Chapter 32 · The Ash Ledger - Chapter 32: One Last Vote

The Ledger didn't ask.

It showed Rowan two bodies on the stone floor of the vault, lit up in that sick blue overlay only he could see. One was Mara's brother. The other was some kid in a courier uniform, maybe sixteen, blood crusted under his nose.

The mark on Rowan's wrist burned. The system text scrolled across his vision: INSUFFICIENT CASUALTIES. SELECT SACRIFICE TO UNLOCK COMMAND OVERRIDE.

"No," Rowan said.

Mara stood three feet away, her back to the vault door, one hand still pressed against the bandage where Rowan had taken half her death mark an hour ago. She couldn't see the overlay. Couldn't see what the Ledger was offering him.

"What's it saying?" Her voice came out flat.

Rowan didn't answer. He was too busy reading the fine print.

The Ledger wanted fuel. It always wanted fuel. Two casualties would buy him sixty seconds of command access—enough to send one order to every soldier in Veyrhold, override their officers, their oaths, their common sense. One order. Any order.

Stop fighting.

Open the gates.

Kill the Regent.

Anything.

All he had to do was pick which body hit the floor.

"Rowan." Mara took a step closer.