The Head Inquisitor withdraws through the gatehouse. The guards disperse in uneasy pairs, leaving the blue-marked route untouched beneath the morning light.
The Young Warden remains by the wall. Bren stays near Sil’Thalis, attentive but silent, while The Young Warden gestures toward the quieter outer path.
The Young Warden
Walk with me. I want to speak without an audience, and I want Bren close enough to challenge anything I misunderstand.
She leads along the battlement’s inner edge, keeping the fortress at her back and the open road beyond the wall. Her posture remains guarded, but her hand stays away from her sword.
The Young Warden
You were right about custody. Vael Turog has called protection an excuse before. But you also forced your way through our officers, and that history matters here.
The Young Warden
Tell me what you expect from us now. Not what the passage permits. What you expect from the people who must live beside it.
Bren watches The Young Warden, then Sil’Thalis, offering neither answer nor interpretation. Below, the blue shimmer remains open and still, waiting for no one.