Then Captain Jessa steps forward and raises her hand. “I swear.”
Another captain follows. “I swear.”
A third hesitates, then spits on the floor and storms away, barking for his crew to move.
“Let him run,” I say. “We’ll arrest him later.”
Renn blinks. “Arrest?”
I glance at him. “Strategy over spectacle. We’re not the Nine.”
Some of my old guard look confused. They want blood. They want theater.
I don’t give it.
I give them rules.
“Immediate arrests of the worst loyalists,” I order. “No executions unless they force your hand. We need information. We need leverage. We need the city to see we’re not terrorizing our own.”
Renn nods, grim but obedient.
The impostor is sobbing quietly now, shoulders shaking. I lean close enough that only he hears.
“You stay alive,” I murmur. “Because you’re proof too.”
His eyes widen in terror and relief.
I step back and address the room one last time, voice hard.
“The Nine tribute accounts are severed,” I announce. “We lost half our reserves to their punitive triggers. That’s the price of autonomy. We pay it.”
A low murmur ripples—shock, anger, admiration.
I don’t let them linger.
“New doctrine,” I say, voice carrying like a verdict. “Protect civilians. No collateral. Anyone who terrorizes locals out of fear gets executed. We keep Morazin alive if possible—he’s a thread we pull to find the whole web. And we prepare for Jordan’s return.”
Renn glances at me sharply, but I keep my face steady.
Because Jordan is out there, and I can feel the Nine’s teeth closing around her path even from here.
“They will strike at her again,” I add, quieter but no less deadly. “And when they do?—”
I let the silence sharpen.
“We bite back.”
The casino remains still for a beat, then the world surges into motion—captains barking orders, crews moving, civilians scrambling, the Nun turning into a war engine wearing a party dress.
I step off the dais and feel the weight of leadership settle onto my shoulders like armor.
Half our money is gone.
My family is fractured.
My city is burning.
And I’ve never felt more clear.
