"She is also," Elara continued, "the most likely person to have found the sealed record first. To have identified what the succession magic could do. To have begun the shipments." She paused. "I don't have proof yet. I will have proof by tomorrow evening."
"And when you have proof," Ken said.
Elara looked at him steadily.
"Then I have a conversation with the Third Princess at the third bell," she said. "About what we both know and what we're both going to do about it." She paused. "And then the Empress Dowager has a very different kind of day."
The room processed this.
Mira said, very carefully: "When you say different kind of day—"
"Legal," Elara said. "Documented. Unambiguous. The kind of removal that cannot be reversed or appealed because every piece of evidence is in order and every procedure was followed correctly." She paused. "I'm not interested in doing this quickly and messily. I'm interested in doing it in a way that cannot be undone after I've done it."
