The envoy's smile was a polished blade.
He stood in the chapel arch like the corridor had been built to frame him—silk collar, House Veyrn sigil pinned at the throat, hair slicked back with expensive oil. He bowed to Seraphine with perfect manners, then lifted his eyes to Astra's throat as if the bow had been part of the paperwork.
"Sister-Matriarch," he said smoothly, "House Veyrn formally requests transfer of the subject under emergency recovery."
Astra felt her collar pulse at House—hungry recognition, like a trained animal hearing its master's step.
"And," the envoy added, voice softening into polite poison, "the Marquis sends his love."
Heat flashed under Astra's skin—anger, not warmth. Her mouth tasted blood. The air smelled of incense and clean stone and the kind of power that never got its hands dirty.
Behind her, Kael's hand settled at her waist—asked-for, steady. The contact grounded her, and it also made her pulse kick in the worst way. Because it was intimate. Because it was chosen. Because Seraphine's light made everything feel like it could be witnessed and used.
Kael's breath brushed Astra's hair. "Consent?" he rasped, like he needed the word to keep his rage from turning into a leash.
Astra didn't look away from the envoy. "Yes."
Kael's fingers tightened for half a heartbeat, then eased as if he'd caught himself.
Seraphine's smile sharpened, delighted at the tension in the room. "Emergency recovery," she echoed, voice gentle. "So dramatic."
The envoy's tone stayed respectful. "House policy."
Orin stood a few paces back, shoulders tight, eyes scanning the chapel geometry like it was a battlefield. Juno's disk hummed faintly in her palm, her face pale and hard.
Astra's interface flickered—gold and white overlays tangled with Dominion text—offering her the same cruelty in a cleaner font:
SANCTUARY WITHDRAWAL AVAILABLEWARNING: COMMAND OVERSIGHT + HOUSE CLAIM WILL SNAP TO PRIMARY HOLDERPRIMARY HOLDER: UNRESOLVED
Unresolved meant chaos. Chaos meant someone would try to "resolve" it with force.
Seraphine's gaze lingered on Astra's throat wrap again, almost tender. "You see?" she murmured, as if this were a lesson. "You can run from one hand and fall into another."
Astra kept her voice flat. "I'm not falling. I'm calculating."
The envoy lifted a thin parchment case from his sleeve. "We have the writ. Signed, sealed, and witnessed."
"Witnessed," Seraphine repeated, eyes glittering. "By whom."
The envoy smiled faintly. "By the Guild."
Astra's stomach tightened. Of course. The Guild always appeared where chains needed legitimacy.
Kael's jaw clenched. "We cut the House subchannel."
Seraphine's smile didn't move. "You cut one wire. The House has many."
The envoy stepped one pace closer, still outside the brightest ward circle, respectful of holy geometry. "Subject Astra Vey," he said, voice mild, "you will accompany House Veyrn representatives for examination and protection."
Protection. The word tasted like a lie Astra had been forced to swallow too often.
Astra's collar pulsed again, as if it enjoyed the polite tone.
Kael's hand at her waist tightened, fury vibrating in his muscle. He didn't touch her throat. He didn't reach for her collar. He held the line by refusing the easy handle.
Astra leaned back a fraction into his warmth—not surrender, not ownership—just a reminder that she wasn't alone.
Kael's breath hitched. Heat snapped between them like a wire pulled too tight.
Seraphine watched it and smiled like she'd found something she could weigh.
Astra forced her mind back to angles.
"Seraphine," Astra said, without looking away from the envoy, "does House authority override sanctuary."
Seraphine's eyes glittered. "In my house? No."
The envoy's smile held. "The Church and House have agreements."
Seraphine laughed softly. "We have histories. Agreements can be revised."
Rusk's voice, muffled but present, threaded through the wards like a blade in silk. "Don't test me, Seraphine."
Seraphine didn't even flinch. "Captain," she said sweetly, "you're still here. How persistent."
Astra felt Kael's spine tense at the sound of command, even muted. The Guardian bond inside him hummed like a bruise pressed too hard.
