Gold Hall did not invite us to a debate this time.
It invited us to a map.
That was worse.
The chamber had been rearranged since the Ethics Salon. The central table was gone.
The map did not merely show territory.
It showed assumptions.
A map made by power always looked accurate to the people power fed.
That was why it was dangerous.
In its place, a floor-sized academy diagram stretched from wall to wall, made of enchanted ink, faction markers, colored pins, and enough arrogance to require ventilation.
Gold Hall at the west.
Obsidian Dormitory in black stone.
Healing Hall in white.
The chapel annex in gold.
Service corridors represented as thin gray lines.
Not all of them.
Ren noticed immediately.
"They left out the east laundry route," he whispered.
Valeria whispered back, "How rude. Hide your offense until useful."
