I stayed at the faculty line.
Three men called by one Mark, all pretending stillness was obedience when everyone in the room could see it was something else.
The rain-dark line in the basin tightened.
My hand closed once at my side.
Astra turned her head.
Only a little.
Enough for me.
She felt it.
I wanted her to.
Then the small witness basin under Juno’s hand went black.
The water didn’t dim.
It blackened.
Every sound in the hall thinned.
Linden stopped writing.
Quill looked at the basin.
Juno did not move her hand.
“Tower notice,” Caswell said.
His voice was lower than usual.
Let him be afraid too.
Every instinct in me knew the black water before my mind found the name for it.
The Mark on my forearm answered again.
Pain bloomed under my ribs.
I kept my face still.
Marsh did not.
He clutched his shoulder and his head turned toward me.
He knew pain too well not to recognize it from across a room.
I looked away first.
The witness basin spoke without words.
Three rings formed in the black.
One silver.
