Leo's Secret

Before the council could place him under guard, Leo vanished through a passage only the Sun Kings knew.

The tunnel spiraled beneath the throne room into a chamber of living fire. Every wall carried the names of Leo's ancestors. At the center, suspended above a black altar, hung the missing shoulder plate from his ceremonial armor—the same armor whose symbol had been found on the wounded messenger.

He had hidden it three nights earlier after discovering a hairline fracture filled with shadow. The metal should have carried the warmth of the sun. Instead it pulsed like a second heartbeat, and every pulse made the carved names on the walls grow dimmer.

A voice reached him from the doorway. ‘Secrets are expensive during a war.’ Virgo stepped into the firelight, a silver healing blade in her hand. She had followed the fading trail of Leo's magic through the palace. She did not accuse him. That frightened Leo more than Aries' spear.

Leo admitted that the crown had warned him before it disappeared. For seven nights it had shown him the same vision: a faceless king seated on a thirteenth throne. He had told no one because the last ruler to speak of that throne had caused the kingdoms to turn against one another.

Virgo examined the corrupted plate. Shadow threads ran through the gold like roots beneath soil. She cut one thread with her blade, and the chamber filled with another person's memory.

A hooded figure walked freely through the royal vault while Leo slept. It knew every seal and every spoken command. When it reached the crown, it raised its head. The face beneath the hood was Leo's—perfect down to the old scar above his left eye.

The memory shifted. For a heartbeat the copy's reflection appeared in the vault floor. It was not a lion, but a pale serpent crowned with thirteen points. Then the image began to decay, its edges turning to the same silver dust that had consumed the messenger's final words.

Virgo saved one shard of the memory inside a crystal vial. It was not enough to prove Leo innocent, but it was enough to prove the enemy could imitate a ruler. If the copy could wear Leo's face, it could wear any of theirs.

Above them, the palace bells changed rhythm. Aries had ordered the eastern gates opened for his army. Leo took the vial and the broken armor. To stop a war, he would have to stand before twelve suspicious rulers and confess that he had hidden the only warning they ever received.