Chapter 3: Judgment in the Shadows
The Silent Tribunal had ruled from the dark for centuries. Their word was law, their judgment absolute.
Yet tonight, their own kind had betrayed them.
In the hidden chambers beneath the ruined cathedral, the remaining Tribunal members gathered in silence. Their faces were masked, their names long forsaken. Only their titles remained:
• The Raven: Keeper of Secrets.
• The Ivory Hand: Deliverer of Sentences.
• The Hollow Judge: Voice of the Tribunal.
Before them, a single masked figure knelt.
"The Oath is broken," the Hollow Judge intoned. "One of our own has shattered the balance."
The Raven's voice was like rustling parchment. "Varian."
"He must be judged," the Ivory Hand said, fingers curling. "And the girl with him. She is not what she seems."
A pause. Then the Hollow Judge spoke again:
"Find them. Kill them. And let no one know they ever existed."