Chapter 14

Sancia regains consciousness in Orso Ignacio’s lavish office with Orso, Captain Gregor Dandolo, and Berenice. Questioned about the theft, she confirms she stole a box but claims ignorance of its contents. Gregor presses Orso, who admits the box held a golden Occidental key rumored to enable permanent alterations to reality.

Prompted by Sancia, they discuss a mysterious leader who used a golden pocket watch–like device to nullify scrivings across the Commons. Berenice links this to a historical account of the imperiat. They debate suspects and capabilities, noting the assassins’ unprecedented gravity rigs and the likelihood of a mole.

Berenice proposes that secrets have leaked via a scrived sound-capturing rig planted in Orso’s workshop. Sancia searches the deafeningly scrived workspace and discovers a golden bird statue emitting unusually strong “chatter.” Inside is an intricate device. Orso and Berenice deduce it’s an advanced twinning setup that captures vibrations and transmits them to a nearby recorder medium.

They conclude the paired recorder must be close—likely within the building—creating urgency to find it before their enemies retrieve the captured conversations. Dawn approaches, and Orso faces a public council meeting that will reveal he survived, likely prompting enemy action.

With time short, Gregor decides Sancia and he will clean up and lie low at Orso’s house for the day, planning to return to locate the recorder as soon as possible. Clef remains silent throughout, and Sancia withholds his existence.