"Your failure was significant," Sariel said quietly, his voice carrying the kind of certainty that transcended threat. "But your survival depends on your silence. You will speak to no one about what occurred on that platform. You will not discuss Faye Vesper's intervention. You will not acknowledge your role in the assassination attempt. You will fade into political obscurity and hope that your connections to this faction are eventually forgotten."
Caspian nodded, unable to produce sound.
Sariel moved toward the vault's exit, then paused at the threshold.
"You are dismissed," he said, without turning back.
The moment Caspian's trembling form left the vault, Sariel moved to the center of the chamber and sealed the entrance with a gesture that required no visible mana, no incantation or magical apparatus.
The mithril walls responded to his command, the doorway sealing with finality, indicating that the vault had returned to its previous state of complete isolation.
