Chapter 11 · Testimony Beneath the Throne

The eye in the throne blinked once.

Veyra shuddered around it.

Dust poured from the broken market roofs. Glass bells hanging above the stalls shattered in a glittering wave, their chimes collapsing into screams. Somewhere far below, the engines that kept the floating city aloft groaned like wounded animals.

Lio dropped to one knee beside Cael.

Blood had soaked through his coat beneath the ribs. His hand was clamped over the wound, but red seeped between his fingers and dripped onto the black crystal street.

“Stay with me,” she said.

Cael’s mouth twisted. “That was my line.”

“You’re bleeding on my boots.”

“Then I’m clearly conscious enough to complain.”

His eyes remained sharp despite the pain. That steadiness struck her harder than the killing spell had. He had stepped in front of her. Not because the Council ordered it. Not because he believed she was useful. He had chosen her while every witness in the market watched.

Behind them, Mara Finch slammed the butt of a courier crossbow into an Inspector’s jaw.