Page 73 of Pocket Wife

RETHAN

Ihave cataloged forged histories before.

Most were clumsy. Dates placed before the invention of the ink that signed them. Seals copied without pressure marks. Names written by hands that had never held the grief behind them. Those forgeries offended my training.

This one offends something deeper.

Eleanor Hartwell’s name glows above the tribunal table, magnified until every person in the council chamber can see the curve of each letter. Lucy stands beneath it as if the display has pinned her in place. Samuel’s hand hovers near her shoulder, not touching, perhaps afraid that even comfort might break her.

Through the bond comes pain.

Not loud.

Worse. Silent and searching.

I can’t reach for her. Not here. Not with Advocate Sen watching every movement and Corvek waiting to turn tenderness into evidence.

So I reach for the law.

I address the adjudicator. “I request full metadata expansion on rebuttal exhibit twelve.”

Sen turns toward me. “The document speaks plainly.”

“Documents often do. That is why one verifies whether they are lying.”

A small sound passes through the chamber. Sen ignores it.

Adjudicator Salo studies me. “Basis for request?”

“The exhibit is being used to challenge concealment, continuity, and resident opposition. Its chain of custody, original scope, witness authority, and alteration history are therefore material.”

Corvek’s face hardens. “Helix has already provided certified copy status.”

“Certified by Helix,” I say.

“By an approved corporate archive.”

“The claimant’s archive.”

Salo lifts one hand. “Metadata expansion granted.”

The document unfolds across the display: registry stamp, custody route, scan layers, original submission code, later review marks. I take in the details quickly.

Too quickly, perhaps. The old habit returns under pressure: not feeling less, but thinking faster than fear can interfere.

Thirty-one years old.

Resource trust intermediary.

Regional review office intake.

Temporary administrative seal.

My focus sharpens.

The same class of temporary seal Maev Orlan described.

Lucy sees me react. Even through shock, she notices. That is Lucy: wounded, but not blind.