Vol. 1 Chapter 8: Location

Serina sat with her hands folded in her lap and tried very hard to behave as though this was still all normal. She was still sitting there trying to catch up with how ridiculous the night had become.

A little while ago, she had left the room to find more serving trays because Bennett had filled the first one with charcoal.

It should have been the most normal thing she had done all night. Walk to the kitchens, ask for two trays, endure a servant wondering why Her Highness needed them at this hour, then walk back.

The walk had also been the first quiet moment Serina had gotten all night.

She had made it halfway back before the thought finally struck her.

There were five divine-marked bearers in that room.

Five.

Serina had grown up hearing about them the same way everyone else did. Names from old histories. Saints, conquerors, rulers, monsters depending on which account someone happened to believe. People who appeared in temple records with entire pages devoted to a mark they had carried centuries ago.

She had never expected to meet one.

Now there were five of them sitting around a table, arguing over charcoal notes written on serving trays.

Then Morgan had greeted Serina on the way back to her chair by enthusiastically informing her that she was part of a conspiracy now.

Serina had thought that was another one of their jokes, until she sat down, read what Bennett had written, listened to Lara explain why the plan might actually work, and then watched Her Highness agree to it.

Her eyes moved around the table again.

Five divine-marked bearers. An Imperial Princess. The Palatine Prothonary. The captain of Her Highness’s guard.

And Serina, who had spent years worrying about whether she was good enough to work in an imperial household.

Apparently this was what working in an imperial household meant.

Hayes had just helped convince an Imperial Princess to deceive everyone outside of this room. Morgan had called the whole thing a betrayal arc. Carter had threatened to kill Mercer herself at least once, though Serina was fairly certain she had not meant it. Bennett had turned serving trays into whatever kind of planning system these people apparently considered normal.

Mercer, whose black mark had started most of the problem, seemed calmer than everyone else.

Serina was beginning to understand that this might simply be how they were.

That did not make it less absurd.

Mercer broke the silence.

“Well, that’s one problem solved.” He glanced at the maps beside Lara’s folio. “Now where do we put me?”

Hayes, who was still wearing his blanket all this time, had apparently decided this was the point where his contribution ended. He pushed away from the table, crossed the chamber, and stretched himself across one of the beds with his shoes still on.

Carter noticed almost immediately.

She stared at him for several seconds, then stood and walked over.

“Get up.”

Hayes opened one eye. “Why?”

“Because you are lying down in the middle of a meeting with an Imperial Princess. Stop being rude.”

“Well, I did what I can do. Legal is now handing it off to operations.”

Carter caught him by the arm and pulled until he reluctantly sat upright.

Serina had no idea what that meant. Bennett’s expression suggested it was probably an insult directed at everyone still on the chair.

Morgan leaned back in her chair. “What were you even doing?”

“Trying to go back to Earth.”

Lara slowly raised her eyes from the folio.

Hayes rubbed his face. “I thought maybe if I went back to sleep, I’d wake up in the forest.”

Lara continued staring at him.

Hayes noticed. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“You are staring.”

“I am reconsidering several things.”

“That seems fair.”

Her Highness made a visible effort to ignore the entire exchange. Carter pointed at the table, and Hayes finally stood.

“Sit.”

“I am sitting.”

“At the table.”

Hayes sighed, but obeyed.

Varris used the opening to pull the regional map into the center of the table. Lara moved her folio aside, Morgan gathered several cables out of the way, and Bennett claimed another section of serving tray.

“Then geography is the next problem.”

Hayes settled into his chair.

“Operations.”

Bennett ignored him and wrote:

PALACE SAFEHOUSE

Varris crossed it out before Bennett had even put the charcoal down.

“Anyone investigating Her Highness will search palace property first.”

Bennett nodded and wrote beneath it.

CITY RESIDENCE

“Neighbours,” Hayes said.

“Servants,” Lara added.

“Supplies,” Varris said.

