The atmosphere in the palace had shifted for Riha. The walk back to her chambers with Helios had left a lingering warmth she couldn't quite shake, but the weight of her discoveries in the library demanded her full attention. The Aetherium was just the tip of the iceberg. As she dug deeper into the economic ledgers she had memorized, a darker pattern began to emerge—one that the official records tried very hard to hide.
Large sums of gold were being moved under the guise of "infrastructure maintenance," but the destination was always the same: the Southern Docks, a place notorious for its lack of oversight. By connecting the dots between the missing treasury funds and the strange labor reports she'd skimmed, Riha realized with a sickening jolt that this empire wasn't just mining forbidden metals; it was fueling a massive, underground slave trade.
The Descent into the Underworld
Determined to see the truth for herself, Riha waited until the palace was shrouded in the deep silence of midnight. She didn't use her green Anarkali this time. Instead, she donned a suit of sleek, midnight-black leather that clung to her like a second skin, topped with a hooded cloak that masked her features entirely. She moved like a phantom, bypassing the sentries by scaling the high garden walls and vanishing into the city's labyrinthine slums.
Her destination was "The Iron Knot," a front for a black organization that controlled the city's illegal auctions. The building was a dilapidated warehouse on the edge of the water, its exterior rotting, but its interior guarded by men with cold eyes and heavy crossbows.
Using the shadows as her ally, Riha slipped through a high ventilation grate. She perched herself on a rusted steel beam overlooking the main floor. The sight below made her blood run cold. Row after row of people—men, women, and even children—were huddled in iron cages. They were branded with the same mark she had seen on the Aetherium crates.
This wasn't just a criminal enterprise; it was state-sponsored.
An Unexpected Silhouette
Riha's hand tightened on the hilt of her blade, her heart hammering against her ribs. She was prepared to see monsters here, but she wasn't prepared for the figure standing near the auctioneer's podium.
A man in a rich, dark cloak stood with his back to her, speaking in hushed tones to the leader of the syndicate. When he turned slightly to inspect a ledger, the moonlight caught the sharp line of his jaw and the unmistakable crest on his signet ring.
It was Helios.
Riha felt as though the floor had dropped out from under her. He's part of this? she thought, her mind reeling. The man who had gently tried to wipe away her tears, the man who had walked her to her door with a smile—was he the one financing this misery? The betrayal felt like a physical blow. She watched him point toward a group of prisoners, his face unreadable and cold. He looked nothing like the charming prince she had spent the evening with. He looked like a predator.
She wanted to jump down and demand answers, to press her dagger to his throat again and see if he could lie his way out of this. But she was outnumbered a hundred to one, and her mission was bigger than her anger.
The Silent Return
Fighting the urge to strike, Riha melted back into the darkness. She navigated the rooftops with a reckless speed, her mind a storm of fury and confusion. By the time she reached the palace walls, the first hints of grey were touching the horizon.
She scaled the stones and slipped through her window, her boots landing silently on the plush carpet. She stripped off the black gear, her hands trembling as she stowed it in her storage space. She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the door, half-expecting a knock from the man she now viewed as a monster.
The "peace" of the library felt like a lifetime ago. She had come here to find the empire's secrets, and she had found a rot that reached the very top. If Helios was involved in the slave trade, then every word he had spoken to her was a lie. She wasn't just a guest anymore; she was a spy in the house of her enemy.
As she pulled the silk covers up, Riha made a vow. She would dismantle "The Iron Knot," and if Helios stood in her way, she wouldn't hesitate to draw blood—this time, for real.