The ruined watchpost had gone quiet in the aftermath of Maya's reunion with her sister, the four of them and the newly arrived stranger settling into an uneasy stillness as the weight of everything just revealed began to sink in properly. Thorne was the one who finally broke the silence, his expression thoughtful as he studied Maya across the wreckage-strewn room."You said this isn't just about where the fragment is hidden," Thorne said slowly. "You said it's about what happens to this realm if Darius's people find it first. I need you to explain that. All of it, Maya, not the shortened version."Maya glanced at her sister, as though silently asking permission, and Sablen gave a small, tight nod."Tell him," Sablen said. "Tell all of us."Maya exhaled slowly, gathering her thoughts before she spoke again. "The fragment hidden somewhere near this outpost isn't like the others scattered across the nine realms. Most fragments of the Celestial Orb carry a portion of its raw power — dange

Maya's answer never came, not directly. Instead, her eyes lingered on the golden box for a long moment, as though weighing exactly how much of the truth to share with people who had only just entered her world of secrets an hour ago."I believe so," she said finally, her voice carrying an odd mixture of certainty and unease. "Everything about it matches the descriptions in the old records — the size, the warmth, the symbols shifting across its surface. But I want to be clear with all of you before we go any further. I have never actually opened this box. I've only ever stood exactly where you're standing now, staring at it from a safe distance.""Why?" Breck asked. "If you know where it is, why not simply retrieve it and be done with it?""Because knowing where something dangerous is hidden and knowing how to safely retrieve it are two very different kinds of knowledge," Maya said. "And in my experience, the Verdant Watch never protected anything valuable without protecting it well."

The words died in Thorne's throat as the sound of boots — dozens of them — thundered down the narrow stone steps behind them, far too many, far too fast, to be anything but an ambush already in motion."Down!" Cael Dross bellowed, shoving Breck bodily behind the nearest pedestal as the first wave of attackers burst into the chamber, blades already drawn, their faces obscured beneath dark hoods that bore no insignia Thorne recognized — not the pale robes of the Scribes, not Darius's household guard, something else entirely, something that moved with the cold, wordless efficiency of men who had done this exact work more times than could be counted."They followed us," Sablen snarled, her own blade already in hand, putting herself between the attackers and her sister in a single fluid motion. "Maya, get behind the dais, now!""There's nowhere to run from in here!" Maya shouted back, drawing a short blade of her own even as she retreated toward the golden box, positioning herself as its l

"The Hand of the Nameless One," Alfred said, the words spilling out now with the same flat, compelled honesty. "An ancient society, older than the current nameless clan's public presence in this realm. We do not answer to titles or thrones. We answer only to the Hand's inner circle, and through them, to the will of the Nameless One itself.""The Hand of the Nameless One," Cael Dross repeated slowly, exchanging a grim look with Sablen. "I've heard whispers of that name in the darkest corners of the underworld, always followed quickly by silence. I never confirmed it was real.""It's real," Alfred said, still staring into the skull's glowing eyes. "I have served it for eleven years. I was a commander in the third division before tonight.""Who sent you here?" Thorne demanded, stepping closer despite himself. "Who ordered this attack?""Lord Varek," Alfred said. "We were dispatched under his direct command after the search of the surface watchpost failed to locate the artifact.""Varek g

"There is no other way in that Varek hasn't already anticipated," Alfred said. "I have walked those halls. I have seen the preparations myself. Whatever plan you attempt tonight, born from anger rather than strategy, will end with your death and Lirael remaining exactly where she is, except now with no one left who knows the truth of what's happening to her, or cares enough to come back for her."Thorne's hands trembled, the fire clover's heat still radiating faintly off his skin, but he didn't move."He's right," Sablen said gently, stepping closer, her voice carrying none of the earlier sharpness, only a quiet, aching sympathy. "Thorne, I want Voss dead as badly as you do right now. What Alfred just described ... that's not something any of us can hear and simply let go. But going in tonight, exhausted, outnumbered, walking directly into a trap built specifically to kill you ... that doesn't save her. That guarantees she stays exactly where she is, forever, because the only person w