The summons came at dusk.
Not from the Crown.
From the Queen herself.
Written in her own hand. No seal. No title. Just a folded sheet, slipped under my door.
"Come alone. Observatory. Midnight."
Serina wanted to follow. I told her not to.
"If I don't come back, burn what's left."
"If you don't come back, I'm burning more than paper."
She was already there when I arrived.
No crown. No guard.
Just a woman in gray, staring at the stars through cracked glass.
"You move like someone who's been silenced before," she said.
"And you speak like someone who let it happen."
She didn't flinch.
"I did."
"Why summon me now?"
"Because I know what happens when records burn."
"And?"
"I want to choose which ones survive."