The transition from the wild, lawless North to the civilized heart of the Empire was not marked by a sudden shift in landscape but by the gradual appearance of rules. The snow thinned into slush and then into mud. The towering pines gave way to manicured orchards and stone mile-markers. And the silence of the wilderness was replaced by the constant, grinding noise of commerce.
Valeria sat inside the black iron carriage, the heavy velvet curtains drawn tight. Across from her, the Duke of Ironclad dozed fitfully, his breathing still possessing a slight rattle. Beside him sat Caspian and Lucian. The Shark and the Phoenix were dressed in heavy hooded cloaks that hid their non-human features, but the tension radiating off them was enough to curdle milk. They were entering the land of their captors, and every rattle of the carriage wheels sounded like a cage door slamming shut.
Valeria was not looking out the window. She was staring at the air in front of her, reading a book that only she could see.
[Book: The Penal Code of the Eryndor Empire, 4th Edition.]
[Skill Active: Speed Reading.]
[Progress: 85%.]
"You are frowning," the Duke's voice rasped, breaking the silence. He had opened one eye, watching her stare into nothingness. "Is the law that displeasing?"
"It is contradictory," Valeria muttered, blinking the blue text away. "Section 4 states that all sentient beings have the right to a trial. Section 9 states that 'Beasts of Burden' are property. The Guild operates in the gap between those two sentences. They classify beastmen as 'Beasts' to strip them of rights, but hold them criminally liable as 'Sentient' if they fight back."
"That is the Guild's oldest trick," the Duke agreed, shifting painfully in his seat. "They want slaves who are smart enough to work but legally defined as furniture. It is a loop of logic designed to strangle hope."
"I am going to strangle them with it," Valeria said, closing the mental book.
The carriage slowed. Outside, the rhythm of Kael's horse changed from a trot to a walk. Ignis, who was driving, knocked three times on the roof.
"Trouble," Ignis called out.
Valeria pulled the curtain back a fraction of an inch.
They had reached the Twin River Bridge, a massive stone structure that spanned the treacherous currents separating the Northern Province from the Central Plains. It was a choke point. And it was blocked.
A barricade of spiked timber logs lay across the road. Behind it stood a dozen soldiers wearing the tabards of a local Baron, but flanking them were four men in the distinct black leather of the Beast Taming Guild.
"A toll booth?" Caspian whispered, his gills fluttering nervously.
"A dragnet," Valeria corrected. "The Guild knows we are coming. They have likely bribed every minor lord along the King's Road to stop black carriages."
She looked at the Duke. He was pale, clutching his chest. He could not fight. Kael and Silas were powerful, but if they slaughtered Imperial soldiers on a public road, they would be branded as bandits before they even reached the Capital. This was not a battle for axes.
"Stay inside," Valeria ordered her husbands. "Keep your hoods up. If they see your faces, the game changes."
"And Varg?" Lucian asked, glancing at the locked luggage compartment beneath the seat where the paralyzed Commander was stowed.
"Varg is luggage," Valeria said. "And we do not declare luggage."
She adjusted the heavy gold ring on her finger. She checked her reflection in the carriage window. She didn't look like the scavenger of Oakhaven anymore. She smoothed her black wool dress, set her jaw, and opened the door.
Kael had already dismounted. He stood by the carriage door, a looming figure in a cloak, his hand resting on the hilt of a sword he had scavenged from the Guild army. He played the part of a silent bodyguard perfectly, though Valeria could hear the low rumble of a growl in his chest.
Valeria stepped down into the mud. She walked toward the barricade.
A man in a plumed helmet, presumably the Baron's Captain, stepped forward. He looked bored and arrogant, the dangerous combination of a man with a little power and no brain.
"Halt," the Captain said, holding up a hand. "Road is closed. Security check. By order of Baron Krell."
"Security check?" Valeria asked, her voice cool and bored. "For what?"
"Escaped livestock," the Captain sneered, looking at Kael. "And smugglers. Open the carriage."
One of the Guild agents stepped up behind the Captain. He held a crystal orb in his hand - a mana detector.
"Step aside, woman," the Guild agent said rudely. "We are searching the vehicle."
Valeria didn't move. She didn't look at the Guild agent. She looked at the Captain.
