Atheline exchanged a glance with Lilith. She looked calm but he knew her well enough to understand what lay beneath that calm.

Disappointment.

Years ago she had crushed a toxic tyrannical rule and believed it had ended. Now, she was discovering embers hidden beneath the ashes, that had continued burning in secret.

The final arrest concluded. The nobles were escorted away. The remaining members of nobility stood in uneasy silence.

She surveyed them one final time then spoke.

"This kingdom survived Tyranny."

Her voice carried through the hall.

"It survived civil conflict."

"It survived traitors."

"It survived enemies."

She paused, her gaze sweeping across the group.

"It will survive this."

Nobody doubted her, not after everything that had happened. Lilith looked toward the gathered nobles.

"The guilty should fear," her commanding voice echoed through the throne room. She continued a moment later, "The innocent should not."

The meeting ended a few minutes later. Nobles departed in small groups and whispers immediately returned.

Rumors would spread across the capital by nightfall and by tomorrow every noble family would know that Lilith had begun another purge, of traitors this time.

And she had moved so quickly that most of them never even realized the trap had closed until the chains were already around their wrists.

As the throne room slowly emptied, Atheline remained seated calmly beside her. His hand found hers and squeezed lightly. She let out a small sigh as she leaned further back on her throne.

Atheline lightly caressed her hand, proving the warmth she needed. He turned to her.

"We’ll be okay," he quietly said," we’ve gotten the first link."

She nodded. "It’s really annoying since we’re in the light."

"We’ll burn through the darkness then."

She chuckled at that.

It was almost midnight when the two finally got some respite. The amount of documents they had to go through and the council circling them was abysmal.

The arrests had expanded kingdom-wide, nobles or commoners, none were spared from her wrath. Any form of suspicion or connection to the affiliated groups would warrant immediate arrests.

Atheline loosened the collar of his formal attire as soon as the doors closed behind them.

"I hate court clothes."

Lilith glanced at him.

"You say that every time."

"Because it’s true every time. They’re quite stuffy."

Lilith walked toward one of the windows overlooking the snowy Courts below. Lights glowed softly beneath the falling snow.

It felt deceptively peaceful, like everything that had happened had been nothing but a lucid dream.

Atheline joined her. For several moments neither spoke, they simply watched the snow, enjoying the rare silence.

Eventually, she broke it.

"What do you think?"

He already knew what she meant. He folded his arms.

"Honestly?"

She nodded.

"I think we’re missing something."

Lilith wasn’t surprised, she felt the same way. Atheline continued.

"The rebellion remnants, the bloodline fanatics, and the illegal potion business; all make sense."

He frowned slightly.

"The rest doesn’t."

He ran a hand through his hair before folding them back again.

Lilith leaned lightly against the window frame.

"The Harbinger."

He nodded.

"That. It sounds more ominous when you say it."

Silence followed as they both fell into their thoughts. The memory of the councillor’s madness still lingered and the certainty in his voice had bothered him.

Fanatics believed strange things all the time, yet, something felt different. Councillor Renault had sounded less like a believer and more like a man expecting something.

Lilith looked thoughtful.

"I’ve searched the archives before."

He glanced at her. She continued after a small pause in her thoughts.

"The title appears in old myths, a few religious texts, and several forbidden manuscripts. But it’s only mentioned in passing, as it should exist but it also shouldn’t exist. There isn’t an explanation of what it is."

Atheline was a little surprised but also had his hope raised a little. Fighting an unseen enemy wasn’t something he had planned.

"You already know about it?"

"A little," she quietly said, then shrugged.

Atheline nodded slowly. Lilith rarely admitted ignorance, that alone made the topic concerning.

The room fell quiet again each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, Atheline sighed.

"I’ll visit the library tomorrow."

She looked at him.

"The royal archives?"

He shook his head.

"No, just the normal library."

The library always contains a collection of texts so old that nobody knew who had originally written some of them. More importantly, Atheline wanted to see the librarian, Sir Klaith.

He was most likely his best bet. While Lilith was well read, he was far older and knew more things than either of them.

Atheline smiled slightly.

"If anyone knows something about the Harbinger of Death, it’ll be him."

"Okay, just be careful," she said quietly," Everyone is tense at the moment, I’ll arrange some guards to follow you."

Atheline chuckled a little.

"It’s the library, darling," he said his amusement leaking," nothing is going to happen. Don’t you trust him?"

She glanced outside them back to him.

"Right now, you’re the only person I trust."

Eventually, Lilith moved away from the window. Atheline followed. They settled beside the fireplace, and the atmosphere became softer and warmer, far removed from politics.

For a while, they simply talked, as husband and wife. Lilith quietly discussed the arrests.

Several noble houses had already begun cooperating while others were attempting damage control. One family had apparently turned over evidence against itself before investigators even arrived.

Atheline found that oddly impressive while Lilith found it pathetic. Their opinions differed.

Atheline talked about the high elven library, high elven old myths, and stories he remembered from childhood.

Lilith listened. Occasionally correcting details, which showed how proficient she was. She also occasionally mocked his memory whenever he said something wrong or was out of touch.

Just a normal evening.

Eventually, dinner arrived. More conversations flowed past dinner as they prepared for bed. The palace had grown quieter as late sleepers joined slumber land.

Eventually, Atheline and Lilith went to bed, with only a few hours until dawn, when their stressful days would begin again.