SOUTHERN RIDGE — DUSK
The house did not exist yet.
That mattered.
Only the foundation lines had been staked.
White chalk on packed earth.
Survey flags moving in the evening wind.
A half-finished stone trench where one day, if the world behaved long enough, a kitchen might look out over the river.
For now it was still mostly possibility.
And that made it neutral enough for war.
We arrived early.
Of course we did.
No one trusted a Reader's punctuality.
The witness structure was simple:
- Sera
- me
- Mira
- Director Chen
- Regent Oren
- Brin, as youth witness because apparently this was her life now
- and Kassandra, who had agreed to remain "non-participatory" in the same way wolves agree not to critique sheep
Shadow was somewhere nearby.
No one asked where.
We all preferred our blood pressure intact.
The ridge had no podium.
No ceremonial chairs.
No banners.
Good.
If this became symbolic too quickly, we were all dead.
The sun was low by the time he arrived.