"Captain," she said softly. "Do you know who owns this carriage?"
"I don't care if it belongs to the Emperor's mistress," the Captain spat. "Baron Krell demands a search. Now move, or my men will move you."
He reached for her arm.
It was the mistake she had been waiting for.
Kael moved. He didn't draw his sword. He simply stepped between the Captain and Valeria, his chest colliding with the man. The Captain hit Kael like he had walked into a brick wall and stumbled back.
"Assault!" the Captain screamed, reaching for his sword. "Kill them!"
"Hold!" Valeria shouted.
She raised her right hand. The Ironclad Signet Ring caught the sunlight.
The gold flashed. The emblem of the Gauntlet and Hammer was unmistakable to anyone who had served in the military.
The Captain froze. His eyes went to the ring, then to the black carriage, and finally to Valeria's face. The color drained from his cheeks.
"That... that is the Ironclad Seal," the Captain stammered.
"It is," Valeria said, stepping forward. "I am High Adjudicator Valeria. I am traveling on urgent business for the Grand Duke of Ironclad. And you, Captain, just threatened a member of the Ducal Proxy."
She lowered her voice to a whisper that carried more weight than a scream.
"To impede a High Adjudicator is treason. To touch one is a capital offense. Tell me, Captain, does Baron Krell value your head enough to start a war with the North?"
The Captain swallowed hard. He looked at the Guild agent. The agent was glaring, signaling him to proceed.
"But..." the Captain wavered. "The Guild... they said there are fugitives..."
"The Guild has no authority over the Duke," Valeria snapped. "Now, remove this lumber from my path. Or I will have my guard remove you."
Kael let out a snarl. It wasn't human. It was deep, primal, and vibrated in the Captain's bones.
The Captain made his choice. He feared the Guild, but he feared the Duke and the seven-foot monster in the cloak more.
"Clear the road!" the Captain shouted to his men. "Move the logs! Let them pass!"
"You coward!" the Guild agent hissed. "We have orders! That carriage matches the description!"
The agent pushed past the Captain. He raised his mana detector.
"I am searching it!" the agent yelled, reaching for the door handle.
Valeria didn't panic. She didn't block him. She simply watched.
The agent grabbed the handle.
CLICK.
A tiny needle, embedded in the handle's mechanism, pricked his finger. It was a simple trap Valeria had installed before they left - coated in a mild dose of Paralytic Nightshade.
The agent gasped. He stared at his hand. "What..."
His legs gave out. He collapsed into the mud, twitching.
"Oh dear," Valeria said, covering her mouth in mock surprise. "He seems to have had a seizure. The excitement must have been too much for him."
She looked at the Captain. "You should probably get him a doctor. After you move the barricade."
The Captain looked at the twitching agent, then at Valeria's cold violet eyes. He didn't ask questions. He didn't want to know.
"Move the logs!" he screamed again, his voice cracking.
The soldiers scrambled. The heavy timber was dragged aside.
Valeria climbed back into the carriage. She didn't look back. Kael mounted his horse. Ignis snapped the reins.
As they rolled across the bridge, leaving the confused soldiers and the paralyzed agent behind, the Duke opened his eyes.
"That," the Duke wheezed, a faint smile touching his lips, "was an abuse of power. I approve."
"It was a bluff," Valeria exhaled, her hands shaking slightly now that the adrenaline was fading. "If they had called it, Kael would have had to kill them all."
"They didn't call it," the Duke said. "Because you acted like you owned the road. That is the first lesson of the Capital, Valeria. Power is not about who has the biggest sword. It is about who assumes they do."
"We are through the gate," Lucian whispered, looking out the back window. "But that agent... he will wake up. He will send a message."
"Let him," Valeria said, opening her book again. "We just bought ourselves a day. By the time they realize what happened, we will be in the city."
The rest of the journey was a blur of muddy roads and sleepless nights. They stopped only to change horses at Imperial post stations, using the Ring to commandeer fresh mounts. They slept in shifts. Kael and Silas prowled the perimeter of the carriage whenever they stopped, their beastman instincts on high alert.
Four days later, they saw it.
The Imperial Capital of Aethelgard.
