Chapter 151: Questioned
"No."
Marcus blinked.
Amon continued.
"Anything involving Ciara concerns her."
Kayla said nothing.
Marcus exhaled.
"Fine."
He reached into his coat.
Amon's hand moved toward Azrael.
Marcus stopped immediately.
"Documents."
Amon relaxed slightly.
"Slowly."
His cousin gave him an irritated look.
Then carefully removed a folded packet.
"You've become paranoid."
"People were watching my daughter."
"Point taken."
He handed over the papers.
Amon opened them.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Travel permits.
Kayla approached.
"What is this?"
Marcus answered.
"The group Miraclad hired."
Amon's eyes sharpened.
"How did you get this?"
Marcus smiled faintly.
"My father keeps terrible records."
"These came from Darius?"
"His private office."
Amon looked at him.
"You stole from your father."
"Borrowed."
"Did he agree?"
"No."
"Then stole."
Marcus shrugged.
Amon read.
Four names.
Two low-ranking awakeners.
One servant attached to a merchant house.
One former city guard.
Payments had begun approximately one month before Ciara's birth.
Amon stopped.
Before her birth.
That changed everything.
Kayla saw it too.
"They were watching us before she was born."
"Yes."
Marcus nodded.
"That's why I came back."
Amon looked at him.
"You didn't know that earlier?"
"No."
"I thought Miraclad started after Ciara was born."
Marcus pointed toward the first payment.
"That date made me reconsider."
Amon looked again.
Thirty-one days before Ciara's birth.
"What exactly were they ordered to observe?"
Marcus hesitated.
"I only found the payments."
"Nothing else?"
"One note."
He removed another paper.
Amon took it.
Three sentences.
Short.
Direct.
Monitor the Moonstone residence.
Record all visitors.
Confirm the child's birth and report immediately.
Amon's expression became cold.
Kayla read over his shoulder.
"Confirm the child's birth."
Marcus nodded.
"She knew enough to expect something."
Amon stared at the note.
Not Origin Fate.
Not necessarily.
There were other possibilities.
Bloodline.
Inheritance.
A prophecy.
A family secret.
Something connected to his father.
"Who wrote this?"
"Miraclad's personal secretary."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Marcus's expression changed.
"Don't."
Amon looked at him.
"Where?"
"If her secretary disappears before the banquet, Miraclad will know someone found the records."
"I wasn't planning to make him disappear."
Marcus stared.
"That isn't reassuring."
Amon folded the paper.
"Where?"
"Western noble district."
"Name?"
"Jerem Vossan."
Kayla spoke.
"Related to Elder Voss?"
Marcus shook his head.
"No."
Good.
Amon had enough complicated Voss-related problems already.
"What does he do?"
"Everything for her."
"Schedule?"
Marcus laughed.
"You want his daily schedule?"
"Yes."
"I didn't steal that too."
Amon gave him a look.
Marcus sighed.
"He normally leaves Miraclad's estate in the evening and visits the family administrative hall before returning home."
"Alone?"
"Usually one guard."
Amon nodded.
Kayla stared at him.
"No."
Amon looked at her.
"I haven't said anything."
"You didn't need to."
Marcus looked between them.
"This marriage is fascinating."
Both turned toward him.
Marcus raised his hands.
"I'll stop."
Amon returned to the papers.
"Why are you helping me?"
Marcus's amusement disappeared.
There it was.
The actual question.
His cousin looked toward the window.
Then back.
"Because my father is making a mistake."
"Which one?"
"Thinking this can still be handled like ordinary family politics."
Amon waited.
Marcus continued.
"Everyone heard what happened last night."
"The main family council met before sunrise."
"Without Darius?"
"With him."
Marcus laughed bitterly.
"That was the problem."
Amon's eyes narrowed.
"What happened?"
"Half the elders wanted to reconcile with you."
"And the other half?"
"Wanted restrictions placed on you before you became impossible to control."
Amon smiled faintly.
"They're late."
"That's what I said."
Kayla almost laughed.
Marcus continued.
"Miraclad said something different."
"What?"
"She said your strength wasn't the real problem."
Amon became still.
"Go on."
"She said the child was."
Silence.
Kayla's face changed.
Amon's expression emptied.
"Exact words."
Marcus thought.
"'Amon is dangerous because the child survived. If the child continues to survive, House Moonstone will become something none of you are prepared for.'"
No one spoke.
Amon read the sentence again inside his mind.
The system rewarded him for Ciara's survival.
Miraclad could not know that.
Could she?
Marcus continued.
"Then she told everyone not to interfere with you directly."
"Why?"
"She said it would accelerate the problem."
Amon's eyes narrowed.
That sounded dangerously informed.
Kayla held Ciara closer.
"How does she know anything about this?"
Marcus shook his head.
"I don't know."
Amon looked at him.
"But you think she does."
"Yes."
That was enough.
"Did she mention a system?"
"No."
"Fate?"
"No."
"Sign-ins?"
Marcus frowned.
"No."
Good.
Maybe she did not know the mechanism.
"What did she call Ciara?"
Marcus hesitated.
Amon noticed.
"Marcus."
His cousin sighed.
"She called her the Moonstone Child."
Kayla frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
Amon looked toward Marcus.
