The Forged Impression

A scrap of heavy parchment lay on the hall console beside an antique iron-banded chest. At the center of the oak lid sat a raised iron boss, forged into the sharp profile of a portcullis. I did not disturb the latch. Instead, I smoothed the paper flat over the cold metal relief, pinning the corners taut with my claws. Taking a blunt piece of dark graphite left beside the mail tray, I drew it sideways across the sheet with firm, even strokes. The fibrous paper groaned, then yielded. Ridge by ridge, the unyielding geometry of the iron transferred onto the page, dark and exact. The crest is recorded.