Strongest Incubus System

The return to the mansion was heavier than the trip there. Not because of defeat, but because now everyone carried something far too concrete to ignore. The evidence was placed in sealed boxes while still inside the carriage: the recording crystals, the list saved by Aria, Caldrick’s statement, Marius’s initial testimony, and the names of the guards who had allowed Havelock’s men to move through the secondary roads. Morgana kept one hand on the main box for almost the entire journey, as if fearing it would vanish if she let go.

Damon sat across from her, his head resting against the carriage wood and his eyes half closed. He was not sleeping. Ester would know if he were, because she was still holding his wrist with two fingers, evaluating his spiritual pulse as if she could reprimand each individual beat. Aria spoke quietly with Elizabeth about the recovered documents, but even she seemed less inclined to make jokes. The night had been a victory, yes, but a victory that confirmed the size of the enemy.

Morgana looked at Damon when the carriage passed through a brighter street. The light from the lanterns crossed the window and revealed the exhaustion on his face. His white hair was messy from the jump through the window, there was dust on his dark cloak, and small bluish lines pulsed beneath the skin of his neck. Even so, he seemed more stable than in the first weeks after waking. Dangerous, tired, but present.

”Are you really awake?” she asked.

Damon opened one eye. ”Unfortunately.”

Ester squeezed his wrist. ”He is awake because he refuses to sleep when it would be convenient.”

”I just admitted exhaustion in the warehouse. That should buy me goodwill for at least an hour.”

”It bought five minutes.”

”You are a very petty doctor.”

”I am efficient.”

Elizabeth, without raising her eyes from the papers, commented, ”Efficient pettiness is still efficiency.”

Aria raised a finger. ”I want that sentence in some report.”

Morgana released a small sigh, almost a laugh, but soon grew serious again. ”Will Marius talk?”

Elizabeth answered first. ”He will. Not everything immediately, but he will. He tried to sell himself before he was even formally arrested. That kind of man does not die for loyalty. He calculates. And now the calculation says Havelock may sacrifice him.”

”Caldrick will talk too,” Aria said. ”Again. A lot. Probably crying. Maybe repeating the part where he almost died several times.”

Damon closed his eye again. ”He almost died less than he thinks.”

Ester shot him a look. ”You are not the best person to measure that.”

”I am excellent at knowing when someone is still alive.”

”That sentence does not help.”

Morgana remained looking at the sealed box. ”Havelock will try to flee before dawn.”

”Or destroy evidence,” Elizabeth said. ”Or accuse Marius of acting alone. Or seek protection from someone bigger.”

”He has someone bigger,” Damon said, without opening his eyes.

The carriage went silent.

Morgana looked at him more attentively. ”Why do you say that?”

Damon breathed slowly before answering. ”Havelock used Caldrick, Marius, Soren Vale, crestless knights, a copy of the Council seal, and simultaneous attacks on the archives. That is not the operation of a single commercial counselor trying to make money. He may be the face, perhaps the organizer of part of it, but he is not the top.”

Elizabeth nodded slowly. ”I agree. He has access and influence, but not enough to move so many pieces without political cover.”

Aria grimaced. ”Wonderful. The rat we found has a bigger rat.”

”Or a cat,” Damon said.

Aria looked at him. ”Was that a metaphor, or are you delirious?”

”Metaphor.”

Ester checked his eyes anyway.

Damon did not resist, which perhaps worried her more than if he had complained.

When they arrived at the mansion, the courtyard was already awake. Ingrivid had sent messengers ahead of them, so guards were ready to receive the prisoners and the evidence. Marius was taken out of another carriage with his hands bound and a carefully empty expression. Caldrick came soon after, much less dignified, looking in every direction as if Havelock might emerge from a shadow to cut his throat. The men captured in the warehouse were taken to separate cells.