Astra's throat burned. She needed control back—fast.
She stepped forward into the ward light—just enough that the gold lines touched her boots—and turned her gaze fully onto the envoy.
"If you want transfer," Astra said, voice clear, "you ask me."
The envoy blinked once. "We have a writ."
Astra's mouth curved razor-thin. "Then you have paper. Not consent."
Seraphine's smile sharpened. "Say it again."
The envoy's eyes flicked to Seraphine—annoyance under politeness—then back to Astra. "Consent is implied under emergency recovery."
Astra felt her interface twitch, hungry to classify. Penance weight pressed at her chest like a hand trying to push her head down.
She refused.
"No," Astra said. "Consent is spoken."
The envoy's gaze slid to Kael at her back, and his smile sharpened. "Your Guardian can authorize."
Kael's jaw clenched, rage flickering. "I authorize nothing."
Seraphine's eyes brightened at that defiance—like she enjoyed watching men with leashes try to bite.
The envoy's tone stayed calm. "Then we proceed through primary holder resolution."
Astra's blood went cold.
Primary holder.
The system's way of choosing a hand when too many hands were reaching.
Astra's interface flickered, confirming the threat like it was proud:
RESOLUTION PATH AVAILABLE: PRIMARY HOLDER SELECTIONCRITERIA: AUTHORITY + SAFETY + WITNESS
Astra swallowed blood. The collar pulsed, eager.
Seraphine's smile warmed by half a degree. "He's threatening to let the system choose," she murmured to Astra. "How unromantic."
Kael's hand tightened at Astra's waist again, grounding. "Astra," he rasped, low, "tell me what to do."
Heat flared in Astra's belly—sharp and furious—because he was offering her his choice while everyone else offered her a cage.
Astra turned her head slightly, mouth near Kael's jaw, close enough to feel his breath.
"Black water," she whispered.
"Black water," Kael answered instantly.
Astra kept her voice low, for Kael only. "If primary holder resolves, it may choose House, command… or sanctuary."
Kael's breath shuddered. "Or me."
Astra's throat burned. "Yes."
Kael went still. "I don't want that."
Astra's mouth tightened. "Neither do I. But we can steer it."
Kael's voice came rough. "How."
Astra's mind snapped into tactical.
Primary holder criteria: authority, safety, witness.
Seraphine was authority here. House had writ. Command had coercion. Witness was the Guild—unless Astra could change what counted as witness inside Lumen wards.
She looked at Seraphine.
"Your sanctuary mark is withdrawable," Astra said.
Seraphine's eyes glittered. "Yes."
"And your wards recognize consent tags," Astra pressed.
Seraphine smiled faintly. "They do."
Astra's throat burned. "Then recognize this: I do not consent to House transfer."
The envoy's smile thinned. "Consent is not required—"
Seraphine cut him off softly. "In my house, it is."
The envoy's eyes hardened. "Then we call arbitration."
"A word men use when they want to pretend force is fair," Orin muttered.
Juno's disk hummed, angry.
The envoy lifted his chin. "Primary holder resolution will arbitrate."
Astra felt the collar pulse again—hungry, impatient. Like it wanted the system to decide.
Astra hated that the collar wanted anything.
She stepped one pace deeper into the ward circle and addressed Seraphine like a blade sliding between ribs.
"Block primary resolution," Astra said.
Seraphine's brows lifted. "That's not how law works."
Astra's mouth curved. "It is how sanctuary works. You already muted command voice. Mute the system's arbitration call."
Seraphine smiled, amused. "You're bold."
Astra didn't blink. "You're hungry. Eat later."
For a heartbeat, Seraphine's smile showed teeth.
Then she lifted her hand slightly, fingers poised like prayer.
The envoy's voice sharpened. "Sister-Matriarch—House will remember this."
Seraphine's eyes glittered. "So will God."
She spoke one soft phrase.
"Lumen veil," Seraphine said. "No arbitration in sanctuary."
The ward lines pulsed.
Astra's interface flickered.
RESOLUTION PATH: RESTRICTED (SANCTUARY)NOTE: TEMPORARY