Page 32 of The Fifth Heir

I returned the boot to the shelf.

Sebastian examined the embroidery on one sleeve without touching it. “These are the same runes that appeared around the fifth beam.”

“They look similar.”

“They’re identical.”

“How can you tell?”

“I remember patterns.”

“So do I.”

His attention moved from the sleeve to me. Something sharpened in his expression, not challenge exactly, but recognition.

“Then you know I’m right.”

I did.

“I need a rubbing from the Hall before I confirm it.”

Rafe looked between us. “This is going to become unbearable, isn’t it?”

“It already has,” Leander said.

A second corridor extended behind the dressing room.

We found a study at its end.

Five desks faced a wall of empty shelves. Locked cabinets occupied the lower level, their doors carved with the same interlocking runes that had sealed the Fifth Wing. A narrow display table stood in the center of the room.

Five curved supports rose from its surface.

Four were empty.

Sebastian went directly to the cabinets. Leander examined the desks. Torren checked the second doorway, which opened onto a broad training terrace.

I remained beside the display table.

The supports were designed for torcs. Their shape matched the four ceremonial stands I had prepared in the Hall, although these were smaller and cut from one piece of clear stone.

My gaze passed over the empty spaces.

Then returned to the fifth.

The air above it looked uneven.

I moved to the other side of the table. The distortion remained, bending the edge of the nearest desk.

“There’s something here.”

All four men turned.

Sebastian reached me first. “Where?”

I pointed to the final support.

He leaned closer. “I don’t see anything.”