Regress

Chapter 6: The Crooked Finger

Morning light filtered through the study curtains, grey and thin. Elena hadn’t slept. The queen’s summons still sat on her nightstand, but that was a problem for tomorrow. Today had a different target.

Marie slipped through the door and locked it behind her. A folded paper rested in her palm—cream stock, Seraphina’s preferred.

“Kitchen boy saw her hand it to a Vell courier before dawn,” Marie said. “He remembered the rose-scented fan.”

Elena took the note. The seal was already broken, the wax pale green. She read the three lines of Seraphina’s elegant script.

Minister Vell—the Rhee vault lies beneath the east wing. No basement on the manor plans, which confirms concealment. I will petition the Registry myself. —S.V.

“No basement,” Elena murmured. A smile tugged at her mouth, sharp and cold.

“There isn’t one.”

“I know.”

Marie tilted her head. “You fed her a vault that doesn’t exist.”

“And she ran straight to the man who signs Registry warrants.” Elena folded the note along its crease. “The Crown Assembly convenes at midday. Today, Seraphina answers for treason.”

“Treason. That’s a high charge.”

“She attempted to expose a noble bloodline to unauthorized mage scrutiny. That’s conspiracy against a peer of the realm.” Elena’s voice stayed measured, but her knuckles whitened on the paper. “Lian stays here. Keep him calm. If anyone asks, he’s resting after the manor incident.”

“And if he asks why you went to court without him?”

“Tell him I’m protecting his future. He’ll hate it, but he’ll stay.”

Marie held her gaze a beat too long. “You’re not eating first.”

“After.”

“You said that yesterday.”

Elena didn’t answer. She pinned the Rhee hourglass brooch at her collar and walked out.

The Crown Assembly Hall gleamed with midday propriety—marble floors, gilt chandeliers, nobles arranged in tiered seating like crows on a wire. Kael Ashford stood near the petitioner’s rail, black coat immaculate, his presence a wall of silence. Lian sat in the Rhee gallery box, Marie rigid beside him.

Seraphina occupied her usual perch among the minor nobles, fan spread, expression serene.

Elena stepped to the petitioner’s circle. The chamber quieted.

“I bring a charge of conspiracy and attempted bloodline exposure against Seraphina Vell.”

Seraphina’s fan stilled.

The presiding steward adjusted his spectacles. “Lady Rhee, such charges require evidence.”

Elena presented the note. “Her hand. Her seal.

Addressed to Minister Vell, who sits in this assembly. She details a fabricated Rhee vault and petitions for mage scrutiny without crown authorization. The Registry received no such petition from my house.”

Murmurs rippled through the tiers. Minister Vell’s face went the color of old parchment.

Seraphina rose, laugh brittle as glass. “Lady Rhee, we are dear companions. Surely you jest.”

“Remove your left mitt.”

The laugh died.

“You wear lace mitts to every court function. You adjust them constantly. Remove it.”

“This is absurd—”

“The steward will compel you if I must.”

Seraphina’s gaze darted toward Vell, then back. Slowly, she peeled the lace from her left hand.

The pinky crooked inward at the second joint—identical to the deformed finger visible when Minister Vell had pulled her into the carriage the night before.

Elena’s brooch pulsed once against her throat. No one noticed.

“Minister Vell bears the same deformity,” Elena said. “A congenital trait. Blood carries more than magic.”

The hall erupted. Seraphina’s mouth opened, but what emerged was a hiss. “You planned this.”

“You planned to destroy my house. I merely watched you walk into your own trap.”

Guards moved. Seraphina shrieked—a single, splintering note—and Minister Vell was seized before he could reach the side door. Neither struggled long.

Kael’s eyes found Elena’s across the chamber. He didn’t speak. Something in his jaw tightened, a fraction of approval or warning—she couldn’t tell which.

Inquisitor Voss rose before the noise could settle.

“The Crown acknowledges Lady Rhee’s grievance.” His voice carried no triumph, only procedural chill. “But this exposure raises a prior matter. The Rhee bloodline carries latent power. The boy’s academy records note anomalous readings during his preliminary mage examinations.”

Lian stiffened. His thumb found the charm bracelet, rubbing the largest silver charm in quick, nervous circles.

“By order of the Mage Registry, I declare a formal investigation into Rhee bloodline potential. All artifacts, heirlooms, and personal effects are subject to review.”

Elena’s pulse hammered. The brooch warmed again—faint, brief, a heartbeat of light beneath the silver filigree.

A guard shifted near the gallery rail, jostling Kael as he stepped forward. His bare hand brushed the iron balustrade.

Flame licked from his palm—orange and sudden, a tongue of fire that scorched the metal before he snuffed it with a fist.

Gasps. A noblewoman stumbled backward. The guard who’d touched him stared at his own sleeve, unburned but terrified.

Kael pulled his singed glove back on. His expression betrayed nothing. “My apologies. The Ashford affinity is… restless today.”

Voss watched the glove settle over the burn. “Indeed.”

The Rhee carriage rattled through the afternoon streets. Lian sat across from Elena, the charm bracelet glinting in his lap.

“They’re going to take it,” he said. His voice cracked on the last word. “Aren’t they.”

Elena looked out the window. “We’ll fight the order.”

“How? Voss has crown writ. You heard him—all personal effects.” He rubbed the bracelet’s largest charm again. “This has the cipher note from—”

“I know what it holds.” Her tone cut sharper than she intended. She softened it. “We’ll find a way.”

Lian fell silent. He didn’t believe her. She didn’t believe herself.

The courier arrived at dusk.

Marie answered the door. The royal seal was crimson, heavier than the summons had been. She carried it to the drawing room where Elena stood at the window, still in her court gown, the brooch dark against the velvet.

Elena broke the seal and read.

By order of the Crown Mage Registry, the charm bracelet worn by Lian Rhee is to be surrendered for examination. Delivery to the Registry Tower by dawn. Noncompliance constitutes obstruction of a royal inquiry and shall be prosecuted as sedition.

The brooch flared—a soft, answering light bleeding through the silver. Warm against her chest. Insistent.

Marie stepped closer. “What does it say.”

Elena handed her the order. Her voice dropped to a whisper meant for no one.

“Not my brother.”

Outside, the first stars pricked the darkening sky. Dawn was hours away.