Chapter 1: The Bracelet That Shouldn't Exist

"Sofia. The miracle child of the washrooms," Vance said, his voice smooth as venom, entirely untamed by his supposed imprisonment. His face was paler, marked by a fresh scar across his temple, but his cold, calculating eyes remained identical to the day he sat at the King's right hand. "And Prince Victor. Disgraced, disowned, playing peasant knight for a scullery maid. How touching."

Victor leveled his weapon at Vance's chest. "Step away from the brazier, Vance. The garrison at the northern border was supposed to keep you chained beneath ten feet of permafrost."

"Chains are easily broken when the men holding the keys realize the new civilian government cannot afford to pay their wages," Vance chuckled, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Did you really think your little revolution would change the machinery of the world? You smashed the Crystal Hand. You exposed the bloodline. And in doing so, you plunged the realm into financial ruin. The eastern empires are already massing their fleets."

Sofia stepped forward, splashing through the freezing sea water. "What did you mean about my mother's debt? She lived in poverty. She died with nothing!"

"Your mother was cleverer than you, little girl," Vance sneered, his gaze locking onto Sofia with vicious delight. "Elena was never just a wet nurse or a maid. She was the Keeper of the Royal Treasury's private ledger. When the old King died, she didn't just flee with his bastard child. She fled with the cipher to the crown's offshore reserves—two million sovereign crowns hidden in the banks of the Merchant Republics."

Sofia felt the world tilt beneath her feet. The memory of her mother—sewing patches on her frayed dresses by candlelight, skipping meals so Sofia could eat stew—flashed before her eyes.

"You're lying," Sofia snarled. "If she had that fortune, why did we starve? Why did she let herself die of a simple lung rot?"

"Because she knew that the moment a single gold coin was withdrawn, our hounds would track the scent!" Vance shouted, rising to his feet, his shadow dancing like a demon on the waterlogged walls. "She chose starvation over capture! She let herself rot in that blue shack rather than give up the power that belonged to us! And now, the cipher is in your hands. That wooden box... the music mechanism... the notes it plays are the key to the vault."

The water in the chamber suddenly surged, rising past their shins. The sea was roaring outside, waves crashing violently against the outer buttresses.

"I don't have the cipher," Sofia said coldly.

"Then you are entirely useless to me," Vance said.

From the shadows behind the ancient stone pillars, three crossbowmen emerged, their bows cocked, aiming directly at Sofia and Victor.