Enanita hauls herself over the final icy lip of the chimney. Below, the Magistrate’s stronghold rises from the snow, black towers bristling with lanterns and spears.
The Inquisitor
There. The gatehouse. If the ledger reaches the hall, his seals break with it.
Meren
Too many eyes on the walls. We need a way in that does not shout our names.
Wind tears over the ledge as Enanita crouches behind the iron grate. A small service stair runs along the cliff face to a blind arch under the outer wall, half hidden by drifting snow.
The Inquisitor
That stair leads under the gatehouse. If we slip inside, the records room should be one floor above.
A guard patrol turns on the battlements. Lantern light sweeps close, then passes on. The path is open for a breath, just long enough to move.
Enanita
The blind arch is our first breach.
Behind her, the Inquisitor grips the ledger case, and Meren steadies against the gale. Ahead, the stair waits under the wall, the shortest road to the Magistrate’s lies.