Chapter 127: On a scout.
The night after Carlotta and Sanovere departed, Kai could not sleep.
This was not unusual. Dungeon lords did not technically need sleep. The body he inhabited, the swirling mass of dark mist and stolen form, ran on mana rather than rest.
But the human part of his mind, the part that still remembered what it felt like to lie in a bed and stare at a ceiling, craved it sometimes.
Tonight was not one of those nights.
He sat on the obsidian throne, alone, his chin resting on his fist, staring at the communication crystal on the pedestal across the room.
It had not pulsed since Sanovere’s last report three hours ago, a brief confirmation that the carriage had crossed into Traona’s border territory without incident.
Three hours of silence.
’Three hours is nothing. They are on a road that takes two days to travel. There is no reason for concern. Sanovere is with her. The man notices things that God himself would overlook. Carlotta can kill anything that breathes. They are fine.’
He shifted on the throne.
’They are fine.’
He shifted again.
’Stop fidgeting. You look like a nervous parent waiting for your kid to come home from a school trip. You are a dungeon lord. Act like one.’
The torches along the walls flickered in their usual rhythm, casting long shadows across the stone floor. The Throne Room was empty except for two Skeleton Knights standing at attention near the entrance, their hollow eyes glowing a faint blue.
Kai closed his eyes and let his mind drift through the threads that had been pulling at him for the past several days.
The Nexus Empire’s declaration. Harken’s eight thousand soldiers. The Elder Dragon sleeping beneath the Fifth Floor. The scouting mission he had sent Fanny and Verendel on. The trade routes that Leo and Sophia were building.
The refugees that had turned his military base into something that was starting to resemble an actual country.
And the one thread that bothered him more than all the others combined.
The leak.
...
It had started with a report from one of Sanovere’s vampire scouts two days before the diplomatic message from Desmond arrived.
The scout, a thin undead with sunken cheeks and eyes that never seemed to blink, had delivered the report directly to Sanovere, who had then brought it to Kai during the evening briefing.
"My Lord, there is an irregularity."
Kai had looked up from the map he was studying.
"What kind of irregularity?"
Sanovere placed a thin sheet of parchment on the table. It was covered in small, precise handwriting, the kind that only someone with centuries of practice could produce.
"Over the past ten days, my scouts have intercepted three separate Nexus Empire communication relays operating within Traona’s borders. This is not unusual in itself. The Empire has maintained intelligence channels inside the kingdom for years. What is unusual is the content."
He tapped the parchment.
"Two of the intercepted messages contained information about Valdris that should not exist outside of this dungeon."
Kai’s eyes narrowed.
"What kind of information?"
"Patrol schedules along our northern perimeter. The approximate number of monsters stationed on the First Floor. And most concerning, a reference to the ward network that Carlotta and Lyra have been constructing across the tunnel systems."
The room had gone very quiet.
’Patrol schedules could be observed. Monster numbers could be estimated from a distance. But the ward network? That system is entirely underground. You cannot see it from outside the walls. You cannot detect it without being inside the tunnels themselves. The only way someone knows about that is if they have been told.’
"You are saying we have a leak," Kai said.
Sanovere’s expression did not change, but the faint smile that usually rested on his face was absent.
"I am saying that someone with access to information about our internal defenses is passing that information to the Nexus Empire. Whether the source is inside Valdris or inside Traona’s court, I cannot yet determine."
"Traona’s court."
"My Lord?"
"The sovereignty agreement included a military cooperation clause. When Carlotta negotiated the terms, she disclosed limited information about our defensive capabilities to King Desmond as a gesture of good faith. Patrol strength, garrison numbers, general defense architecture."
He leaned back.
"If Desmond shared that information with his military council, and the military council includes people with access to the prince, then Aldren could have passed it along without ever setting foot near the Jaun Land."
Sanovere tilted his head.
"That is possible. However, the level of detail in the intercepted messages exceeds what was disclosed during the negotiations. Carlotta provided generalities. These messages contain specifics."
’Specifics. Which means either Aldren has a better intelligence network than I gave him credit for, or the leak is closer to home than I want to admit.’
Kai stared at the parchment for a long moment.
"Can you trace the source?"
"Not yet. The Empire’s relay system uses layered encryption and dead-drop exchanges. By the time my scouts intercept a message, the courier has already passed through three or four intermediary points. Tracing the chain backward would require either capturing a courier alive or finding the origination point."
"Then find it."
"I intend to, my Lord. But I wanted you to be aware of the situation before I departed for Throneguard. If the leak is inside Traona, I will identify it during the mission. If it is inside Valdris..."
He left the sentence unfinished.