Morgana stepped down first. As soon as her feet touched the ground, two servants approached with cloaks and lanterns. She refused the cloak, but accepted the lantern. The small gesture said a great deal. Morgana was not trying to appear invulnerable. She simply did not want more weight on her shoulders that night.

”Take Marius to the smaller interrogation room,” she ordered. ”Caldrick to a guarded room. He is a witness, not a guest. The others separated, with no communication. I want Ingrivid in charge of prisoner security and two trusted men in the archives until dawn.”

Ingrivid nodded. ”It is already being done.”

Damon tried to get out of the carriage on his own.

Ester held the back of his cloak.

He stopped in the middle of the movement and looked back.

”I can get down.”

”I know.”

”Then why are you holding me?”

”To remind you that being able to does not mean doing it quickly.”

”You are turning every staircase into a moral lesson.”

”Someone has to.”

Damon climbed down more slowly. Not because he needed it that much, but because arguing with Ester after that night seemed more exhausting than obeying. Aria noticed and smiled as if she had witnessed a historic event. Elizabeth noticed too, but had the decency not to comment. Morgana noticed and, unfortunately, did not.

”He is learning,” Morgana said.

Damon pointed at her. ”You are very satisfied for someone who was almost arrested twice in the same week.”

”I am satisfied because I am still not arrested.”

”Strong argument.”

The small exchange did not last. As soon as they entered, the mansion swallowed everyone back into urgency. The evidence was taken to the meeting room. Aria almost immediately locked herself in with two servants and the recording crystals to verify whether the images were intact. Elizabeth began drafting letters to Mirath, to the guild representatives, and to a contact inside the Council of Guarantees. Ingrivid went to supervise the prisoners. Morgana stood in the center of the room for a few seconds, still, as if her body was not sure which emergency to follow first.

Damon saw it.

So did Ester.

”You are going to sit,” Damon said.

Morgana looked at him. ”Do not start.”

”You are going to sit, drink water, and breathe for two minutes before deciding anything.”

”Are you giving me orders?”

”No. I am repeating medical orders I heard for weeks. I thought it would be selfish to keep that hell only to myself.”

Ester crossed her arms. ”For once, approved use.”

Morgana stared at the two of them, clearly irritated by being surrounded by reasonable people at the worst possible moment. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she sat. It was not a collapse, nor surrender. She merely sat in a nearby chair, rested her elbows on her knees, and covered her face with one hand for a few seconds.

Damon said nothing.

That was one of the things he was learning.

Sometimes, saying nothing was more useful than trying to fill silence with bravery.

After a minute, Morgana raised her head. ”If Havelock flees, we lose momentum.”

Elizabeth, who was already writing the first letter, answered without looking up. ”Not necessarily. With Marius, Caldrick, and the recordings, we can request a formal containment order. If Havelock flees, it reinforces guilt.”

”If he stays, he denies everything.”

”Then we surround him from all sides.”

Aria entered the room at that moment, holding a small crystal between her fingers as if it were a rare jewel. Her hair was even messier, and there was ink on her cheek. ”The recording is good.”

Morgana lifted her head immediately. ”How good?”

”Good enough to hear Marius threatening Caldrick, good enough to see the first shot fired at the crystal, and excellent in the part where Damon knocks down the door like a polite winter creature.”

Damon looked at her. ”Polite winter creature?”

”You said good evening before beating everyone up. That was polite.”

Elizabeth finally raised her eyes. ”That will be useful.”

”Saying good evening?”

”Showing that he only entered after the attack and did not start by killing people.”

Ester commented dryly, ”The standard of praise for Damon is concerning.”

”I still did not kill anyone,” Damon said.

”Yes. And apparently now we all owe applause.”

Aria raised a hand and clapped twice.

Ester looked at her.

Aria stopped.

Morgana took the recording crystal when Aria handed it over. For a few seconds, she only stared at the blue light trapped inside it. That was not just evidence. It was the first real piece of control Arven had managed to recover since the fall of the former Duchess. Until then, they had been reacting to ruins. Now, they had something that could wound those who were still trying to feed on them.

