISK

Mercer glanced at the unlocked door.

“So tomorrow, the door might be open.”

Princess Aurelia waited.

“But the world outside it isn’t.”

No one argued.

Bennett looked at the remaining option and wrote:

3. TRANSFER TO ANOTHER AUTHORITY

“No,” Mercer said.

“No,” Princess Aurelia said at almost the same time.

They both stopped.

Hayes smiled faintly. “Promising start.”

Lara spoke first. “The Church would make a claim.”

“The imperial council would as well,” Princess Aurelia said.

“You recommend either of them?” Bennett asked.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because the council is full of people with their own interests, and some of them may decide your arrival is useful against me.”

Mercer nodded. “So absolutely not.”

“Another royal house?” Hayes asked.

Princess Aurelia and Varris both stared at him.

He lowered his hand.

Bennett added:

NO MUTUALLY TRUSTED AUTHORITY

Hayes studied the board.

“So we have one temporary option nobody likes, one option likely to get us killed, and one option involving people none of us trust.”

No one corrected him immediately.

Varris stepped closer to the table.

“There is another response.”

Carter faced him.

“What?”

“Detention.”

The room changed.

Serina saw every stranger become aware of where Varris stood, where the guards waited beyond the door, and what remained within reach. Carter’s hand moved closer to the medical kit. Morgan’s settled on the power station. Hayes stopped smiling.

Bennett put down the charcoal.

Mercer did not move.

“It would be negligent not to consider it,” Varris said.

Mercer nodded once. “Agreed.”

Carter turned sharply. “You agree?”

“With considering it.”

Varris studied him for a moment.

“Five unknown people appeared inside a restricted imperial facility. You possess divine marks, unfamiliar equipment, silent communication we could not intercept, and capabilities we cannot predict. One of you began forming fire without training. Another found a concealed observation room.”

His attention moved across the group.

“To confine you effectively would require more guards, stronger wards, restricted access to your equipment, controlled movement, and some way to respond if one of you used the marks against us.”

“You do not know what suppression would do,” Carter said.

“No.”

“Then nobody is trying it.”

“That is one of the problems.”

Varris continued.

“If confinement fails, we create five enemies inside the estate. If it succeeds, we still have five unwilling prisoners whose arrival was witnessed by too many people to conceal. The Church would still demand access. The council would still demand jurisdiction. Detention does not solve the reason you are politically dangerous.”

Bennett picked up the charcoal again.

Under DETENTION, he wrote:

HIGH COST
UNKNOWN EFFECTIVENESS
CREATES HOSTILITY
DOES NOT SOLVE ANY PROBLEM

Morgan studied the list. “So all five of us are hazardous material.”

“Yes,” Varris said.

She looked strangely satisfied.

Carter stared at her. “That was not a compliment.”

Bennett examined everything they had written.

For a while, nobody spoke. The board had reduced the problem to four choices: remain under Aurelia’s protection, leave with almost nothing, place themselves under another authority, or force the Crown to detain them.

None of them had found a fifth.

Bennett finally set the charcoal down.

“So we stay.”

Princess Aurelia did not answer immediately.

Mercer did.

“For now.”

Hayes looked around the table. “This is progressing beautifully.”

“Nothing about this is beautiful,” Carter said.

“We eliminated the options that were worse.”

“We are left with one.”

“Efficiency.”

Mercer faced Princess Aurelia.

“You still have another problem.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t know what we intend to do with what you told us.”

Lara’s fingers tightened around the folio.

Mercer continued.

“We know nobody summoned us. We know the Covenant was invented after we arrived. We know the recognition formation was activated afterward. We know we were observed without our knowledge. We know the history around my mark is disputed.”

Princess Aurelia said nothing.

“If we publicly contradict your account, you face an inquiry into false divine authority, possible illegal summoning, interference with Church jurisdiction, and the appearance that you assembled five marked foreigners under your personal protection.”

Bennett looked at the princess.

“Is that accurate?”

“Yes.”

The answer was quiet.

Mercer continued. “So even if you let us walk away, you have to care what we say afterward.”

“Yes.”

Princess Aurelia let the answer sit for a moment before responding.

“And you are not the only side with something to lose.”

Bennett leaned forward.

Princess Aurelia counted the problems more plainly than Mercer had.

They needed food, currency, maps, local clothing, legal identity, knowledge of the laws and politics, people who could teach them the written language, and access to anyone capable of explaining the marks and magic. They also needed her archives if they hoped to understand the sanctum or find a way home.

Then she looked directly at Mercer.

“And you need protection from anyone who recognizes that mark.”

The room became still.

“The Church would demand examination if it suspected Corruption.”

Carter’s head turned. “What does examination mean?”

Lara answered carefully. “Visual inspection. Magical identification. Resonance testing. Possibly blood or tissue, depending upon the examiner.”

“No.”

Carter answered before she finished.

