Authority is never granted. It is installed.
When the lattice survives exposure, it does not retreat. It reorganizes. Power moves behind process. Legitimacy replaces secrecy. Cora Vance understands how narratives are built and sold. When she crosses an authority layer that governs through permission instead of law, she sees the trap: once the public accepts the story, the system no longer needs to hide. Crown Authority is Book Two of the Cora Vance Trilogy, a modern conspiracy thriller where institutions don't collapse. They harden.