Page 213 of The Fifth Heir

Camilla glanced at the men surrounding us. “Can we speak alone?”

“No,” Torren said.

“This concerns my sister.”

“That’s why you won’t be alone with her.”

Anger flashed across Camilla’s face. Normally, she would have challenged him. Tonight, it disappeared almost immediately.

Talia, the torc whispered against my throat.

Not in words. It had never spoken. But a pulse of clear light ran through the stone when I looked at my sister, as if the wing itself were waiting for my decision.

“They stay,” I said.

Camilla closed her eyes briefly. “All right.”

She unrolled the paper across the dining table.

It was a structural diagram of a circular chamber divided into five sections. Four broad passages led inward from the outer wall. A fifth, much narrower route began at the center.

The design resembled the first Trial.

It also resembled the elemental platform where the channels had been reversed.

“Where did you get this?” Sebastian asked.

“The lower construction archive. I’m assigned there twice a week.”

“You never mentioned working in the Trial archives,” I said.

“It isn’t the Trial archive. It contains structural records—repairs, foundation work, reinforcement plans. Stone students assist with them.”

She ran one finger along the outer edge of the diagram.

“This is the Final Trial chamber.”

Rafe came closer. “The histories claim no map survives.”

“No official map. This one was filed as a foundation assessment. It doesn’t name the room.”

Leander studied the symbols marking each passage. “How did you identify it?”

“The support stone is older than the academy. The only foundation built with five radial anchors is beneath the Hall of Crowns.”

The place where kings were presented after winning the Trials.

The place where one heir emerged.

Torren pointed to the narrow center route. “Where does this lead?”

“It isn’t a route.” Camilla’s fingers trembled against the paper. “It’s a convergence shaft.”

Sebastian moved the nearest lamp over the diagram. “For elemental power?”

“For all of it.”

Silence settled over the table.