The guest lattice opened into a living palace whose bark walls carried pale veins, then narrowed around Didi before anyone reached the prepared rooms.
Didi stopped with one hand near her chest, while the Sovereign’s Brand warmed beneath her glove and three root arches curled across the corridor.
Hajin watched the palace accept every weapon before it shifted around Didi and thought, ’It isn’t afraid of blades,’ resting his hand on the socket case, ’but of what her blood might open.’
Eirwen raised one hand, and her twelve Shards settled above her shoulders as she said, "Nobody advances until the lattice explains this change, because a moving welcome is a negotiation."
The senior clerk held the inventory against her chest and replied, "The lattice recognizes royal frequency inside the group, so the inner rooms can’t host an unverified authority."
Didi looked at the roots and asked, "Does the seal protect guests from my blood, or protect the palace from a guest who hasn’t claimed anything?"
The clerk hesitated beside the first arch before answering, "The current rule doesn’t separate those conditions, so the lattice moves the recognized royal outside the protected space."
Hajin stepped beside Didi without touching her shoulder and said, "A rule that confuses protection with exclusion eventually calls every protected person a threat."
The roots tightened around the arch, and amber light appeared across the floor before Didi’s feet.
Aria displayed a notice above Hajin’s wrist after the amber line formed:
[Foreign royal authority detected, host lattice attempts provisional separation, command authority conflicts with guest oath]
Hajin read the notice and asked, "Can the palace command her to step outside, or is it only offering a rule it can’t explain?"
Eirwen faced the root judges and replied, "The Court wrote two rules into one doorway, because the guest oath grants shelter while the lattice withdraws it from the person who needs it."
An eyeless root judge emerged from the wall and said, "Royal blood may authorize gates, bind sworn lines, and alter protection grammar, so it cannot remain in an unsealed guest chamber."
Didi kept her feet behind the amber line and answered, "I haven’t authorized a gate, bound a sworn line, or altered your protection, so you’re judging an action I didn’t take."
The root face turned toward her and replied, "Dormant authority can awaken when fear supplies the first command, while the lattice must prevent that possibility."
Juna shifted near the rear wall, and Hajin saw one Wing begin to open before he said, "Keep it closed, because the palace is testing whether our fear proves its danger claim."
Juna stopped the motion and answered, "Then it should learn that restraint is a choice, not proof that the roots have earned control over us."
Didi looked from Juna to the amber line and said, "I won’t command the palace, and I won’t let it decide that refusing command is another command."
Her Brand pulsed beneath the glove, and Crowned Frost spread from her wrist across the floor without touching the roots.
The frost stopped at the amber line, showing Didi could answer the palace without striking it as the lamps brightened around the signal.
Eirwen stepped forward and said, "She has shown the distance between authority and wall, so the Court can’t rename restraint as a contest."
Amber pressure pushed toward Didi, but Crowned Frost held it at the line and sent a cold pulse through the floor.
The nearest roots recoiled, while pressure entered Didi’s arm and tightened her face.
Hajin kept his hand near the Chain’s wrapped handle and asked, "How much is the palace taking from you, and how long can you keep answering it?"
Didi looked at the frost around her knuckles and replied, "Enough to prove it can reach me, but not enough to make me spend the Brand on a wall that won’t listen."
Clerks set down their notes as Eirwen’s Shards turned toward Didi, and everyone understood that the palace had identified more than a trace beneath a glove.
Didi faced the root judge and said, "Record what I choose, because I’m a person before a bloodline and a guest before a key."
Hajin answered, "A key belongs to a lock, while a living guest can leave when the host turns protection into ownership."
Eirwen opened her palm, and twelve Shards cast silver across the amber line before she said, "I amend the guest oath under Alder authority."
She continued, "No royal frequency may override consent or turn shelter into ownership, though the Court may report risk and request a witness."
The root judge cracked one silver line, but Eirwen replaced it with two more and said, "You may refuse a room, but you may not remove a guest because of her blood."
Didi drew a slow breath as the pressure eased from her arm, then said, "Add one clause, because I won’t use the palace as property even if my Brand reaches its deepest gate."
She faced the roots and continued, "My protection ends where another person’s will begins, and any power from this blood must preserve the protected person’s right to disobey me."
The corridor quieted around them, while frost met silver beneath the amber line and the three arches began to separate.
The root judge said, "The clause keeps defensive authority and matches an older protection compact, but the royal claim remains unresolved."
Didi lowered her hand and replied, "It doesn’t need to resolve my whole bloodline tonight, because it only needs to stop treating sleeping inheritance as a crime."
The amber line faded, and a clear path opened toward the embassy rooms as the arches withdrew into the bark walls.
Aria displayed a second notice above Hajin’s wrist after the lattice settled:
[Guest lattice amended, Sovereign’s Brand stable, no ownership claim accepted]
The senior clerk lowered her inventory and said, "The Court will record the amended oath, but the palace will observe the royal frequency while the guest remains inside."
Eirwen turned toward the passage and answered, "Observe conduct, because blood shows origin, not intent."
Didi crossed the former boundary, and nearby roots angled toward her without issuing another command.
The roots opened a shallow alcove beside the guest corridor, placing a basin, a chair, and a sealed lamp within easy reach of Didi.
Didi examined the basin without touching it, while Hajin checked the lamp’s seal and found no royal mark hidden beneath the clay rim.
"The room can hold me without watching every breath," Didi said, lifting her eyes toward the clerk, "so let the record show that the choice was mutual."
The clerk wrote the sentence into the inventory, and the amber residue faded from the floor as the lattice accepted a guest who had answered its fear openly.
Hajin followed with the socket case and thought, ’The Court found a political problem,’ watching Didi keep her hand lowered, ’while the system found a mechanical one, but her rule answered both.’
At the corridor’s end, a bark door opened toward the guest rooms, and a small inscription appeared above the threshold.
[True bearer, sheltered by consent]
Didi read the words and said, "That’s better, but shelter is renewed by choice, and the palace doesn’t own it after one promise."
The door opened wider without asking her blood for a key, while the roots withdrew far enough for the whole party to enter.