Page 100 of The Fifth Heir

The runes brightened.

I almost smiled.

We moved to the first sealed cabinet.

Five overlapping circles covered its clear stone door. Four contained elemental symbols. The fifth appeared empty until Talia angled the lamp, revealing a nearly invisible pattern within it.

The mark matched her torc.

“Before the Trial, the rings were fused,” she said. “Now the center lines have separated.”

She held the notebook beside the cabinet so I could compare her earlier drawing.

The change was slight but undeniable.

“Did it occur when the five torcs activated inside the mountain?” I asked.

“That’s my theory.”

“Why?”

“Because the study locks released when I put on my torc, but these remained sealed. They changed only after the Trial.”

“That establishes sequence, not cause.”

“I said theory, not conclusion.”

She had learned my language quickly.

More dangerously, she seemed to enjoy speaking it. I had never considered shared methodology a form of flirtation before the walls began translating my reactions into gold.

I lifted one hand toward the cabinet. “May I test it?”

“With Shadow?”

“Yes.”

“Not until we establish where the protective channels release excess magic.”

“Reasonable.”

“I’m glad you approve.”

Her voice was dry, but the wall runes warmed toward gold again.

Talia traced the visible circles in the air without touching them. “The elemental marks connect here, here, and here. They all feed toward the center, but nothing shows where the central channel leads.”

“It may not lead anywhere.”

“Then it would absorb the combined power.”

“Which could open the seal.”

“Or break it.”

“Breaking it would technically open it.”

She looked at me. “This is why I’m supervising.”