“Waste disposal,” Carter said.

Several people paused.

Carter frowned. “What? He still has to use the bathroom.”

Mercer rested one hand on the back of his chair. “She has a point.”

“I know I have a point.”

Bennett crossed out the city residence.

Serina had not thought about waste until Carter said it, but the problem became obvious once she did. A hidden person still needed food, water, clean clothes, lamps, bedding, and somewhere for all of that refuse to go. Even if no neighbour ever saw Mercer, the house itself would start announcing that somebody lived there.

Bennett wrote again.

RURAL ESTATE

Varris studied the map. “A stranger appearing in a village will be noticed.”

Hayes nodded. “Small communities are informal surveillance networks powered by boredom.”

Lara raised an eyebrow.

He spread his hands. “People talk.”

“That,” Varris said, “is correct.”

Mercer addressed Her Highness directly. “If you inform the local lord, the conspiracy gets larger.”

“Yes.”

“If you do not inform them, eventually they discover me and assume you secretly moved a dangerous asset onto their land.”

Her Highness gave a small nod. “Yes.”

Bennett crossed out the rural estate.

FOREIGN TERRITORY

“No,” Her Highness, Varris, and Mercer said almost together.

Morgan smiled. “Efficient.”

“If Mercer is discovered beyond the border,” Her Highness said, “I can be accused of secretly exporting a forbidden bearer.”

“Or defecting,” Mercer added.

“Or being sold,” Hayes said.

Carter twisted in her chair. “Why would you add that?”

“It is a possible accusation.”

“Stop producing possible accusations.”

“Someone has to.”

Bennett drew a line through the option.

ABANDONED RUINS

“Scavengers,” Varris said.

“Scholars,” Lara added.

“Smugglers,” Her Highness said.

“Cultists,” Varris continued.

Carter studied the word for a moment. “No.”

Bennett crossed it out as well.

For the first time since the map had been opened, nobody offered another answer immediately.

Serina found herself studying the northern half of Arvenia while the others argued quietly over whether a hunting lodge counted as a rural estate. Once the rejected ideas were stripped down, what they needed sounded strangely familiar.

Mercer needed Crown land, but not somewhere obviously important to the Crown. He needed buildings without servants, water without a nearby farm, and a road good enough to use without being busy enough for anyone to notice him arriving. There could not be a village nearby, or a local lord who needed to be informed, or enough regular traffic for his presence to become gossip.

Most of Princess Aurelia’s holdings failed one of those conditions almost immediately. Old watch posts still received patrols. Hunting lodges had keepers. An abandoned mill farther west had become shelter for shepherds during storms. Several old quarries were empty, but the nearest reliable water was too far away.

Then Serina remembered the survey from six weeks earlier.

The road had been rough but usable. The spring feeding the old cistern had still been flowing, and several of the buildings were sound enough to shelter someone. More importantly, the detection formations had shown no recent visitors, and there was no village close enough for anyone to care who entered the upper valley.

It fit almost everything they were asking for.

Serina opened her mouth before she thought through what she was doing.

“There is a mine.”

The conversation stopped just enough that Serina immediately became aware of what she had done.

She glanced between Varris and Her Highness. Princess Aurelia had motioned for her to continue.

Serina carefully considered her words. “An old Crown iron mine in the northern mountains. It has a settlement attached to it. Or had one. Nobody lives there anymore.”

Varris frowned at the map for a moment before finding it.

“Ashenvein?”

Serina nodded, suddenly very aware that everyone at the table was listening to her. She wished she had explained it better before opening her mouth.

“I inspected the surface about six weeks ago.” she added, “The road was still passable, there was water, and some of the buildings were still usable. The detection formations also hadn’t recorded anyone visiting since the previous survey.”

Mercer shifted closer to the table. “How far?”

“Three or four hours on foot from the northern road. Less on horseback.”

Carter studied the route. “That close?”

“Yes.”

“How often is it inspected?” Mercer asked.