“No one is taking his blood.”

“I am explaining what may be demanded.”

“And I am explaining the answer.”

Princess Aurelia did not challenge her.

Mercer met the princess’s eyes.

“So while I remain under your protection, they must challenge you before taking me.”

“Yes.”

“Must. Not cannot.”

“No,” Princess Aurelia said. “Not cannot.”

Hayes exhaled slowly.

Bennett looked between the two sides of the board.

“So you need our cooperation and silence.”

“Yes.”

“And we need your authority and protection.”

“Yes.”

“You cannot safely imprison us.”

“Not without significant cost and uncertain success,” Varris said.

“We cannot safely leave.”

“Not without significant risk,” Princess Aurelia answered.

Hayes’s expression changed.

A slow smile appeared.

Bennett saw it.

“No.”

“I have not said anything.”

“You are about to.”

Hayes spread his hands.

“One side cannot safely get rid of the other. The other cannot safely walk away. Neither side can expose or abandon the other without creating a serious problem for itself.”

Carter closed her eyes.

“Rob.”

Hayes smiled.

“Mutual hostages.”

Princess Aurelia’s expression hardened.

“You are not hostages.”

“Mutual dependency,” Bennett corrected.

“Deterrence,” Varris said.

Mercer considered the board. “I hate every phrase being used.”

Morgan leaned back. “I like mutual hostages.”

“Of course you do,” Bennett sighed.

Serina studied the two columns.

The phrase was crude, and Princess Aurelia clearly disliked it, but Serina could not easily disprove it. The princess needed the five inside her protection because their knowledge could destroy the explanation currently preventing a larger conflict. The five needed her because her authority stood between them and every institution that might claim the marks for itself.

Either side could badly injure the other by simply refusing to cooperate.

Mutual hostages.

Serina disliked the words.

She disliked their accuracy more.

Bennett pulled the board closer.

“Then we document the overnight arrangement.”

“This is not a formal treaty,” Princess Aurelia stated.

“No. It’s a working agreement until everyone sleeps.”

He summarized what they had already agreed to rather than negotiating it again.

The five would remain together. There would be no private questioning, no outside access that night, no invasive examination, no concealed observation inside their quarters, and no arbitrary confiscation of harmless property. They would receive access to Aurelia’s records and continued investigation into a way home.

In exchange, they would keep the truth of the sanctum private, make no outside agreements, avoid public statements, and give warning before experimenting with the marks or unfamiliar technology in ways that could affect anyone outside the group.

Alec wrote beneath WHAT WE NEED:

REMAIN TOGETHER
NO PRIVATE QUESTIONING
NO CHURCH OR COUNCIL ACCESS
NO INVASIVE OR MAGICAL TESTING
NO HIDDEN OBSERVATION IN QUARTERS
CONTROL OF HARMLESS PROPERTY
ACCESS TO RECORDS
RETURN INVESTIGATION
WARNING BEFORE STATUS CHANGES

Then beneath WHAT AURELIA NEEDS:

TEMPORARY CONFIDENTIALITY
NO PUBLIC STATEMENTS
NO PRIVATE OUTSIDE NEGOTIATIONS
NO UNCONTROLLED MARK OR TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS
NO INDIVIDUAL EXPANSION OF WITNESS ROLE
NO ATTEMPT TO LEAVE ESTATE TONIGHT

Mercer pointed toward “technology demonstrations.”

“Define uncontrolled.”

“Anything that may affect someone outside this group,” Princess Aurelia said.

“Our phones already affected your observation.”

“That is not the same.”

“It communicated information you could not intercept.”

“Use of the devices among yourselves is permitted.”

“Permitted.”

The princess looked at him.

“For tonight, yes.”

Kevin’s expression tightened.

Alec interrupted.

“We agree to notify you before using unfamiliar technology in a way that affects the estate, your people, or the public.”

Aurelia considered.

“Acceptable.”

Kevin looked toward Alec.

“That could include turning on a flashlight.”

“If we point it into a guard’s eyes, yes.”

“That is assault.”

“Then don’t do it.”

Alec added:

NOTIFY BEFORE EXTERNAL-IMPACT USE

Rob looked at the two columns.

“Memorandum of mutually assured inconvenience.”

Nicole pointed at him.

“Stop labeling it.”

“The name affects adoption,” Rob said.

Bennett wrote at the bottom:

PROVISIONAL UNTIL REVIEW

Then he set down the charcoal.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

The arrangement solved very little permanently. It gave them no citizenship, no lasting freedom of movement, no answer for the Church, and no way home. But at least it gave them rules to start.

Serina almost allowed herself to believe the meeting was ending.

Then Lara opened the folio again.

“There remains the fifth mark.”

The room tightened.

Mercer’s sleeve already covered it.

Princess Aurelia rested one hand on the table.

“We can protect all five tonight.”

“Tonight,” Bennett repeated.

