A servant slipped a folded note into a maid's palm at the mouth of a dim corridor.
The maid moved through wavering torchlight, steps soft yet hasty.
At a chamber door, two Knyyts stood guard. One stepped in her path. His gauntlet hovered near his pommel.
She produced the message.
He checked it, then crouched and slid it beneath the door.
Shortly after, a reply emerged. A different note.
The guard retrieved it and turned away without a word.
At a stairwell, the note was passed to another servant — who took it and climbed quickly.
At a shuttered window, he pushed the note through the lattice.
A gloved hand took possession from the other side.
Inside, a half-burnt candle guttered over a cluttered desk. The man read in silence. Wax pooled. When he finished, he reached for a quill.
The door opened into the Archive chamber.
Boren awaited inside, pacing in an aisle between shelves.
"I am meant to be on the road to the Rune Academy." Esq grumbled as he entered. "You delay me unnecessarily, Boren."
"You would flee now of all times?" Boren said, "When our Sect is endangered!"
Esq pulled off his gloves as he approached. "A Whyteleafe assassinated in our own halls. You know better than anyone what message that sends our many many enemies."
Boren did not react. Hunched, arms folded behind his back. "I have already sent for him," he said. "He will be in Elsem within the week."
Esq stilled. "Summoning him is one thing. How do you intend to move him to do our bidding when that pompous Gala princess is still Queen? We have little power, Boren."
"More than you think." Boren retorted, "The Queen might be regarded as young Eielhart's Regent — but she has yet to officially claim the role. Until she does, the authority of Whyteleafe Sect falls to me. One who knows the laws of Elsem understands this. He will do my bidding — one way or another. Trust me on that."
Silence settled between them.
Esq glanced toward the door then back to Boren, deliberating. He hissed, "There was once order. A pure hierarchy. Good men of experience led, women followed, the youngsters humbly listened and learned from their betters, and peasants served wholeheartedly."
Boren held his gaze. "Stay," he said. "I require your support. No, our Sect requires your support. We must crush our enemy as a Sect united and wrest our throne from the foreigner Queen."
Esq hesitated. Then nodded.