“So someone else took it?” Lucia asked.
Gods, I shouldn’t be listening in on this, but I couldn’t bring myself to knock, couldn’t pull away.
“It’s been modified,” Salwa said after a brief silence.
Footsteps, ones I assumed were Lucia’s, echoed off the wood. “Modified? By who?”
“I’m not sure. Take a look.”
My heart hammered. If Salwa, the Tabularius, was unaware of a change, it was an unauthorized modification.
Lucia let out a breath. “I thought it odd for a prisoner of forty-seven years to suddenly be in the lineup for execution with no explanation.”
My heart launched into my throat.
“Something doesn’t feel right, Salwa. He’s had past incidents during his imprisonment, but nothing warranting execution. When I spoke with Damien, he informed me it wasn’t run by him or approved by The Council.”
“His original sentence was for life in the dungeons.” There was a moment of silence, and I pressed my ear closer to the door. “The records of the trial state there were some who opposed the decision, given it was a Kyrios who he murdered.”
My hand rose to my mouth, muffling a gasp. How was he not put to death for murdering a Kyrios? Why would Lucia bring him into The Order? Oh, Gods. Micah was working with him. What if he did something to him? He needed to know.
“Were there any witnesses?” Lucia asked.
Pages flipped. “There was one.”
“Who?”
“His uncle, Atticus Stratos,” Salwa said.
There was a moment of silence.
“I believe the circumstances of Elias Stratos’ death were not as they were presented,” Lucia said, pulling me back.
The world stilled.Oh, Gods.
He wasn’t the son of Atticus, but the son of a past Kyrios of House Stoicheion.
“What do you mean?” Salwa asked.
Her voice softened, and I tried to listen. “I have reason to suspect that Atticus may have given false testimony. I believe Elias’ death was not malicious but in self-defense, or something of that nature.”
“Why would Barrett defending himself result in not only the death of his father, but of his mother and sister as well?”
I stopped breathing.
“I don’t believe he murdered his sister,” Lucia said. She paused for a moment. “I think?—”
I stiffened at the sound of footsteps approaching down the hall and straightened before knocking and cracking the door open.
Lucia and Salwa both looked at me, brows raised.
“Hi—Oh, Lucia!” I said, feigning surprise in the hopes they hadn’t realized I had listened in on their conversation. “I hope I’m not interruptinganything.”
Lucia’s eyes softened and she smiled warmly, which left guilt curdling in my stomach. “Not at all, Thalia.”
I turned to Salwa and extended the papers to her. “Damien asked me to bring these to you to catalog in the Archivallia.”
“Oh, perfect. I’ll see it done,” she said as she took them.
