Page 135 of The Fifth Heir

“They will be if the fifth heir renders the succession illegitimate.”

I had heard variations of the argument since the Prism selected Talia. No law recognized five heirs. No law prohibited them either.

That distinction mattered.

“The Prism named her,” I said.

“The Prism released an unexplained beam after the Choosing was complete.”

“The Fifth Wing contained her torc.”

“A torc no official catalog recorded.”

“Because it is transparent.”

“Because no record establishes that it belonged to an heir.”

“The wing was built for five occupants.”

Father walked to the table and opened a black folder.

Copies of the First Trial report lay inside. The records included the failed external controls, the interconnected elemental channels, and Talia’s position within the center nexus.

Someone had also provided a sketch of her transparent scale.

The drawing reduced the first impossible proof of Talia’s dragon to measurements and labels. I had watched her face when the healer confirmed the scale was alive. Nothing in the council’s neat black lines recorded what that knowledge cost her—or what it gave back.

“Where did you get that?”

“The manifestation is not confidential.”

“The healer’s drawing is.”

“It was submitted to the Keeper of Trials.”

“And he gave it to the North Council?”

“The council requested all evidence relevant to the succession.”

“That does not answer my question.”

Father closed the folder.

“You are looking for conspiracy where ordinary procedure is sufficient.”

“Malcolm refused Sebastian access to the Trial construction records.”

“Candidates have never received unrestricted access.”

“He is an heir.”

“So are you, yet you understand why the Trials cannot be studied before completion.”

I understood the law.

I had become less certain that the law explained Malcolm’s decisions.

Father gestured toward the folder. “The petition will not declare Talia illegitimate.”