Kai understood.
’If it is inside Valdris, then I have a spy living under my roof. And the most likely candidates are the people I let through my front gate three weeks ago.’
...
That conversation had been two days ago.
Now, sitting alone on the throne in the middle of the night, Kai replayed every detail of it in his head.
’The refugees. Forty-three people. Beastkin, demi-humans, Reptilians. I vetted them through Sanovere’s processing system. Names, races, ages, skills, places of origin. Everything checked out. Ren vouched for most of them. The children are obviously not spies. The elderly are not spies. The craftsmen have been working alongside Teriam’s teams without incident.’
He drummed his fingers on the armrest.
’But forty-three is a lot of people. And all it takes is one.’
He thought about what Lyra had said when the refugees first arrived. Her exact words.
I advise caution. We know nothing about these people. Their backgrounds, their loyalties, their intentions.
’She was right. I knew she was right at the time. I still let them in because Sanovere made a compelling argument about reputation and utility. And he was also right. Both things can be true. The refugees are valuable, and one of them might be feeding information to the enemy.’
He opened his eyes.
’The question is how. Even if someone among the refugees is an Empire agent, how are they communicating? Valdris is underground. The only exits are the main gate, which is guarded around the clock, and the tunnel networks, which are warded. No one leaves without being seen.’
Unless they were not leaving at all.
’A communication device. Something small enough to hide on a person. Something that can transmit through stone and ward barriers.’
He straightened in his seat.
’The Empire has artifacts. First-Grade artifacts powerful enough to level cities. Is it so unreasonable to think they have something small enough to fit in a pocket that can send short-range messages?’
It was not unreasonable at all.
’I need Lyra.’
...
Lyra arrived in the Throne Room six minutes after Kai sent the summons.
She entered through the main doors with the rigid posture of someone who had been asleep exactly zero minutes ago, which meant she had been awake and waiting for something to do. Her crimson hair was pulled back in a tight braid, and her golden eyes were sharp and focused.
She dropped to one knee.
"My Lord. You summoned me."
"Rise."
She stood. Her gaze swept the room once, cataloging the empty space, the silent Skeleton Knights, and the dim torchlight before settling on Kai.
"Is something wrong?"
"Sit."
He gestured to the chair at the foot of the throne platform, the one that Sanovere usually occupied during briefings. Lyra hesitated for exactly one second, clearly unused to being asked to sit in the spymaster’s chair, before lowering herself into it with careful precision.
Kai studied her for a moment.
’I am about to tell Lyra that we might have a spy among the civilians she warned me about. She is going to say I told you so. She will not say it out loud because she is too disciplined for that, but it will be in her eyes. Loudly.’
"Two days ago, Sanovere informed me that the Nexus Empire has been receiving intelligence about our internal defenses. Patrol routes, garrison numbers, and details about the ward network."
Lyra’s expression did not change, but her posture stiffened.
"The ward network is classified information."
"I am aware."
"The only people who know the details of the ward system are myself, Carlotta, Teriam’s construction leads, and you."
"Also aware."
"Then the leak is not from the Pillars."
"Correct. Sanovere believes the information may have originated from Traona’s court. The sovereignty agreement included limited military disclosures, and Prince Aldren has been feeding intelligence to the Empire through an agent named Varen."
Lyra’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Aldren.
"The prince."
"The prince," Kai confirmed. "However, the details in the intercepted messages go beyond what was shared with Traona. Someone with closer access is providing supplementary intelligence."
He let that settle.
Lyra was quiet for three seconds. Then four. Then five.
When she spoke, her voice was controlled, measured, and exactly as cold as Kai expected.
"The refugees."
"Possibly."
"Not possibly. Probably."
’And there it is.’
"Lyra."
"My Lord, I raised this concern the day those people arrived at our gates. I told you that allowing an unknown group of outsiders into the city during a period of active military buildup was a security risk. You acknowledged the risk and implemented monitoring protocols."
She paused.
"Those protocols were designed by Sanovere, who is no longer in the city."
’She is right. Again. Sanovere designed the surveillance rotation for the refugee population, and now Sanovere is on his way to Throneguard. His vampire scouts are still operational, but without their commander directing them, the network is running on standing orders rather than active judgment.’
"I am not here to argue about past decisions," Kai said. "I am here because I need you to do something."
Lyra straightened.
"Name it."
"Sanovere left behind his surveillance infrastructure. His vampire scouts, his informant contacts, his monitoring schedules. I need you to assume temporary oversight of the civilian monitoring operation."
Something shifted in Lyra’s expression. It was subtle, barely perceptible, but Kai caught it.
Pride.