“Once or twice each year. Sometimes less.”

Bennett reached for the charcoal.

Mercer raised one hand. “Do not write yet.”

Bennett stopped.

Serina continued, suddenly aware that everyone was listening to her. “There are two workers’ barracks, a survey office, storage buildings, and what remains of the smelter. Some roofs need repair, but the main buildings were still usable when I inspected them six weeks ago. A mountain spring feeds the old cistern.”

Carter’s attention sharpened. “You inspected it?”

Serina hesitated. “Only the surface.”

Serina could still remember the inspection clearly enough. Dust in the survey office. One storage roof partly collapsed. Shutters hanging loose from two of the workers’ houses. A long list of repairs that nobody was likely to fund because nobody actually lived there.

Varris placed one finger beside Ashenvein. “No permanent staff. No nearby village. No local lord whose cooperation would be required.”

“Hunters?” Bennett asked.

“Sometimes farther south,” Serina said. “There is very little reason to enter the upper valley.”

“Scavengers?” Hayes asked.

“The useful machinery was removed decades ago. Anything easy to carry disappeared long before my inspection.”

Mercer studied the old road. “People passing through?”

“The road ends at the settlement.”

That interested Varris more.

Serina added, “The detection formations around the property had not recorded anyone crossing the marked boundary since the previous inspection.”

Mercer raised his head. “How reliable are those?”

“For people, reliable enough. Animals do not register the same way.”

“So nobody has visited recently.”

Bennett tapped the charcoal against the tray. “Why did you think of it?”

Serina glanced at him. “Because nobody goes there.”

He waited for more.

“The buildings are usable, there is water, the road still works, and it belongs directly to the Crown. Nobody lives nearby and nobody has much reason to visit.”

She paused.

“And because people know what is under it.”

Carter caught the hesitation immediately.

“So that is the bad part.”

Serina wished she had found a better way to phrase it.

“Yes.”

Mercer rested both hands on the table. “Why was the mine abandoned?”

“The iron veins were already becoming less profitable.”

He waited.

Serina sighed.

“And the mine connected to the Labyrinth.”

Morgan slowly smiled.

“So a dungeon.”

Serina frowned. “A dungeon?”

“Not relevant,” Carter said immediately.

“It is relevant.”

“It is not.”

Mercer studied the mine symbol. “How did they discover the connection?”

Varris answered. “The lower workings broke into a passage that was not part of the mine.”

“Something like a cave?”

“Partly.”

“That sounds concerningly vague.”

“It was concerningly vague.”

Lara pulled an older property report closer. “The miners first believed they had opened another cavern. Several days later, workers in the lower galleries encountered creatures that did not belong in the mountain.”

Carter folded her arms. “What kind?”

“The descriptions are poor. Large insects. Something spider-like. Something described as a pale many-legged animal. Several smaller creatures were reported farther inside.”

“How large?” Hayes asked.

“Large enough that the workers abandoned the lower gallery rather than attempt to remove them.”

Everyone was now studying the

Varris continued while Lara kept the report open. “A Crown survey team entered after the evacuation. They confirmed that the passage connected to the Labyrinth.”

Mercer glanced at him. “How?”

“The stone matched other known passages. So did the mana and some of the creatures farther inside.”

Morgan’s smile returned. “So actual dungeon.”

“Labyrinth,” Lara said.

“Still sounds like a dungeon.”

Hayes nodded slowly. “So giant insects, giant spiders, and whatever the pale thing was. Anything else we should know? People walking in and coming out somewhere completely different? Weird stories?”

Serina hesitated.

“There are stories.”

Morgan became alert so quickly that Serina almost regretted answering.

“What kind?”

Serina tried to keep it simple. “People getting lost on routes they thought they knew. Passages appearing where travelers did not remember seeing them before. Some stories say people came out much farther away than they should have.”

Hayes leaned back. “Other side of the world?”

“No.”

“That you know of.”