His cousin shook his head.
"Nobody at the council seemed to know either."
"Nobody?"
"Severin reacted."
Amon's attention sharpened.
"How?"
"He told her not to use that phrase in front of the others."
Now they had two informed people.
Miraclad.
Severin.
Possibly more.
Amon folded the documents.
"When is the banquet?"
"Four days."
"I know."
Marcus frowned.
"Then why ask?"
"Time."
"Seventh evening bell."
Amon nodded.
Plenty of preparation.
Marcus looked toward Ciara.
Then quickly away before Amon could interpret it as interest.
Smart.
"You should be careful."
Amon raised an eyebrow.
"At the banquet?"
"Before it."
"Why?"
"Because Miraclad knows I warned you."
Amon stared.
Marcus's expression became uncomfortable.
"How?"
"My father isn't subtle when angry."
"You told Darius?"
"No."
"He figured out I gave you something when he found his office open."
Amon sighed.
"You're a terrible thief."
"I didn't know I was going to become one this morning."
Fair.
Marcus continued.
"Miraclad will assume you're investigating now."
"Good."
"Why good?"
"People make mistakes when they know pressure is coming."
Marcus looked unconvinced.
"She isn't most people."
"Neither am I."
Amon's answer came without arrogance.
Simple fact.
Marcus studied him.
Then nodded once.
"I should go."
Amon looked at the documents.
"Marcus."
He stopped.
"Why are you really helping me?"
Marcus remained silent.
Amon waited.
Eventually his cousin spoke.
"Because I spent most of my life thinking the main family was powerful."
He laughed quietly.
"Then last night happened."
Amon said nothing.
Marcus continued.
"I watched my father and six elders argue for two hours about what to do with you."
"None of them knew."
"Some wanted to control you."
"Some wanted to flatter you."
"One suggested offering you a council seat like that would somehow solve everything."
Marcus shook his head.
"It was pathetic."
Amon raised an eyebrow.
"And that made you loyal to me?"
"No."
The answer came immediately.
Good.
"I don't trust people who switch loyalty overnight."
Marcus met his eyes.
"I'm helping you because I think the family is about to tear itself apart, and I'd rather know which side isn't run by idiots."
Amon smiled faintly.
Better answer.
"Then keep watching."
Marcus frowned.
"For you?"
"For yourself."
Amon stepped closer.
"But if you find something concerning Miraclad, Severin, or Ciara..."
He held Marcus's gaze.
"Bring it to me first."
Marcus considered.
"What do I get?"
Amon almost laughed.
There was the Moonstone blood.
"What do you want?"
"Protection."
"From?"
"My father if this goes badly."
Amon looked at him.
"Darius won't kill his heir."
Marcus's expression told him that assumption was too optimistic.
Interesting.
Amon nodded.
"If you help me in good faith, and someone inside the family tries to kill you because of it, come here."
Marcus relaxed slightly.
"That's it?"
"Do you want a medal?"
"No."
"Then leave."
Marcus smiled.
He turned toward the door.
Before leaving, he stopped.
"One more thing."
Amon waited.
"Your northern estate documents aren't coming before sunset."
"Why?"
"Miraclad blocked the transfer."
Amon's expression became cold.
Marcus opened the door.
"She invoked an ancestral review."
"What does that do?"
"Freezes changes to old family holdings until the family council hears the claim."
"When?"
Marcus looked back.
"The morning after the banquet."
Of course.
Amon smiled faintly.
"Good."
Marcus stared.
"Why do you keep saying that when people make your life harder?"
"Because now she has to show up."
Marcus laughed.
Then left.
The door closed.
Kayla looked at Amon.
"You're enjoying this."
"A little."
She sighed.
"What now?"
Amon looked at the papers.
The monitoring had started before Ciara's birth.
Miraclad knew enough to call her the Moonstone Child.
Severin knew the phrase.
And both were now actively blocking his inheritance.
There was a structure here.
An old family secret.
Something that predated Ciara.
Possibly something that had been waiting for her.
Amon folded the documents and placed them inside his coat.
"Now?"
He looked toward the western district.
"We don't wait four days to start asking questions."
Kayla's eyes narrowed.
"Amon."
"I'm not killing anyone."
"That sentence worries me more every time you say it."
Amon walked toward the stairs.
"I need different clothes."
"Where are you going?"
"To speak with Miraclad's secretary."
Kayla stared.
"You mean interrogate."
"Speak."
"Amon."
He stopped.
She pointed toward him.
"You promised you were staying in the capital."
"I am."
"And no disappearing."
"I won't."
"And you come home tonight."
Amon thought about it.
Kayla's eyes narrowed further.
"Yes."
"Good."
Amon continued upstairs.
Behind him, Kayla muttered something he chose not to hear.
Thirty minutes later, he left the estate without Azrael visible at his side.
He did not need the sword for this.
For once, the problem was not something that needed to be cut apart.
Not yet.
Jerem Vossan left Lady Miraclad's estate every evening.
He carried her correspondence.
Managed her payments.
Scheduled her private meetings.
And one month before Ciara's birth, someone using his handwriting had ordered Amon's home watched.
Amon intended to find out why.
Preferably before Jerem realized he was being questioned.