“Yes.”

“And later?”

Lara answered before the princess did.

“The Church will demand formal identification.”

Carter checked Mercer. “The thread already failed.”

“That delays classification. It does not end the question.”

“Why not call it unknown?” Morgan asked.

“We can.”

“Then let’s do that.”

“We will.”

“Problem solved.”

“No,” Mercer said.

Morgan glanced at him.

“The Church will ask why the same recognition system identified four accepted domains and failed only on the fifth.”

Lara nodded. “Witnesses saw the mark. They saw the thread disappear. Some heard the initial reactions inside the sanctum.”

Hayes considered that. “Could we say everyone was mistaken?”

“No,” Princess Aurelia said.

Another silence followed.

Bennett looked at the board, then at Lara.

“All right. What exactly is the problem?”

Lara studied Mercer.

“His mark cannot be safely identified. If we call it unknown, people will ask why. If we identify it as Corruption, we create a much worse problem.”

Bennett wrote:

FIFTH MARK CANNOT BE SAFELY CLASSIFIED

“The Church will demand access if it suspects Corruption,” Princess Aurelia said.

Carter answered immediately.

“We will not surrender him.”

Morgan nodded.

“Firm no,” Hayes added.

Mercer shrugged. “I am included in ‘we.’”

Princess Aurelia said nothing at first. She studied the five of them, lingering on Carter, Morgan, and Hayes before returning to Mercer. Serina could almost see her weighing what their refusal meant against whatever the Church might demand next.

Then she glanced at Lara and Varris, considered the board once more, and made her decision.

“Then I will not surrender him either. Not based on an unconfirmed mark and disputed records.”

Lara stiffened. “Your Highness, refusing a formal examination may be taken as deliberate concealment.”

Varris frowned. “And if the Church presses the claim, we would be placing the estate between them and Mercer.”

“I am aware.”

“Then this could become a direct dispute with the Church,” Lara said.

Princess Aurelia looked between them.

“Do either of you have a better option?”

Neither answered.

Aurelia waited another moment, then faced Bennett again.

“Then for now, he remains under my protection.”

Lara did not hide her displeasure. Her fingers tightened around the edge of the folio.

“Your Highness, if the Church asks for him and you refuse, they may treat that refusal as confirmation that you are concealing something.”

“I am protecting someone whose mark has not been identified.”

“They may not care about the distinction.”

“Then we will deal with that when they force the subject.”

Lara lowered her eyes to the folio, clearly unconvinced.

Varris said nothing. He remained beside Aurelia with his attention on the table, his expression unreadable.

Bennett looked between them, then added:

GROUP WILL NOT SURRENDER KEVIN
AURELIA WILL NOT SURRENDER KEVIN

Lara’s attention stayed on the two new lines. Her expression tightened.

“That creates another problem.”

Bennett paused with the charcoal.

“If Mercer remains here under Her Highness’s protection while she refuses an examination, the refusal itself will draw suspicion. The more openly she shields him, the more reason the Church has to believe there is something to hide.”

Bennett wrote:

KEVIN CANNOT REMAIN OPENLY CONCEALED

Nobody spoke immediately.

Morgan leaned closer to the board. “Could he just leave?”

Carter answered first. “No.”

Mercer glanced at her.

“You have no idea where you would go,” she said. “You don’t have money, documents, or anyone outside this room you can trust.”

Varris remained silent, but his expression gave Serina no reason to disagree.

Lara looked back at the board.

“There is a larger problem than where Mercer goes. Five people appeared in the sanctum. Too many people witnessed it.”

Bennett frowned.

“So if one of us suddenly disappears...”

“People ask what happened to the fifth,” Lara said.

The charcoal remained still in Bennett’s hand.

Mercer had been reading the board without speaking.

After a moment, he said, “Five arrivals cannot become four without explanation.”

Bennett added:

FIVE ARRIVALS CANNOT BECOME FOUR WITHOUT REASON

Morgan noticed the change too. Her eyes narrowed with recognition before she leaned closer to Serina.

“He’s doing the MC-sama thing.”

Serina kept her voice low. “What is an MC-sama thing?”

“The brooding main character is about to suggest something stupidly self-sacrificing while insisting it is simply the most efficient option.”

Hayes studied him for a moment. “He does have the face.”

“I can hear you,” Mercer said without leaving the fireplace.

“Even better.”

Bennett followed Mercer’s attention back to the board, then stopped on the final line.

FIVE ARRIVALS CANNOT BECOME FOUR WITHOUT REASON

Carter pushed her chair back slightly.

Mercer finally looked away from the board.

His attention passed across Bennett with the charcoal still in hand, Carter already prepared to object, Hayes watching him with growing interest, and Morgan looking entirely too eager to hear whatever came next.

Mercer faced Princess Aurelia.

Then he calmly concluded,

“Therefore, Kevin Mercer needs to die.”