Chapter 7 - The Investigation

Theron pushed open the workshop door without knocking.

The scene inside stopped him for a half-second. Not the architects working - that was expected. But the guards. Nikias and Alexios sat at the workbench with Daedalus and Sisyphus, the four of them hunched over a blueprint in conversation that died the instant the door opened.

Nikias shot to his feet. Alexios's hand moved toward his spear before he caught himself.

"Lieutenant," Nikias said, too quickly. "We were just-"

"Supervising?" Theron stepped fully inside, two more guards filing in behind him. Theron's eyes went to the wine cups on the workbench. Four of them. "Or socializing?"

"The architects were explaining the structural-" Alexios began.

"The architects." Theron picked up one of the wine cups, sniffed it, set it down. "Have been explaining things for months now, haven't they? And you've been listening so carefully." He looked at Nikias. "Your son is in the guard corps, isn't he? And your daughter?"