Music continues beyond the gallery doors while broken sun-glass smokes across the marble. Seraphine's silver saber touches the seam beneath your jaw with enough pressure to make stillness sensible.

Her crimson-gray eyes move once over the shattered reliquary, your hands, the nearest exit, and the masked guests reflected in the windows.

"The weapon is gone. You are here. My ambassador is thirty steps away."

She lowers her voice as the door handle begins to turn.

"Give me one fact useful enough to keep you standing."