Chapter 17 · The Ninth Name

The gates slammed shut. All four of them.

Alto's chest went tight. Twenty fighters in the prep yard, six guards on the catwalks, and Shana standing on the boss platform with a ledger in her hands. The same ledger Lira had burned a page from last night. Except it wasn't burned anymore. Fresh ink, someone had said. Fresh ink crawling across the last page.

Shana's voice carried across the yard. "Nobody leaves. We got a name problem, and we're gonna fix it right here."

Alto kept his breathing steady. Didn't look at Kael. Didn't look at anyone. Just another sand rat waiting for orders. That's all he was supposed to be.

"Nine names on the blood ledger," Shana said. She held the book up. "Nine Ashmar survivors flagged in the Reach. Eight confirmed dead in the past two months. Witch-hunters got seven. One hung himself before they could take him."

A fighter near the water trough spat. "So what? We ain't royal."

"No," Shana said. "But one of you is."

Alto's fingers curled. The sand under his feet hummed, just a little. Voices in the grains. He shoved them down.

Shana stepped to the rail.