Page 140 of Zenith Tower

“Then we should tell her now.”

“She can feel the warning. We tell her the rest when we can do it without dragging her attention back through the pain.”

Kieran’s grip tightened. “You think they’ll come for me before she’s recovered.”

“The east rooms were prepared before Walkin reached the Tower. We should assume they’ll move as soon as they have the authority.”

A key entered the lock.

We released each other before the door opened.

The steward returned with Caspian. His coat was fastened incorrectly, one side sitting higher than the other. The silver line at his wrist was dark with strain.

He saw Kieran’s open shirt, my sleeve pushed above the burns, and the iron rings beneath the chairs.

“Comparative review?” he asked.

“That was the name they chose,” Kieran said.

Caspian took the empty chair between us. A second reader entered and set a probe against his wrist.

I covered my own line. Kieran covered his.

Caspian watched us, then looked down at the two hands covering our bond lines.

He placed his fingers over the line.

We tightened all three bonds together and held.

From the far end, Astra answered with a tired flare of warmth.

The second reader stared at the rising value in the glass probe.

The door opened again.

The steward straightened. The reader lowered the probe.

Walkin entered. Their gaze passed over Caspian, stopped at the burns along my arm, and settled on Kieran’s open collar.

“Kieran Marsh,” they said. “Show me the Mark Astra repaired.”

Astra

The administrator came for me before the feeling returned to my fingertips.

I had been sitting on the edge of my bed with both hands wrapped around a cup I could not feel. Delphine’s Mark still lingered behind my eyes: the torn crossings, the buried line, the terrible ease with which I might have destroyed what remained instead of repairing it. Whenever I closed my hand, the joints answered a moment late.

“Kieran is being transferred at first bell,” the administrator said. “Walkin saw the repaired Mark in the reading room tonight. The order followed within the hour.”

The cup struck the floor. It did not break, but water ran over my shoes and disappeared between the stones.

“Where?”

“East review. Walkin’s order prohibits further contact with his Mark before direct examination.”

I reached for the green-gold bond. Kieran was there, awake and furious. Beneath that came a deliberate pressurefrom all three lines, held long enough for me to recognize it, then released.

Stop. Think.