"Daughter of Edric," the gate said again.
A second breath moved through the living gate, drawn from Aylin's blood.
High-root snapped toward the wall. The loop around her forearm tightened so violently that her sleeve twisted against the reopened wrist.
Hest seized the cord as it whipped past her, stopping the pull before it took Aylin off her feet. Valea hammered a wrapped barb into a floor seam and bent the cord around it, adding friction without trapping Aylin inside the loop.
"Do not cut it," Aylin said.
Kessa had already raised her blade.
"That gate has his return," Aylin told her.
Kessa understood before she trusted. She turned the blade and struck a white root climbing from the gate instead.
Inside the oath chamber, Jiang lost the ledge.
