Governor Vale was looking at the empty seat at the head of the table, then he said the roof is off.Davan was still holding the chains,it was cold and heavy ,then he replied.Now we see what the walls are made up of.Franklin picked up his lily,there are stains on the petals now, stains from wine,salt and ink.The Council chamber empties like a lung.Not of people but of pretense.Five councilors remain, seated in a semicircle of sweat and silence. The one who was taking notes has stopped. His pen is snapped. Ink bleeds across the marble like a bad omen.Governor Vale didn’t sit in Thed’s chair. He stands at the foot of the table. The chain of office lies in front of DAVAN, but Davan isn’t touching it. Not yet.Franklin leans against the far wall, not casual but watching. The lily is back in his coat and over his heart, over the names.Captain Hara posts guards at every door. Not to keep people out, but to keep the walls in.Governor Vale picks up the third book, he didn’t open it, he

Today Sera was carrying hot, fresh bread. Not the kind the lower quarter gets sawdust and river water,but this type of bread was made by wheat. She was carrying them for Mara. The girl from the crate, the same one Franklin rescued and put a lily in her hand for.She was around the corner to the West Gate then she stopped.Because the gate was wide open, she saw a large crowd there.She was surprised because whenever she comes there the gates are never open,and there are not many people,not even a crowd.She wanted to know what was happening, she then realized that the crowd was there because of Captain Dorn. Who they saw on chains.Everyone was busy watching and murmuring.Captain Dorn just stood and looked at the crowd with shame.He was not fighting, neither was he struggling. Like they say, Walls don’t fight,they fall and when they fall, they settle.His head is down, his uniform is torn, his captain’s braid is gone and cut off, probably by Captain Hara.She’s practical like that.L

At the lower quarter,The Lower Quarter didn’t have cobbles, it had mud and secrets.The Ward Boss didn’t wear office chains. They wear brass knuckles and reputations. They collect “protection” coins and children who don’t get protected.There are three of them. Lira marked them all as Walls.RAKK, VESS, and OLEN.Rakk runs the tanneries. Vess runs the docks-end alleys. Olen runs the “orphanage” .They’re at The Crooked Knee tonight. A tavern with no windows and a floor that’s seen more blood than beer. Counting coins. Counting favors. Counting on the city to stay broken.All of a sudden the door just flew open. Captain Hara kicked it, with her boot and her with six city guards and a warrant that says “ARREST ALL OF THEM.”The tavern goes quiet,the moment the doors fly open, not just silent,but extremely quiet.The kind that happens before a knife fight.Rakk stood first,he was big and scared. Smells like fear and worse things.Raka asked Captain Hara, are you lost? This is a ward b

Dawn doesn’t come to the Lower Quarter. The Lower Quarter earns it.No one slept, not the guards, not the mothers, not the children who were in crates yesterday and in beds tonight.Governor Vale stands where The Crooked Knee used to be, ash and teeth and twelve empty beds underneath it all, the city guard rang the lot, not to keep people out but to keep the ground sacred.Davan Lira has the chain, Franklin Lira has the lily, Jem has the blue ribbon and Sera has the book.Mara also has a stone.The stone was not cut, nor polished. She found the stone by the river, the stone was smooth from water, heavy from time. She picked it up on the way here from the bank where Mira used to skip rocks.Captain Hara steps back, this isn’t her stone to lay, she tore down the others' build.Governor Vale said to the crowd and to the city. His voice is old but his words aren’t.We buried beams.We broke nails.We dropped walls.We burned the roof.He looks at the ash and at the teeth they collected t

At the Aldric estate that nightThe house is too big, always has been,the walls were built with stones, and filled with portraits that watch you back.Lady Sera walks fast, with her silk dragging on marble and rings clicking.She’s not crying,Lady Sera doesn’t cry. She was recalculating.Lady Sera called out,Chief.Chief Aldric is at his desk,he looks seventy, with his hands shaking, but not from age but from the choice.He didn’t look up from the letter he was writing. When he replied, Lady Sera call by saying I already heard Lady Sera replied,Then you heard they humiliated me, in my son’s house,in front of guards, in front of dock trash and in front of a girl with flour on her hands.Chief Aldric finally sets the quill down and looks at her, then he helps her to complete her sentence.In front of Davan.In front of Franklin.In front of the book.Lady Sera replied exactly.So you will go and you'll speak to them on my behalf.You’re Chief Aldric, and I am your wife,You tell them