As our shuttle landed on Noctemar, inside the shielded station, Amalia was already standing at attention in full uniform. The cold wind from the incoming shuttles had tousled her tied-up hair and brought a flush to her face, making her look just as she had in the old days. But her expression was serious—uncharacteristically so. She saluted the Emperor, nodded at me, and immediately requested permission to report. If she had been waiting for us here, the matter was clearly urgent.
Theo nodded and turned to her, as did Octavian and I. She glanced at Octavian, clearly recognizing him—Amalia was always well-prepared. The hum of shuttles around us created a very private atmosphere, swallowing our words in the steady white noise. That was probably her intention.
She began speaking quietly, but her words made the ground beneath me feel as if it were cracking apart.
"Your Grace," she started without preamble, "I've found what Osmond, the former captain and monk killed a few days ago at the Tower's base, was hiding. In the old observatory. Or rather, I fought for it—and it's a very interesting find. I believe Osmond was eliminated because of it."
It was only then that I noticed the bandage peeking out from under her sleeve. My heart clenched at the thought that my friends kept suffering because of me.
Theo crossed his arms.
"And what is it?"
Amalia looked at me, as if weighing whether she could reveal everything immediately. I gave a barely perceptible nod, and she continued:
"An old typewriter. From Earth. Iron, heavy, battered—but still functional."
"He collected old junk?" Theo shrugged.
"Junk," Amalia licked her lips. "But it had a modern chronograph attached to it. And another device. I can't say for sure what it was, but it looked like an old voice tube—a communication tool."
"Now that's more interesting," Octavian leaned in. "Was this guy Osmond intercepting someone's conversations?"
"No," Amalia inhaled deeply. "That's not the main point. The typewriter had a sheet of paper in it. And on that paper—a printed Law."
Theo straightened slowly.
"What Law? Just a reprint of an old one? The one on farming regulations?"
"No, Your Grace. A law we've never seen in the Book before," Amalia said quietly. "As if it was supposed to appear there… but instead, it appeared on this damned typewriter."
Silence fell. My mouth went dry.
"This means…" I started, but didn't know how to finish.
Octavian inhaled sharply.
"That someone is tampering with the Book and the Law. Or both, for they are one."
A cold, heavy weight settled in my stomach. If the Book wasn't functioning the way people had believed for hundreds of years, it meant the entire structure of the Empire was nothing more than a fragile chessboard—one that anyone could overturn.
"Let's not jump to conclusions, but it certainly looks that way," Amalia added cautiously.
Theo showed no immediate reaction, his face remaining a mask. But I knew him well enough to notice the way he held his breath for just a second too long. Amalia spoke quickly, as usual, but there was tension in her voice.
"And what does this Law say? The one in the typewriter?"
"It's about capital punishment for treason. But you'd better see for yourself, Your Grace. Here."
"But we already had capital punishment for treason, didn't we? What's new?"
Amalia, meanwhile, unfastened her cloak, and I noticed another bandage at her side, darker than the fabric of her uniform.
Slowly, she opened a leather case. Inside, sealed in a transparent container, lay a thin sheet covered in uneven, almost comical letters, clumsily printed onto the paper.
I leaned in closer. The lines on the yellowed paper were crooked, uneven—as if the typewriter had a life of its own and could ruin a word with a single misplaced keystroke.
"LAW 579-L:AIDING OR ABETTING TREASON SHALL BE PUNISHED BY DEATH, THROUGH THE ACTIVATION OF THE CHRONO-PASSAGE AND THE COMPLETE ERASURE OF THE CONDEMNED, WITHOUT POSSIBILITY OF APPEAL.EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY."
"This is a new law," I exhaled. "Or one that was supposed to be new but was never announced."
"Exactly," Theo said quietly. "It's not in the Book, and the Council never ratified it for one simple reason—no one knew about it. The Book is guarded around the clock by representatives of all factions. And now the mines are drying up, and we're on the verge of collapse because someone intercepted a Law? Was it Osmond?"
"Ask yourself who benefits from this. This kind of interception. Is anyone currently on trial for treason?" Octavian frowned.
"But still... why are we assuming this is an intercepted Law at all?" My own voice sounded taut, like a stretched wire. "What if this is the origin point of the Law? And all this time, someone has just been typing away on that damned machine?"
"But then the Law would have appeared in the Book?" Amalia added quietly.
True. So someone had intercepted it. Could it have been Osmond? To prove its existence to Amalia and me? But the mines had been drying up for weeks… Osmond couldn't have waited that long. He would have had to prepare this before our coronation, and take a massive risk. So what then? Could he have been unaware? Or, for some reason, absolutely unable to let this Law come into effect…
How to kill people like you.
I don't want to believe it. Does that mean the cycle ends if I commit treason? That's too absurd an idea—even for my fate.
Silence fell. Octavian ran a hand over the back of his head, restless.
"Well, at least we know what to do now," Theo finally spoke.
We were all freezing in the wind by now. Amalia had even taken out a mask—she seemed weaker after her injury, and the flush I had mistaken for a healthy glow now looked feverish.
"So," Theo continued slowly, "the next step is to officially establish the procedure for executing the sentence for treason. Public announcement in the Council. A two-stage approval process. Final phase—entry into the Register, just as always when a Law generates a new law. If we do all that, the mines will return to normal."
"Yes, brother, but this new Law contradicts the ban on chronomanipulations exceeding 133 seconds, doesn't it?" Octavian mused.
"It does, but the Law is the Law. It will apply only to capital punishment for treason. When was the last execution? I think five years ago, by the classical method—humane, poison. For espionage in favor of the Temporans."
We all grimaced. The thought was repulsive.
"Alright. We know what to do. We convene the Council immediately. I will prepare my report. Captain Drakwald, I ask for your presence. Mira, Octavian, you're coming with me too."
Theo headed through the passage toward the Tower from the station, and we followed him.
At the Tower's entrance, he let Amalia and Octavian go ahead, while I was the last to enter. As he walked beside me, he looked into my eyes. It seemed that now he finally believed me.