Serina frowned. “That I know of.”

Morgan was already leaning over the map again. “Has anyone mapped one of those routes before and after? Does the distance actually change? Does mana affect direction? What about clocks?”

“Later,” Bennett said.

Morgan paused.

“We are trying to find somewhere for Kevin to stay,” Bennett added before Morgan can protest. “We are not starting a Labyrinth research project.”

“Those could be related.”

“Later.”

She sat back with obvious disappointment.

Hayes, unfortunately, was still interested. “Any stories about people disappearing?”

“Yes.”

Morgan immediately leaned forward again.

Bennett pointed the charcoal at her. “Later.”

She sighed.

Serina was grateful for him. Everyone in Arvenia knew Labyrinth stories. That did not mean Serina wanted to spend the next hour trying to explain which ones came from actual reports and which ones she had first heard from other children.

Lara closed the property report. “The lower workings were abandoned afterward. The mine was already losing money. Guards, mages, repairs, and repeated inspections would have cost more than the remaining iron was worth.”

Hayes nodded with visible approval.

“Finally. A mine closed because the cost-benefit analysis became terrible.”

“That is essentially correct,” Varris said.

“I understand this world.”

Morgan opened her mouth again, but Bennett got there first.

“Serina.”

She shifted her attention to him.

“Why did you think of this place?”

The answer came easily enough.

“Because nobody goes there.”

Bennett waited.

“The buildings are usable, there is water, and the road still works. It belongs directly to the Crown, but nobody lives nearby and nobody has much reason to visit. The mine is also why people avoid the valley in the first place.”

Bennett glanced down at Ashenvein. “So the thing that made the place useless also keeps people away.”

“Yes.”

Carter pointed at the settlement mark. “Were any of those creatures ever seen there?”

“No confirmed sightings.”

“On the surface?”

“No.”

Varris added, “The recorded incidents were underground.”

Mercer considered that. “So the surface is considered safe.”

Serina hesitated. “Safer. I would not call an abandoned mountain settlement safe.”

Carter gave her the smallest smile, as though Serina had finally said something sensible.

Lara rested one hand on the closed report. “Ashenvein’s reputation is worse than the recorded danger on the surface.”

Serina saw Mercer’s interest change.

“So is mine.”

Carter exhaled through her nose. “Of course that is what interests you.”

Mercer ignored her. “People know the mine was closed. They know strange creatures were found below it. They know the Labyrinth is involved, and the formations say nobody has been using the settlement.”

“Yes,” Serina said.

“So everyone already has a reason not to go there.”

Varris gave a small nod. “That is the advantage.”

Bennett finally picked up the charcoal and wrote:

ASHENVEIN

Carter immediately pointed at it. “Surface only.”

Bennett added:

SURFACE SETTLEMENT ONLY

Morgan leaned across his shoulder. “And in enormous letters, ‘DO NOT ENTER DUNGEON.’”

“Labyrinth,” Lara corrected automatically.

Bennett wrote:

DO NOT ENTER THE MINE

Mercer read the line. “That seems unnecessarily absolute.”

The reaction around the table was immediate enough that he raised both hands.

“I was evaluating the wording.”

“The wording is perfect,” Carter said.

“There may be storage near the entrance.”

“Then write ‘do not go underground.’”

Bennett changed it to:

NO ENTRY INTO UNDERGROUND WORKINGS

Carter nodded.

Mercer did not argue further.

Serina quietly sided with Carter. She had grown up hearing enough stories about the Labyrinth to have no interest in entering one deliberately. Mercer questioning the wording at all made her wonder whether Carter had reasons beyond simple caution for watching him so closely.

Her Highness studied Ashenvein’s position relative to the rest of Arvenia.

“If Mercer stays there, what stops someone from finding him?”

“Nothing,” Varris said.

The answer took much of the satisfaction out of the room.

“This is concealment, not a fortress. Ashenvein works because nobody has an obvious reason to search it.”

