Page 19 of Zenith Tower

The reader opened Kieran’s shirt at the shoulder. The green-gold line had spread below his collarbone in thin, uneven branches.

Her face tightened. “This wasn’t present at review.”

“No,” Hale said.

“Give me the silver vial.”

The woman from the bridge held out her hand. The reader passed her a small bottle from the leather case, and she poured its contents beneath Kieran’s tongue.

For several seconds, nothing changed.

Then Kieran dragged in a breath that caught halfway and broke into a cough. Hale turned him carefully onto his side. Kieran coughed again, body shaking with it, but the next breath followed.

“We’re taking him to the infirmary,” the woman said.

“The panel hasn’t authorized treatment,” I said.

Her eyes lifted to mine. “Emergency authority is mine.”

“You had that authority when we pulled the cord the first time.”

The reader went still beside her.

The woman’s hand remained at Kieran’s throat, feeling each weak beat. “The first event responded to the draught.”

“It came back worse.”

“It did.”

Caspian stood at the foot of the bed. “You knew his Mark was spreading.”

“I knew it had entered the upper chest. I did not know the rate had changed this much.”

“Because you were waiting to measure him.”

She looked at Kieran rather than Caspian. “And now I am not waiting.”

The stewards set the stretcher beside the bed.

“Careful of his right shoulder,” Hale said. “The arm has been failing for years.”

They listened to him. One supported Kieran’s head and neck while the other slid an arm beneath his knees. Hale kept his hand at Kieran’s wrist until they had settled him onto the stretcher.

I moved to follow.

The woman from the bridge blocked the doorway. “One person may come.”

“I’m going.”

“Hale knows the progression and can answer while we work.”

“So can I.”

Hale looked back at me. His face had gone pale, his mouth held tight.

“Let me go with him,” he said.

I stepped back.