The command room had four maps and not enough wall. Blackthorn territory covered the largest table. White Moon routes covered the second.

Northwatch casualty reports covered half the third before I had been inside five minutes. The border breach was no longer a warning.

The silver key opened the lower lock. The iron key opened the upper. We tested both under six witnesses. Marin. Two neutral recorders. The armory keeper. One Blackthorn captain. One White Moon officer.

No one touched the keys until the evidence bags were opened on a clea

The neutral wing was already locked when I reached it. No shouting inside. No broken door. No child in a corridor. Better.

The east entrance sat at the end of a narrow covered passage between the ambassador wall and the old witness court. Three people stood beyond t