Page 88 of Zenith Tower

Hale’s line warmed beside it, faint and distant. Whether he felt me through it, I could not tell.

Caspian stood close enough that the bond carried the control he was forcing over his own fear.

“We know which stair,” he said. “We know what frightened Marrow enough to act.”

“We still don’t know what he’s going to do.”

“No.”

After curfew, someone knocked softly at my door.

Astra

The knock came a second time before I reached the door, too soft to belong to a steward.

I opened the door to the administrator.

She stood alone. The chair normally occupied by the night steward was empty, and the corridor remained clear as far as the junction.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“At the north desk, looking for a transfer order that does not exist.” She stepped past me. “Close the door.”

I did. Caspian slipped in behind me before it closed, already dressed, his sleeves fastened and his hair still damp from the wash bowl. She locked it with her own key.

His gaze went to the lock, then to the administrator.

“Kieran?” I asked.

“Alive. In the lower processing wing.”

Green-gold fear still moved beneath my skin, too steady to be panic now. Kieran was awake. He was forcing himself to remain calm, and the effort of it had begun to hurt.

“What are they doing to him?”

“Mapping the healed line. Testing whether it changes when you are absent, when you reach for Hale, when Kieran is under pain or sedation.”

Caspian’s expression hardened. “Sedation.”

“They began with a mild dose. Marrow requested authority for more.”

“Did he get it?”

“Not yet.”

I stepped closer to her. “Get him out.”

“I cannot walk into processing and countermand Marrow while the Council’s order remains in force.”

“You stopped him from severing Hale’s line.”

“Because he acted without authority. He has authority now.”

“Then why are you here?”

She looked at Caspian. “I cannot overrule Marrow. I can get you through the doors he controls.”

“Why would you?”