The war chamber fell into stunned silence.
Kael stood still at the head of the table, and the rest of us — the Five Swords, the scouts, the rebels — waited.
The scout in the center of the room was covered in dust and half out of breath. But his voice was steady.
"We've confirmed it," he said. "There's something beneath the palace."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Beneath the throne?"
The scout nodded. "Yes, deeper than the royal archives. Sealed chamber, buried behind multiple magical barriers. It holds… a gigantic orb. Suspended. Glowing. Sucking magic out of the world itself."
My head rose slightly.
"Where does the energy end up?" Virella asked.
The scout spread out a parchment. "Directly into the Peace Vault."
I felt the air change.
That name — the Peace Vault — now meant something.
It's powering the Hall of Peace," he added. "The one where heroes are stored in stasis."
Drogan grumbled, "They're running their prison using the world's magic."
I said nothing.
I was thinking of their smiles. Still. Frozen. Smiling, as if peace had been pounded into their lungs.
Kael leaned across the map table. "Who can access the Peace Vault?"
The scout gasped. "Only three individuals can. The King. The Hero Rhaizen. And… one more. The system could not determine the third. It simply marked them 'unknown.'"
The room stiffened once more.
They all stared at me.
They believed I was him.
Their Rhaizen.
I remained silent.
Kael scanned the map. "Then we have what we need."
He grabbed a black quill ink, marked where the Peace Vault was, and moved away.
"We do not simply burglarize the King's vault," he whispered.
"We shatter the illusion of peace."
Two weeks later, the King departs from the palace for a great celebration. The rebels will attack when the capital is sleeping.