Elianor guides Grim from the witness recess and through a disused stair, leaving Varkesh, the orc mercenary, and the royal champion below the sealed prison.
The stair opens into an abandoned royal chapel. Dust veils the empty altar, cracked saints watch from shadowed niches, and no funeral bells sound beyond the thick stone.
Princess Elianor
The oath holds the Crownless King, but it has not told me how to live beneath its weight. What does the living oath truly demand?
Elianor steps before the altar, blue mantle brushing the dust. Without the palace court around her, she appears less like a princess than a keeper awaiting terms.
Princess Elianor
Must I surrender every choice to the throne’s buried promise? Must I command wars, preserve bloodlines, or sacrifice the kingdom whenever the dead require it?
Grim
No bells sound here. The chapel has not forgotten death, but it has not been claimed by it.
Princess Elianor
And what will death’s guardian refuse to carry for us? Name that boundary clearly, so I do not mistake duty for permission.