The intelligence office was dark when Kael slipped inside.
Theron kept the room locked when he wasn't there, but Kael had watched him hide the key. He knew his brother's habits. Knew where he kept his secrets.
The desk was covered in papers: reports from the south, correspondence with Elowen's eastern agents, copies of the treaty amendments. Kael began sorting through them, his jaw tight, his eyes sharp.
He had never trusted Elowen. Not when she schemed against Seren. Nor when she fought beside them at the border. Trusting Elowen was like trusting a blade not to cut you. Eventually, it would.
The evidence was buried deep.
Not in the treaty itself—Elowen was too smart for that. But in the amendments. The side letters. The agreements that weren't quite agreements but functioned as them.
Kael found it in a document labeled "Trade Coordination Between Eastern and Southern Provinces."