Lara tapped the edge of the map. “The Church can request Crown property records. They will know the mine exists.”

“Yes.”

“Then why would they not inspect it?”

“Because Mercer is publicly leaving against Her Highness’s advice to conduct an independent investigation. Searching every abandoned Crown holding would require assuming the Crown secretly assisted his departure.”

Mercer nodded. “Which is exactly what the Crown would be doing.”

Her Highness gave him a flat expression.

“Quietly.”

“Right.”

Varris spent a few moments examining the roads between the estate and the northern valley. “A routine property inspection would not be unusual. A small household detail leaves with the ledger and ordinary supplies. Mercer travels with them. They inspect the surface buildings, unload what he needs, and return the same day.”

Mercer’s first concern came immediately. “How many people?”

“That depends on the detail.”

“Too many creates witnesses.”

“Too few makes the inspection unusual.”

Varris considered that. “Personnel already trusted with restricted household matters. They do not need to know why you are there, only that Her Highness ordered the matter kept private.”

“That is still a disclosure.”

“Yes.”

“Necessary?”

“To move food, bedding, water containers, tools, and everything else you need without making you carry it for several hours.”

Mercer considered the answer and nodded. “Fair.”

Serina watched Varris move a finger along the road while Bennett made another note.

This was happening very quickly.

She had said one word.

Ashenvein.

Now Varris was working out who would take Mercer there.

Carter seemed to realize the same thing from a different direction.

“And once the inspection party leaves?”

“He stays at the surface settlement,” Varris said.

“Alone?”

Something in Carter’s voice changed.

Serina glanced at her, then at Mercer. Whatever arguments the five of them had been having all night, Carter clearly did not like the thought of leaving one of them alone in an abandoned settlement.

“For a few days,” Mercer said.

“Ten,” Her Highness corrected.

Carter immediately shook her head. “We are not doing ten days yet.”

“It remains the first review interval.”

“That number keeps following us.”

Bennett wrote:

INITIAL REVIEW: TEN DAYS

Mercer read it and nodded. “Agreed.”

Carter did not seem reassured.

Morgan had already moved on to equipment and began counting on her fingers. “Food. Water containers even with the spring. Bedroll. Lamps. Spare oil. Rope. Hand tools. Battery packs.”

“The solar panel?” Mercer asked.

“No.”

“Why?”

Morgan stared at him. “You are hiding in an empty settlement.”

“Yes.”

“And you want to put the one giant black rectangle in the empire that nobody understands outside in the sun.”

Mercer seemed to picture it.

“Fair.”

“We charge everything before you leave.”

“The laptop stays.”

Carter turned in her chair. “Why do you need the laptop?”

“Documentation.”

“You’re going into hiding.”

“I will have free time.”

Morgan glanced at Bennett. “He is going to work.”

Bennett rubbed his forehead. “Of course he is.”

Hayes addressed Her Highness with complete seriousness. “He completed a production deployment while camping.”

Serina did not know what that meant. Judging from Her Highness’s expression, neither did she.

Mercer understood the criticism perfectly.

“The laptop stays.”

Morgan sighed. “Fine.”

Carter let the argument die, but only because another concern had replaced it. “How do we know he is still alive?”

Varris measured the distance on the map with his fingers. “A courier.”

“How often?”

“Every second day,” Bennett said before anyone else could answer.

“Daily.”

Mercer shook his head. “Too predictable.”

“Alive is predictable.”

“Daily traffic to an abandoned settlement becomes a pattern.”

Varris agreed. “One trusted courier. Irregular timing. Every second day unless circumstances require otherwise.”

Carter still looked unhappy. “Why one?”

“Every additional person learns where I am,” Mercer said.

“They already know Ashenvein exists.”

“They would know I am there.”

That silenced her.

Serina understood that one easily enough. Ashenvein itself was not a secret. Mercer being inside it was.

Her Highness considered the courier arrangement. “No uniform.”