”Are we sending this to the Council?” Ingrivid asked, entering the room.

”A copy,” Morgana answered. ”Never the original.”

Aria nodded immediately. ”I already started duplicating. One copy for the Council, one for the guilds as insurance, one stored here, and one hidden in a place I will not reveal even under threat.”

Damon looked at her. ”And if they threaten you with bad ink?”

Aria grew serious. ”Do not joke about that.”

Elizabeth finished a letter and sealed it with dark wax. ”The message to the Council must be careful. We will not accuse everyone. We will accuse Marius, Havelock, and Soren Vale of falsifying an order, coercing a witness, and attempting to incriminate the Duchess of Arven. At the same time, we will request a formal investigation into the misuse of seals.”

Morgana nodded. ”If I accuse the Council directly, they close ranks.”

”Exactly,” Elizabeth said. ”If you ask them to protect their own authority, they may act in order not to look complicit.”

Damon released a low sound. ”Nobles are very complicated.”

Morgana looked at him. ”You realized that now?”

”No. But sometimes I need to say it out loud to preserve my sanity.”

Ingrivid opened the map over the table. ”We also need to discuss immediate security. The attack on the archives proves Havelock had men inside the city. We caught two, but we do not know how many remain. I reinforced Albert’s wing and the treasury. From now on, no one enters the archives alone.”

Aria raised her hand. ”Not even me?”

”Especially you.”

”This is prejudice against documentary geniuses.”

”It is experience with people who forget to eat when they find suspicious abbreviations.”

Aria opened her mouth, thought for an instant, and closed it. ”Fair.”

Ester, who remained near Damon, finally pulled a chair and pushed it behind him. ”Sit.”

”I was already practically sitting in spirit.”

”Body too.”

He sat, because now everyone was looking. The worst part of recovering near several intelligent women was that none of them allowed useless heroics without social consequences. Ester took his wrist again, and this time took longer. Damon felt her Qi moving through his right arm, stopping at the shoulder, returning to the palm.

”You forced less than I expected,” she said.

Damon blinked. ”Was that positive?”

”It was less negative.”

”I will accept it.”

”But the plates in the air were crooked.”

”I was being attacked by crossbows.”

”Bolts do not correct poor technique.”

”They distract.”

”Not enough.”

Morgana watched the exchange with a slightly lighter expression, but soon returned to the documents. ”Damon, do you think Havelock will try to target me directly again?”

”Not immediately.”

”Why?”

”Because now he knows you are waiting. His next move will be far from you. Archives, witnesses, perhaps Albert. Or he tries to flee to Halbrecht and hide behind greater authority.”

Elizabeth agreed. ”If he has protection from a neighboring ducal house, he can claim Arven is persecuting him without jurisdiction.”

Morgana tightened her jaw. ”Then we need to act before he crosses the border.”

Ingrivid pointed to a route on the map. ”There are three quick paths to Halbrecht. I placed scouts on two. The third passes through the lands of a lesser family that has not yet declared a side.”

”House Merrow,” Aria said, without consulting any paper. ”They are indebted to Havelock and sell refined salt to Verden. Their administrator appears in one of the records I saved.”

Everyone looked at her.

Aria raised her shoulders. ”What? I read.”

Damon said quietly, ”You really are a documentary threat.”

”Thank you.”

Morgana stood again, but this time she did not seem driven by panic. ”Ingrivid, send men to watch the Merrow route, but without an open blockade. I do not want to warn them. Elizabeth, the letter to the Council needs to leave before dawn. Aria, copy everything necessary and sleep at least one hour.”

Aria grimaced.

Morgana pointed at her. ”That is not a suggestion.”

”Yes, Duchess.”

”Damon, you are going to sleep.”

Damon looked at Ester. ”Did you distribute that order before the meeting?”

”I did not need to.”

”Conspiracy.”

