Judge emerges from The Final Edict beneath tolling bells, carrying the oil-wrapped transfer ledger, scraped pages, and altered slips. Corren follows in shackles between two guards, while the archivist and elderly woman remain below in the vault.
The presiding magistrate waits at the courthouse steps with the young adult scribe and dust-covered courier beside her. Citizens crowd the ash-gray road as her silver seal catches the evening light.
The Presiding Magistrate
Judge, surrender those records for lawful transmission to Vauld. The royal tribunal’s authority supersedes this ruined court and every private claim made within it.
The guards tighten their formation around Corren without drawing weapons. The scribe watches the bundle beneath Judge’s arm, while the courier keeps his summons close against his chest.
Corren Vale
Read the chain of custody aloud! The archivist held the ledger, the old magistrate removed it, and Judge recovered it from the sealed vault.
The Presiding Magistrate
The chain is irrelevant until verified by lawful custodians. Those pages may be compromised, and Judge has no authority to withhold evidence from the royal tribunal.
Judge
The tribunal’s order was authorized before the next bell, and the records are already contested.
Have Judge’s custody of the evidence publicly recognized as necessary