Victor conducted a detailed magical examination of everything Lyanna owned, wore, or used regularly. The search took hours. Lyanna stood in the centre of their chambers in minimal clothing, to allow Victor to scan her body for any magical signatures embedded in her skin or jewellery.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Victor stopped. He was holding one of Lyanna’s rings, a simple silver band she wore on her right hand. She couldn’t even rember where it had co from or when she’d started wearing it.
"Here. This is it."
He held the ring up to the light, muttering a spell, and everyone saw a tiny trace of magical energy woven through the tal, so subtle it seed like part of the ring’s natural structure. It pulsed like a heartbeat, then transmitted outward.
"The tracking spell was woven so subtly into the ring that even vampire senses couldn’t detect it. Whoever created this is a master craftsman, the magical signature is nearly invisible." Victor explained.
Azrael stared at the ring in Victor’s hand. He was burning with anger. Lyanna instinctively stepped back. She’d seen him angry before but this ti it was different. It looked like a volcano waiting to erupt.
"Soone tampered with that ring." Azrael said. "Soone with access to the royal chambers, soone who had both the magical skill to create such a subtle tracking device and a reason to help the Order."
Victor began naming suspects imdiately.
"Servants who co here to help, nobles who visited the castle, anyone who has sympathy for the Order or who might have been blackmailed or bribed. I’ll interrogate everyone who had access to..."
"Wait." Lyanna said.
"What if the ring was already tampered with when I received it? From where did it co from exactly?" Lyanna asked.
Azrael walked to the table where Victor had put the ring, and examined it closely. His face went pale and his jaw clenched tightly.
"Do you rember when you started wearing this ring?" He asked as he turned.
Lyanna tried to rember.
"I... I don’t know. It was just there one day, mixed in with my other jewellery. I assud Clara had brought it with the other accessories you’d provided. I’ve been wearing it for months, I think. Maybe since shortly after the wedding?"
Azrael’s expression darkened even more. He looked at the ring more closely.
"I know where this ca from. This was a gift from Queen Elise. When we ended our relationship centuries ago, she gave this ring and told to give it to my wife if I ever married. She said it was a gesture of goodwill, and she wanted to be happy even if it wasn’t with her. I thought she was finally accepting that we were over and was wishing good.
I gave it to Clara to give it to you. And the entire ti, it’s been tracking you." He chuckled.
The betrayal was deep. Elise, his forr lover, soone he’d been close to for nearly a century, a vampire queen he’d trusted enough to accept a gift from and then give to his wife, had been working with or for the Holy Order. She had planted this tracking device years ago, sure that he would eventually use it exactly as she wanted.
The realization that soone so close could be a traitor shook Azrael’s composure completely. He picked up the ring from the table and threw it against the wall. The ring shattered, and pieces of silver broke into fragnts and scattered on the floor.
Then he began destroying other things. He grabbed a chair and smashed it against the floor. He picked up ancient vases, priceless sculptures, and soon, everything within his reach beca his target.
Lyanna and Victor stepped back, moving to the far corner of the room and letting him do whatever he wanted to. Finally, exhausted, Azrael slumped against the wall. The room was destroyed. He stood there, breathing hard, his face burning with pain, rage, and betrayal.
"How long? How long has she been feeding them information? How many deaths is she responsible for? How many vampires have died because I trusted her? How many humans burned because I gave you that ring without checking it for magical tampering?" He looked at Lyanna, and the guilt in his eyes was staggering.
"This is my fault. All of it. Those refugees died because I was careless, because I trusted soone I shouldn’t have, and because I didn’t protect you properly."
Victor imdiately moved to examine all other gifts from Elise. He told about the betrayal to Helena and several other trusted court mbers, and within hours they uncovered evidence of a conspiracy that went far deeper than anyone had imagined.
Elise had been coordinating with the Order for years, possibly decades. She’d been providing intelligence in exchange for the Order targeting her political rivals among vampire courts.
Hundreds of vampires had died over the years because of the intelligence she had provided. Entire bloodlines had been wiped out because she had told the Order where to strike and when, and she had been doing it all while maintaining her position as a respected vampire queen, while attending councils and making alliances, while pretending to be concerned about Order attacks when she was the one planning them.
Victor presented the evidence to Azrael and the inner council in the war room. Azrael studied everything, his expression growing colder and harder with each revelation.
"Summon all the courts. I’m calling an ergency council eting at Thornfield. Everyone needs to see this." He said.
"Send word to Crimson Dawn. Inform Queen Elise that her presence is required urgently. Tell her we’ve discovered critical intelligence about the Order’s strategies, and that we need all courts to be present to coordinate the response. Don’t ntion we know about her involvent. I want her to walk in here thinking she’s safe."
Victor nodded, already moving to draft the ssages.
"And Victor? Make sure the ssage to Elise is personal, from . Make it sound like I’m reaching out to her despite our relationship, like I’m putting aside personal conflict for the vampire’s safety."
As preparations began for the ergency council, Lyanna found a mont alone with Azrael. He was in his study, staring at the shattered fragnts of the ring he had put into a small box on his desk.
"What will you do to her?" Lyanna asked.
"I’m going to give her the sa choice I gave you when you knelt before my council on our wedding day: submit to judgnt or die. The difference is, she’s actually guilty of everything she’ll be accused of.
And if she chooses death, I’ll grant it slowly. She will understand exactly what it ans to betray , to betray vampires, and to cause the deaths of hundreds of our people for her own political gain."
He then stood up, walked towards her, and cupped her face gently.
"I’m sorry. I was the one who gave you that ring. I should have checked it for magical tampering. I should have been more careful. I should have protected you better."
For the first ti, Azrael had aplogized to her and that too because of not protecting her properly. He was taking responsibility for his mistake, for trusting Elise, for giving Lyanna a tracking device disguised as a gift.
"It’s not your fault. You didn’t know."
He looked at her for a mont. Then he hugged her. He held her like she was sothing precious that he’d failed to protect but was determined to never fail again.
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