Some of the witnesses wrote.
Enough of them.
I felt the room begin to slip from Quill’s preferred shape.
He felt it too.
“The Council protects the stability of all Marks in its care,” he said.
“Then let hers answer without telling her what it must say,” I said.
Quill turned his face to me.
For just a second, the headmaster disappeared and the angry old man beneath him showed through.
Then the polish came back.
“Be very careful what you do next, Ashford.”
“I am.”
That was the worst of it, maybe.
I had never been more careful in my life.
I faced Astra again.
“Do you choose a bond with me,” I asked, “because you want it, and not because this room has promised you safety if you accept it?”
Her throat moved with a hard swallow.
The Mark under my palm pulled toward mine.
Then away, toward Kieran, toward Hale, and back to me.
The movement hurt her. I felt the pain cross her hand before she could hide it.
I almost withdrew.
Her fingers caught mine.
Small enough for the room to miss.
Clear enough for me.
Hold on.
I held on.
“And if I say yes?” she asked.
“Then it belongs to you.”
“Not them.”
“Never them.”
“And if my Mark keeps the other two?”
