Chapter 17 · Keep your head down

She placed her palm over his.

Their blood met on the crystal.

The chamber vanished.

Nora hit a stone floor on her knees.

No. Not a floor.

A memory.

She heard boots. Hundreds of them. A crowd roaring above her. Her wrists were tied behind her back. Her white execution coat scratched her neck.

"Keep your head down," someone whispered.

The voice was low. Young with fear, but trying not to show it.

Lucan.

Nora turned inside the memory.

She could not see his face. A black hood hid him from the crowd. He was standing beside the execution platform, close enough for his knee to brush hers.

"Look at me," he whispered.

She tried.

The core burned through her skull.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The memory Lucan reached for her hand.

The touch was real enough to hurt.

"Don't listen to Bram," he said. "The order was changed."

Nora saw Bram step onto the platform. His council badge gleamed at his throat.

She saw the death order in his hand.

At the bottom of the page, beneath his signature, was another seal. Black. Old.