Bound by the Mark of Lies (BL)

Damian left a few minutes later, the heavy fall of his boots fading into the corridor until the sound was swallowed by the palace's layered silence.

Gabriel shifted Arik higher against his chest, the boy curling instinctively toward the warmth, small fingers still hooked around a fold of Damian's shirt that Gabriel hadn't bothered to change out of.

Edward lingered near the door, arms crossed, eyes fixed on him with the kind of scrutiny that made Gabriel's mouth twitch.

"You worry too much," Gabriel said lightly, a laugh in his voice as he bounced Arik once, earning a sleepy murmur in return. "We're fine. I'm fine. You'll give yourself wrinkles before your time if you keep glaring like that."

Edward didn't blink. "You're planning something."

Gabriel's smirk deepened, but he didn't bother denying it. Silence, after all, was a far more effective confession.

Edward sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Then help me. Let me in before you set half the palace in motion and I have to clean up the mess later."

Gabriel tilted his head, gaze sharpening with mock offense. "Betrayal, Edward? You've switched sides so easily? And here I thought you were mine."

"Unfortunately," Edward muttered, "I am…so I'd prefer not to end up burned for it." It pained him to admit that he preferred Gabriel over Damian and that the omega knew that.

Gabriel's smirk softened into something quieter, though no less dangerous. "I'm only going to the archives."

Edward's eyes narrowed. "Which ones?"

"The older ones," Gabriel replied, shifting Arik to his other arm as if the weight were nothing. "Before Damian's reign. Before the rebellion. A decade at least."

Something in Edward's expression darkened. "You're going to dig up trouble."

"No, not today at least. I want to confirm that what I remember about Goliath's poisoning is accurate."

"Goliath of House Ardenne? The former official emperor?" Edward asked, raising a brow in surprise.

Gabriel's gaze turned inward for a beat, the memory sharp enough to cut through the steam-warmed air. "He survived it," he said finally, his voice almost conversational, though the weight beneath it was anything but. "Everyone remembers the poisoning… but not that he lived. His ether channels burned out completely… like scorched riverbeds. Couldn't call a single drop of power after that. The nobles kept him propped on the throne like a decorative corpse."

Edward's brows knit. "And they said one of his consorts did it. The omega from…"

Gabriel's gaze didn't waver, his voice cooling into something more precise. "That could be an excuse; the poison's effects are too alike to the one Hadeon used on Damian. The same collapse of the ether lines, the same irreversible burn through the channels."

Edward's eyes narrowed. "You're certain?"

"No. That's what I want to check." Gabriel's tone warmed with faint amusement as Arik's head began to tip, the boy's small hand curling into the fabric of his shirt. "Do you want to help or stop me?"

"It's better if someone is supervising you."

"So you'll report everything to Damian."

"Yes."

"Snitch."

Edward didn't rise to the bait, though his mouth flattened into something halfway between irritation and resignation. "You're impossible to guard when you've decided on something."

"Not impossible," Gabriel murmured, already turning toward the door with unhurried steps. "Just inconvenient to stop."

Edward fell into stride beside him, his eyes scanning the corridor ahead. "The restricted wing of the archives hasn't been touched in years. Some of those records are sealed for a reason."

"If the Empress in waiting can't access anything he wants, what is the point in having the title?" Gabriel asked with the amusement of a man that set his mind to win.

Edward gave him a sidelong glance. "That title comes with limits, and you know it."

Gabriel's lips curved. "Limits are just invitations to be creative."

Edward wanted to sigh again, but in his opinion he had already done it more than was permitted in his entire life. "Let me bring whatever you need; I'm not risking anything."

Gabriel didn't argue, only shifted Arik higher against his chest and turned toward the stairs. One floor up from the imperial suite, his personal office occupied a corner of the wing, its floor-to-ceiling windows throwing a clean wash of morning light over glass-topped desks and wall-mounted holo-screens. The quiet hum of the ether conduits in the walls was constant here, the pale blue threads of power visible where they ran through the transparent conduits along the ceiling.

The room was an organized chaos: digital files projected in midair above the main desk, physical binders stacked beside sleek consoles, and a row of delicate ether calibration tools laid out like surgical instruments. Damian had called the space "a fire hazard disguised as a study" the first time he'd walked in.

Gabriel set Arik down in the bassinet by the window, its frame softly lit with a protective ether ward. The boy curled onto his side, breathing evenly, oblivious to the faint pulse of power in the room.

Edward lingered in the doorway, scanning the holographic projections as if expecting one of them to explode. "You've been busy," he said, eyes narrowing at the layered maps and archive logs streaming across one of the side displays.

Gabriel didn't look up. "Always." His fingers swiped through the files with precise flicks, opening a dated access registry rendered in glowing text. "This is the last shipment logged to the restricted archives from the outer provinces. Ten years back. It should list who accessed what… and when."

Edward stepped in, the door sliding shut behind him with a soft hiss. "That's a very specific place to start."

"It's the only place that matters," Gabriel replied, leaning his hip against the desk as his gaze moved over the data. "If I'm right, Goliath's files weren't destroyed. They were relocated... close enough to control, far enough for most people to forget they existed."

Edward folded his arms, suspicion etched in every line of his stance. "And if you're wrong?"

Gabriel's smile curved in his disturbingly controlled way. "Then I'll enjoy proving it anyway."