The item in Case Fourteen was warm.
Liora Vant noticed it the same way she noticed almost everything inside the Reliquary, through habit long before conscious thought caught up.
Every morning began the same. She unlocked the eastern aisle, lit her brass oil lamp, and walked the rows of glass display cases with one hand trailing lightly across each pane. It was a routine she had practiced for three years without fail.
Cold glass meant everything was normal.
Dust could be cleaned. Cracked hinges could be repaired. Ink stains in the ledger could be rewritten.
But temperature...
Temperature wasn't supposed to change.
When her palm brushed over Case Fourteen, she stopped.
Warm.
Not hot. Not enough to make her pull away.
Just... warm.
She frowned and pressed her hand against the glass for another few seconds.
Nothing in the underground vault should feel warm.
