Cole arrived without his uniform or badge.
"Kane Li, you are under arrest on witness testimony concerning the abduction of beasts, the burning of the archives, the use of debt seals and the attack on the city."
Kane looked at the six people.
"Arrested by whom?"
"The witnesses."
Each gave their name for the record.
The lieutenant went first. She produced the warrant containing the clause that transferred witnesses into the Li family's custody. Next came the fighter whom an artificial circuit had forced to walk on a broken leg. The dyer showed the burns he had suffered in the fire at the debt archive. Two soldiers confirmed the order to close the gates on the residents. Cole gave his name last.
Kane heard them all out.
"Six people do not speak for a city."
"That is why we are not passing sentence," Cole replied. "We will take you to those you denied the right to speak."
Kane offered to open the western dome. Nocturnal beasts were already moving beyond the wall, and without the shared seal that section might not hold. They only had to return his family signet for one minute.
The lieutenant looked out at the dark field.
"What if the wall falls?" she asked.
"Then you will answer for it," Kane said.
"We will."
She ordered the ordinary shields raised.
Kane ordered the guards to attack. Two fighters obeyed; three lowered their weapons. The brief fight ended with shields and paralysing darts.
Then Kane activated the basilisk's emergency seal.
In the square beside the tower, the wounded beast raised its head. It took one step, then lay down again beside the little dragon.
The seal crumbled.
Kane struck first. Cole caught his arm and snapped an ordinary metal cuff around his wrist. No pain, no suppression and no claim over someone else's body.
This time, the arrest held.
They found me an hour later. I lay unconscious for three days as my body lost the enhancements the System had used to rebuild my muscles and nerves. Mira kept my heart going with drugs and the aid of healing beasts that had agreed to work short shifts.
On the fourth night, I opened my eyes.
Lily was asleep in a chair. She spent her days on the air and gathering testimony, so she came only at night.
For a long time I stared at the red lock by her temple, unable to remember whether it had been there before. My memories from after the Crown were returning in pieces. I knew Lily's name. I did not remember when I had begun to trust her more than my own calculations.
The fighter from the eastern gate lay in the next bed. The very same preventable injury the Crown had flagged. His shoulder had been put back together, but the fingers of his injured hand barely moved. He noticed I was awake.
"If you'd kept the gates shut, this wouldn't have happened," he said.
I had no excuse.
"No."
"Lily said you lifted the command yourself."
"I did."
The fighter turned to face the wall.
"Then remember the hand."
I looked at his fingers and repeated every detail to myself. I did not know whether the memory would still be there in the morning.
"Styx?" I asked.
She did not promise that everything would be all right.
"They haven't found her."
I tried to stand, but my body gave way. Lily helped me back onto the bed.
A small tin box from the dye works stood on the table. Taya had punched holes in the lid and brought it to the infirmary: if Styx was found alive, she would need shelter.
I raised my hand.
No panel, no distant movement of the swarm. Only an empty palm and the memory of tiny legs that I could no longer verify.
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