It didn't look like a city. It looked like a mountain of stone that had been carved into a civilization. Massive white walls, fifty feet high, encircled a sprawl of buildings that housed a million souls. In the center, rising above the smog and the noise, was the Golden Palace - a spire of glass and gold that pierced the clouds.
"It is big," Silas whispered from his horse, staring at the sheer scale of it. To a Wolf of the wild, it looked like a prison the size of a world.
"It is a pit," Ignis muttered from the driver's seat. "A pit of vipers, liars, and thieves. I hate it."
They merged into the traffic on the main causeway. Carts laden with grain, silk, and ore jostled for space. The noise was deafening.
They reached the City Gates - a massive archway flanked by statues of lions.
This time, there was no blockade. The traffic flowed smoothly. But as they passed under the arch, Valeria felt a tingle on her skin.
[System Alert: High-Level Barrier Detected.]
[City Ward: The Eye of the Emperor.]
[Effect: Suppresses all unauthorized offensive magic. Scans for Illusion Magic.]
"The Ward," Valeria hissed. "It scans for illusions."
She looked at Caspian and Lucian. Their cloaks hid their features, but if the Ward scanned them...
"It detects magic," Ignis whispered back. "Not biology. As long as you aren't using a spell to hide your face, it won't trigger. Keep your hoods up. Use mundane shadows."
They held their breath as the carriage rolled through the invisible curtain of energy. The Ward hummed, a pressure in their ears.
It passed over them. It scanned the Duke's faint life signature. It scanned Valeria's lack of magic. It scanned the dormant mana of the beastmen.
It did not sound an alarm.
They were inside.
The Capital assaulted them instantly. The smell of roasting meat, open sewers, expensive perfume, and horse manure mixed into a singular, overwhelming city stench. The streets were paved with cobblestones, crowded with people in colorful silks and beggars in rags.
"Where do we go?" Ignis asked, navigating the carriage through a throng of pedestrians. "The Ironclad Estate is in the Noble District, but it has been empty for months. It will be dusty and likely watched."
"We go to the Estate," Valeria said. "We need a fortress. Even a dusty one."
They navigated the winding streets, climbing higher toward the inner rings where the air was cleaner and the houses larger. They passed the Guild Headquarters - a massive, fortress-like building draped in banners depicting a man holding a leash.
Kael stared at it as they passed. His knuckles turned white on his reins.
"Steady," Valeria whispered through the window. "Not yet."
They arrived at the Ironclad Estate. It was a grim, grey mansion surrounded by a wrought-iron fence. The garden was overgrown, and the windows were dark.
Ignis used the Duke's key to open the gate. They pulled the carriage into the courtyard, out of sight of the street.
As soon as the gate clanged shut, the Duke collapsed. The journey had drained the last of his borrowed strength.
"Get him inside!" Valeria ordered. "Caspian, check the water supply. Lucian, check the chimneys for spies. Kael, secure the perimeter."
They carried the Duke into the dusty grand hall. It was cold, filled with furniture draped in white sheets that looked like ghosts.
Valeria stood in the center of the room. She was dirty, tired, and terrified. But she was here.
She walked to the window and looked out at the city lights flickering in the twilight. Somewhere out there was Lady Lysandra. Somewhere out there was the Emperor. And somewhere out there were her parents - the family that had thrown Elise away like trash.
"We are in the belly of the beast," Ignis said, walking up behind her. He held a candle, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. "What is the first move, Strategist?"
Valeria turned away from the window. She looked at her husbands - monsters in a city of men.
"The first move," Valeria said, "is to make them think we are weak."
She pulled the Duke's ring off her finger and placed it on the table.
"Tomorrow, I go to the Court not as a High Adjudicator, but as a helpless girl begging for an audience. We lure them in. We let them think the Duke is dying and I am desperate."
"And then?" Kael asked, stepping out of the shadows.
"And then," Valeria smiled, and for the first time, it was a smile that belonged in the Capital, sharp and venomous, "we introduce them to the witness in the trunk."
[Mission Update: The Court of Lions.]
[Objective: Secure an Imperial Audience.]
[TimeLimit: 3 Days before the Guild executes a legal injunction.]
"Get some sleep," Valeria ordered. "Tomorrow, we go shopping. If I'm going to play the part of a noblewoman, I need a dress that screams 'victim' but costs a fortune."