King Theron Sent His Adopted Daughter, Elara Veyrith, to the Dragon's Maw for a "Sacrifice" — But Awakened Her Ancient Dragon Kin Instead
Sir Kael’s clandestine investigation led him deeper into the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the Royal Palace. He was searching for any trace of Amon Wexler, the royal scribe who had vanished seventeen years ago.
His search was painstaking, conducted under the guise of routine administrative audits. He spent his nights poring over dusty ledgers in forgotten administrative offices, his lamp casting long shadows.
The offices were rarely used, filled with the musty scent of ancient paper and disuse. Most records were mundane, detailing mundane expenses for royal repairs or mundane supplies.
One evening, deep within a neglected storage room, Kael discovered a small, unassuming ledger tucked away beneath a pile of discarded manifests. Its cover was plain, unadorned, suggesting it held no great importance.
He pulled it out, blowing off a thick layer of dust. The ledger felt older, its pages brittle, yellowed with age, unlike the pristine, replacement ledgers he had encountered in the main archives.
This was a relic, a genuine artifact from the past. His heart quickened.
He opened it, his fingers carefully turning the fragile pages. Most entries were routine, but then, deep within its worn pages, he found a section that was different.
It was a series of fragmented, coded payments. The handwriting was neat, precise, but the entries themselves were cryptic, using a system of symbols and abbreviations Kael had never seen in standard royal accounting.
He recognized the style, however. It was the unique hand of a royal scribe, a careful, almost artistic script. It had to be Wexler’s.
Kael’s trained mind immediately set to work, deciphering the codes. The payments weren’t to royal suppliers or contractors. They were large, suspiciously regular sums.
And the recipient, indicated by a peculiar sigil, was not a named individual but a designated ‘asset.’ The payments continued for several months following Queen Aerion’s assassination.
He felt a cold dread as he slowly pieced together the meaning. The payments were being made directly by King Theron himself, or at his explicit direction.
The entries clearly detailed large, suspicious payments made by Theron seventeen years ago. Not to standard palace personnel, but to a hidden, anonymous recipient.
One entry, written in a slightly different ink, caught Kael’s eye: “For services rendered. Eradication complete. Silence assured. Payment: 500 gold Imperial.”
Five hundred gold Imperials was an enormous sum, far exceeding anything for normal palace services. It was the kind of payment made for… illicit work.
And the recipient’s sigil, after much cross-referencing with older court documents, was finally linked to a small, private residence outside the capital. A residence known to have been owned by Amon Wexler, the disgraced royal scribe.
Wexler, who had vanished shortly after the Dragon Queen’s assassination, was clearly not just disgraced, but paid off, silenced. He was involved in a deeper conspiracy.
The ledger entries hinted at a systematic cover-up, a deliberate effort to erase not just Queen Aerion, but any trace of those involved in her downfall. The “services rendered” entry was chillingly vague, yet undeniably sinister.
Kael’s hands, usually so steady, trembled as he stared at the ledger. This was the concrete evidence he had been searching for.
This wasn’t just gaslighting or political maneuvering. This was premeditated murder, covered up with blood money. Theron had paid someone to ensure silence, to eradicate any witness to his crimes.
The specific detail of “Eradication complete. Silence assured” was a punch to the gut. It explicitly stated the purpose of the payment: to erase any lingering threat to Theron’s stolen crown.
Amon Wexler was clearly not just a scribe, but a key player, or at least a highly compensated accessory, in the assassination and subsequent cover-up. And Theron had bought his silence, perhaps permanently.
Kael closed the ledger carefully, his mind racing. This document, humble as it was, was a bomb waiting to explode.
It connected Theron directly to the conspiracy, revealing his financial involvement in the immediate aftermath of Queen Aerion’s death. It showed premeditation, not just opportunism.
The knowledge was electrifying, terrifying. It confirmed Theron’s deep-seated criminality, his willingness to bribe and murder to maintain his power.
He carefully tucked the ledger back into its hidden spot, ensuring no one would stumble upon it accidentally. He couldn’t risk it being discovered before the right moment.
Kael knew he had to get this to Elara, to Lyra, to the Tribunal. This was the proof they needed, the undeniable link between Theron and the bloody coup seventeen years ago.
He left the dusty office, the weight of the ledger’s secrets pressing down on him. The fragmented whispers within its pages had finally come together, painting a horrifying picture of a king who would stop at nothing.
The truth, once hidden, was now finally within reach, ready to tear down Theron’s empire of lies.
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