“No royal insignia,” Varris said. “No escort. A household horse without ceremonial tack will be enough.”

Mercer traced part of the road with a fingertip. “If the courier thinks someone is following them, they turn back.”

“Yes.”

“If something near the settlement looks wrong, they leave.”

“Yes.”

Carter folded her arms. “So the courier actually sees Kevin?”

Mercer gave her a patient expression. “That would improve the usefulness of a welfare check.”

“I am serious.”

“So am I.”

Varris settled the question before it could become another argument. “The courier reaches the settlement, delivers the message or supplies, confirms Mercer is present, and leaves. No lingering.”

Hayes leaned back in his chair. “No magical messages?”

“Not reliably at that distance without permanent equipment at both ends,” Lara said.

Mercer glanced at Hayes. “Paper has excellent compatibility.”

Hayes nodded solemnly. “Version one-point-zero.”

Lara seemed to consider asking what that meant, then abandoned the idea.

Bennett wrote three more lines:

PHYSICAL CONTACT EVERY SECOND DAY
IRREGULAR TIMING
ONE TRUSTED COURIER

Carter tapped the first line. “And if he misses one?”

“One missed contact can mean bad weather, trouble with the horse, someone on the road, or a delay here,” Varris said. “Two means we assume something is wrong.”

Bennett added:

TWO MISSED CONTACTS = CHECK SITE

Mercer read the addition. “Reasonable.”

Carter narrowed her eyes. “You keep saying that tonight.”

“Some things are reasonable.”

“Such as hiding beside the monster mine.”

“Surface settlement.”

“You are enjoying that distinction.”

“It is an important distinction.”

Her Highness interrupted before Carter could answer. “Serina, your inspection was six weeks ago. Is it recent enough for Varris to plan from?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

That question was easier.

Varris went through the survey with her while Bennett kept the charcoal ready. Serina told him the road had been passable despite a washout near the final climb, a horse or light cart could still cross it, the spring had been flowing, and the survey office and both barracks were usable. There had been no sign anyone was living there, and the detection wards showed no recent visitors.

For a few minutes, Serina stopped feeling like she was helping hide a divine-marked bearer from the Church and started feeling like herself again.

These were questions she actually knew how to answer.

She had been there. She had checked the road. She had read the wards. Nobody was asking her to decide imperial policy. They just wanted to know whether a roof leaked.

Then Morgan ruined it.

“You know the local mana units.”

Serina became suspicious immediately. “Yes.”

Morgan leaned forward. “I have approximately forty questions.”

“No,” Her Highness said.

Morgan stared at her. “No?”

“Not tonight.”

“But she knows the units.”

“She has been awake as long as the rest of you.”

“So have I.”

“That is not an argument in your favor.”

Serina tried not to show how relieved she was.

Morgan noticed anyway.

“You were trying to escape.”

“No.”

“You absolutely were.”

Serina chose not to answer. Her Highness did not dismiss her, and with Varris still using her survey to plan the route, there was little chance she was going anywhere soon.

Carter supplied the next problem before Morgan could return to mana measurements.

“What happens if Ashenvein is compromised?”

“I leave,” Mercer said.

“To where?”

Mercer examined the map while Varris indicated two game trails south and west of the settlement that eventually rejoined Crown roads. Neither was mapped precisely, but both offered a way out if the main road became unsafe.

“Good enough,” Mercer said.

Carter leaned forward. “You come back here.”

“Yes.”

“Not somewhere else.”

“Yes.”

“And not into the mine.”

Mercer glanced at the serving tray.

NO ENTRY INTO UNDERGROUND WORKINGS

“No reason to.”

Carter remained completely still.

“Say it.”

Mercer studied her for a moment, then gave in.

“I will not enter the mine.”

Morgan immediately raised one hand. “I would like the minutes to reflect that statement.”

Bennett tapped the charcoal against the tray. “Already documented.”

