Welp, I found the answer in a walkthrough... But it wasn't even right. Apparently the author didn't remember to Never Eat Soggy Wieners...
"Head back to the last room and ignite the half-dozen urns in order. Go to the west side of this section and light the urns from south to north. Do the same with the urns on the east side to expose a staircase. Go down these stairs and then take all of the loot when you reach the bottom."
I read that and assumed he meant east and west based on the cardinal north point showing on the mini map. but apparently he meant east and west (in place of "left" and "right) with regards to the players orientation when exiting the room where you get the veil fire. That said, he still got north and south correct with regards to the cardinal point so....
So, for anyone reading this in the future from a google search or other such methods, once you've lit your veil fire torch. Light the furthest one on the left when exiting the veil fire room, then the next two in sequence towards the door where you got the veil fire. Then go over to the other side, furthest from the door you exited and light in the same fashion. This will cause a hidden staircase to appear. Doing this quickly enabled me to get the staircase uncovered without losing a single court approval point. by doing my quick run back to the trellis to reset the timer. You will know you are doing this correctly because each urn will ignite blue, rather than red. If it's red, it's wrong. Check the ascii "art" below.
3 2 1
. . . E
X--------------------> N---|---S
. . . W
6 5 4
Where X is the room you are exiting where you got the veil fire torch.