The river roared like an animal that had caught the scent of fear.
Corin clutched the ledger to his chest, the edges stained with blood from the bolt that had grazed him. He looked pale but alive. Liora was already at his side, pressing a torn cloth into his shoulder.
“You should sit,” she said, her voice low, sharp with concern. “You’re losing blood.”
Corin shook his head. “The city is losing more than I am. Read the names before the crowd forgets what truth sounds like.”
The quay was chaos — shouts, smoke, boots on wet stone. Rowan’s guards pushed the mob back, but anger moved faster than their lines. Faces I’d known since childhood — merchants, soldiers, even the palace cook — glared at me as if the sins of a dynasty were written on my skin.
I stepped forward, lifting my hand. “Qui
