Renata arrived the next morning with the same tired urgency Daniel remembered from the earliest weeks of this whole ordeal, coffee untouched, laptop already open before she'd even sat down."I made some calls last night," she said. "Careful ones. I don't have a name yet, but I have a shape. Isabelle wasn't exaggerating. There's real discomfort building somewhere inside the Concordat about Simon's decision to negotiate with you instead of simply commanding your cooperation.""Discomfort from who," Daniel asked."Old guard, mostly," Renata said. "People who've spent decades believing the entire structure depends on absolute control. To them, Simon giving you room to set terms isn't diplomacy. It's weakness, and weakness in a system built on fear tends to make people considerably more dangerous than strength ever does."Mira sat down slowly across from her, one hand resting instinctively over her stomach. "Does Simon know about this.""I don't know,"