Fiona led Kiera and Claire through the halls of the Palace of the Spine. The banners and rugs were all bright red lined with black and silver filigree, the colors of House Aden. There were statues of ancient Aden family members, some of them that predated the war with the Charlatan King by thousands of years.

Kiera thought that King Edwin's throne room was an otherworldly sight, and Kiera had been to another world. The far wall was made entirely of glass and ethersteel support structures. It punched outward over the open air. Outside, clouds could be seen far below. The throne was raised up on a platform that was hanging from the roof of the throne room, surrounded by two smaller thrones on smaller platforms.

King Edwin sat on his throne with an advisor standing by his side. He was at least fifteen feet in the air above the glass floor of the chamber. As Fiona walked through into the center of the room, the Herald began to announce them.

"Honored Ancestor Fiona of House Aden, Witch of the Morning Mist! Princess Keira Blaine of Cloudsea! Right Honorable Princess Claire!"

"Sister," Edwin said. "I had commanded you to convert to the Lawgiver's Faith, and you run off to join the oculomancers. I command you to remain in the Palace and to convert, as I have."

"I won't!" Claire exclaimed. Edwin signed.

"What is it that you wish to discuss, Honored Ancestor?" He asked.

"You allowed Quinn to be released from his cell at the constabulary." Fiona said. "He has managed to sneak out of the city! Can you possibly imagine how much of my time that you have wasted?"

"I did not know that the man would release Quinn," Edwin replied. "I did not even know he was in prison. You see that I am telling the truth."

"That does not matter!" Fiona said. "You have, through your actions, directly violated the Heritor Oaths. It is my role to enforce those oaths..."

"Enough Fiona." The voice came from behind them. "I would not wish the other Heritors to name you kin slayer." It gave Kiera chills to hear it. This was the first time that Kiera had ever seen the Elder Saint without her silver robes. She was instead wearing a solid black witch uniform with a pointy hat. It was so dark that seemed to absorb light. Her long, blood red hair casually draped down one shoulder.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Even the Herald was speechless at first. "A Witch!" he managed to announce. His face was red. Sweat started to form on his forehead.

"You honor me, by..." Edwin tried to say, but then his jaw slammed shut. He was clearly struggling to keep a straight face.

"Heritor Kiera, do you feel the sien in this man's aura?" The Elder Saint asked.

"Yes, I do," Kiera said.

"Claim that sien. It should not be difficult, you are quite strong."

Kiera reached out and claimed the sien in Edwin's aura. Instantly, the center of the aura snapped, with infinite speed, from where it was resting around Edwin's heart, directly inside Kiera's own chest. And then she could feel all the weaves inscribed there.

"Good work," the Elder Saint said. Then she leapt all the way up to Edwin's throne and threw him down to the floor. He tried to break his fall with his hands and his hands both snapped. He screamed. Claire looked away.

"Brother," Claire muttered.

The Elder Saint hopped back down to the floor. On her right hand she was wearing a gauntlet made of what looked like solid silver. It had very long and sharp fingers, like blades. She lifted Edwin's head, and raked her fingers across his throat. This completely ravaged his throat, and he began to bleed all over the Aden family rugs. The Elder Saint released him and he fell face first onto the floor, convulsing.

The Bloodraker, Kiera thought.

The Elder Saint said "Heritor Edwin I have lost confidence that you are capable of keeping your oaths." She stood over the man watching him die. Kiera looked away from the dying man.

"Kiera?" Claire asked. "Can I have that aura? That was my father's aura, and I'm next in line to inherit that aura after Edwin."

"Of course," Kiera said. "I was looking at the weaves encoded on the aura, they look interesting."

"I would advise against that," Fiona said.

"Teacher?" Kiera asked.

"That must be the forbidden technique of the Aden clan." Claire said. "It's called Second Sunrise. Fiona is a master of the weave, I don't think Edwin knew how to use it."

"It can be used to instantly destroy entire cities, kill millions of people. I don't think you would be interested in something like that," Fiona said.

"You know what, you are absolutely right." Kiera said. "Here Claire, take this." She placed her hand on Claire's chest and transferred the aura to her.

"Whoa," Claire said. "So much ether."

"He has stopped moving," The Elder Saint said. "I must tell Lin to make the appropriate corrections to the records. Kiera?"

"Yes, Elder Saint?"

"Fiona please fly Kiera to Spire Annatiki. It is time."

"Yes, Elder Saint." Fiona said. Then the Elder Saint left.

"Um, Guards! Guards! I proclaim myself Acting Reagent until my sister has been informed of my brother's death. This is a command from your Reagent, please remove my brother's corpse from the throne room and have it delivered to the family tombs. Servants, clean up the blood on the floor!"

Kiera shuddered. What did the Elder Saint want with her at Spire Annatiki? What was it time for?