Mercer sighed. “You people have developed an unhealthy fixation.”

“You are the one hiding beside a Labyrinth entrance,” Carter said.

“On the surface.”

“Keep saying it. Maybe eventually I’ll feel better.”

Serina quietly hoped he kept that promise. She had been perfectly happy inspecting Ashenvein without ever finding out what was underneath it. Mercer had known about the place for less than an hour and had already objected to being told not to enter the mine.

Carter might have had a point about him.

Her Highness spent several seconds examining Ashenvein and the roads around it.

“This remains a terrible arrangement.”

Varris nodded. “Yes.”

Carter gave him an incredulous expression. “You are supposed to argue.”

“There are no good options.”

“That does not make this one good.”

“No.”

Her Highness rested one hand beside the northern road. “It makes it available.”

Mercer folded his arms. “And plausibly boring.”

That drew everyone’s attention.

He tapped Ashenvein. “If I disappear into a guarded estate, people search estates. If I disappear into a village, people ask the villagers. If I cross a border, we create an international problem. Ashenvein is an old iron mine that stopped making money, lost its workers, lost its equipment, and has a Labyrinth underneath it that people already avoid.”

Lara managed to shorten all of that into one sentence.

“Nobody cares about Ashenvein.”

“Exactly.”

Hayes leaned back. “Security through irrelevance.”

“Best kind,” Mercer said.

Varris did not share their satisfaction. “Until someone learns it matters.”

That quieted the table.

Mercer nodded. “Then it stops working.”

Her Highness placed one finger over the road leading north. “So we make sure nobody learns.”

Carter exhaled. “You understand that every time someone says something like that, events immediately become worse.”

Morgan brightened. “In stories.”

“This is not a story.”

Morgan began counting on her fingers again. “Forbidden black mark.”

“No,” Mercer said.

“Religious persecution.”

“Unconfirmed.”

“Secret assistance from a princess.”

“Mutual political interest.”

“Public split from your companions.”

“Temporary administrative arrangement.”

“Sent into hiding at an abandoned mining settlement.”

“On the surface.”

“With a dungeon underneath it.”

Mercer stared at her.

Morgan smiled. “You have become extremely committed to ‘on the surface.’”

“Because that is where I am staying.”

“Of course.”

“That was not sincere.”

“It was extremely sincere.”

Hayes joined in. “And publicly, the other four Witnesses reject his decision.”

“Advise against,” Carter corrected.

“While secretly helping him vanish.”

“Temporarily relocate,” Bennett said.

Hayes nodded. “Betrayal arc with consent survives.”

Mercer closed his eyes. “There is still no betrayal.”

“It is emotionally complex,” Morgan said.

Serina still had no idea what a betrayal arc was. At this point she had decided asking Morgan would only create another conversation she did not understand.

Her Highness tapped the map once, and the joking finally faded.

“Then the working plan is this. Mercer leaves under his own judgment as a Witness. Publicly, I advise him to remain, the other four advise him to remain, and neither I nor they know his destination.”

Bennett nodded.

“Privately,” Her Highness continued, “Mercer is moved to the surface settlement at Ashenvein as part of an ordinary Crown property inspection. Varris will select the detail, deliver the initial supplies, confirm the settlement remains usable, and withdraw.”

“No permanent guards,” Varris said. “No redirected patrol.”

“No visible royal transport,” Mercer added.

“One courier every second day,” Bennett said. “Irregular timing. Physical messages.”

“Ten-day review,” Carter added.

Her Highness’s eyes settled on the final line Bennett had written earlier.

“And no entry into the mine.”

Nobody had to say anything. The attention around the table shifted to Mercer until he noticed.

He sighed. “No entry into the mine.”

Bennett underlined it twice.

Mercer stared at the tray. “Really?”

“Yes.”

Hayes immediately reached for the charcoal and a serving tray.

“Fine. Kevin’s location is settled,” he began. “Now we figure out what everyone else is actually supposed to do.”