The commander handled each conversation professionally.
Respectfully.
Exactly as expected.
Yet Kai couldn't shake the feeling that the balance of power inside Yggdrasil was changing.
Slowly.
Almost invisibly.
But changing nonetheless.
Later that evening, Kai finally found Akshay alone.
The king stood on a balcony overlooking the city.
The same balcony where they'd spoken days earlier.
"Rough meeting."
Akshay laughed.
A short bitter laugh.
"You could say that."
Kai stepped beside him.
For a while neither spoke.
The city stretched below them.
Lights flickering through rain and mist.
Finally Kai removed the paper fragment from his pocket.
"I found this."
Akshay took it.
Read it once.
Then again.
His expression darkened.
"Where did you get this?"
"The cult meeting."
The king stared at the words.
Longer than Kai expected.
When he finally spoke, his voice sounded quieter.
More serious.
"Don't show this to anyone else."
Kai blinked.
"Why?"
Akshay folded the paper.
"Because if I'm right..."
He looked out toward the city.
"...then somebody is preparing a legal way to remove me."
For the first time, Kai understood the true danger.
A king murdered becomes a martyr.
A king removed by law becomes a criminal.
And one of those outcomes was far more useful to a conspiracy.
Far below the palace, hidden somewhere within Yggdrasil's underground, a sealed letter changed hands.
Inside were only four words.
Phase One complete.
And attached to it was a familiar symbol.
A black circle surrounded by jagged cracks.