“Something is coming,” Rockman grates out.
“Something is already here,” I point out. “The Devourer.”
Earth shakes his massive boulder of a head. “Not the Devourer. Older.”
I frown and catch Dreven’s eye again. “Something else is here?”
Earth’s granite face doesn’t do nuance, but the way he braces tells me he isn’t being dramatic. “The First Law,” he rumbles. “Before gods. Before crowns.”
Brilliant. Exactly what I needed. An even bigger problem.
The gold vein at our feet brightens, then splits. The floor parts in a clean line. No rubble. No mess. A slab rises from the seam, black as pitch and carved with rows and rows of marks like tallies. Each stroke glows faintly white, then fades. The air tightens until my ears pop.
Tabitha exhales sharply. “The Ledger.”
Dreven draws close. “Of course.”
“What, dare I ask, is the Ledger?”
“Original law,” Tabitha says to me, her voice clipped. “It measures imbalance. It calls for payment.”
The slab turns its attention across us. I don’t know how. It just does. A line etches itself near the top. It glows, then fixes. A voice follows, flat and absolute, as if it has never needed to shout to be heard.
Breaches: three. Crown: misapplied. Dominion: disputed. Debt: incalculable.
“Misapplied?” I snap. “Try correctly worn.”
The sigil tilts, considering me like a clipboard with a grudge.Bearer: living. Status: Between. Legitimacy: unratified.
Dreven’s power tightens. “It will strip you if you let it.”
“Like hell,” I say, stepping forward until the glow prickles my skin. “You want legitimacy? How do I prove it? I am Nyssa Vale. I hold Wraith and Radiant. Shadow sits in my seam. The Crown is mine by taking and by right of work done. I have caged what eats you. This realm obeys me.”
The fog draws a breath. The gold underfoot brightens. The snake in my spine wakes, coils, waits.
Silence. Then:Authority: pending.
It moves. Not fast; inevitable. Lines reach toward my sternum like a pen choosing where to write. “Err, new rule. No touching without consent.”
Your rules are useless now.
“Okay, well, that’s not good.” It also explains why the realm didn’t listen to me before.
Order will be restored.
All eyes swivel to Tabitha.
She squirms. “I swear this has nothing to do with me.”
“Wait?” I say, hand up. “Do we trust her or not?”
“Yeah,” Dastian says reluctantly. “She isn’t possessed.”
Heed!
All eyes go back to the slab.
The Judge is coming. Await.