Morgana did not smile, but her eyes softened. ”You did your part today. If Havelock moves tomorrow, I need you able to stand.”

That worked better than any scolding from Ester. Damon held her gaze and nodded once. ”Fine.”

Ester seemed satisfied, though she tried to hide it.

Elizabeth sealed another letter. ”Then we are aligned. Until dawn, we protect evidence, witnesses, and Albert. At dawn, we send the formal accusation to the Council and messages to the guilds. During the day, we track Havelock and Soren Vale. If they try to flee, we intercept with witnesses. If they stay, we isolate them politically.”

”No direct attacks without public proof,” Morgana said.

”No Damon on rooftops without warning,” Ester said.

Damon raised a finger. ”Technically, the rooftop came before the door.”

”Do not help your case.”

Aria began collecting the crystals. ”I am going to prepare the copies. If someone tries to burn archives again, do I have authorization to bite?”

Elizabeth answered without hesitation, ”No.”

Damon said at the same time, ”Depends on the situation.”

Ester looked at him.

”It was instinct,” Damon said.

Morgana took a deep breath, and this time she seemed less trapped beneath the weight of the world. Not because the weight had lessened, but because it was divided among people who, in some absurd way, knew how to function together. A tired duchess, a political vampire, an ex-general who turned concern into medical threat, a researcher who made war with documents, a knight who watched doors as if they were borders, and Damon, who was trying to learn not to solve every problem by breaking something.

Perhaps it was not the most elegant team.

But it was hers.

And that night, that mattered.

The meeting ended without ceremony. Ingrivid left to organize the scouts. Elizabeth handed letters to the messengers. Aria took the crystals to the archives with two guards behind her, complaining that an escort disrupted the creative flow. Ester led Damon down the corridor toward the bedrooms, staying close enough to catch him if he stumbled, but without touching him all the time. Morgana remained in the room a few seconds longer, alone with the open map.

Damon stopped at the door and looked back.

She was staring at the route to Halbrecht.

”Morgana.”

She raised her eyes.

”You sleep too.”

She let out a short laugh. ”Now you are on Ester’s side?”

”I am on the side of whoever needs to be alive tomorrow.”

The answer seemed to strike her harder than he expected. Morgana was silent, then closed the map slowly. ”One hour.”

”Three.”

”Two.”

Ester, not missing the opportunity, said, ”Four.”

Morgana looked at her. ”Were you listening?”

”Unfortunately.”

Damon crossed his arms. ”Three and a half.”

Morgana sighed. ”You are unbearable.”

”Yes,” Damon said. ”But we are your problem.”

She looked at him for a moment.

Then smiled, tired.

”Three hours.”

Ester opened her mouth.

Morgana pointed at her. ”Do not abuse it.”

Ester closed her mouth, but seemed to have accepted the partial victory.

Damon kept walking, feeling his body finally charge everything at once. The corridor seemed longer than before, and the cold inside him was too quiet, a clear sign of exhaustion. Even so, there was a strange sensation in his chest, something that was not only tiredness or relief. It was direction.

Havelock was still free.

Soren Vale was still a shadow.

Someone bigger was still moving pieces behind them.

But they had evidence, names, witnesses, and a plan for dawn.

Damon entered the room, sat on the edge of the bed, and let Ester check his pulse one more time. She said nothing for a few seconds. Then she merely pulled the blanket and threw it over him.

”Sleep.”

”Yes, ma’am.”

”No sarcasm?”

”No energy.”

”Good.”

She put out one of the lanterns and went to the door. Before leaving, she stopped for an instant. ”You were better today.”

Damon opened one eye.

”That was a real compliment.”

”It was.”

”I am moved.”

”Sleep before I withdraw it.”

He smiled, but obeyed.

When the door closed, Damon stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. The elemental root pulsed low, regular. His body hurt, but not in warning. For the first time in a long while, the cold inside him seemed less like a threat and more like something that could be carried.

Outside, Arven still simmered in silence.

Inside him, winter rested.