Maelin turns the roster toward the window. Along the margin, beneath the copied cipher, faint writing emerges: an acknowledged royal bastard, protected by the hidden household office.
Maelin Rusk
The notation names the protection as continuing authority, not a single escort. It links the bastard’s safety to this office’s warrants.
She traces the next line with her finger. Its pressure marks align with Joric’s warrant and the emergency order condemning the Harbor Watch, while pounding shakes dust from the lintel.
Oren Pell
The wording is older than both documents. But this darker stroke is later. A second hand altered the entry after the office recorded its protection.
Ser Joric Vale
Then my warrant was issued under the protection of a living claimant, not merely a sealed charge. If they seize these records, they expose him.
The Harbor Watch guards brace harder as someone outside orders the chamber opened in the crown’s name. Maelin shields the fresh page with her arm, and the royal clerk gathers the loose scraps.
Maelin Rusk
Captain, the evidence now joins the claimant, the faction, and the altered orders. We must preserve every mark before that door gives way.
✓ Quest Accepted
Preserve the surviving proof of the hidden household’s authority