The council chamber smelled of stone dust and old fear that had never fully settled since the room was carved.
Warden Ilyra sat at the center of the curved table with Oren and Sava flanking her in seats older than the city.
Hajin stood on the floor below them with one hand resting on Ash's shoulder.
The whole city could watch through the civic line when the council allowed it, and today the council had allowed it.
"The council has reviewed your contribution to the shelter district," Ilyra said, opening with a verdict she had rehearsed through the whole previous night. "The relief hearth and the treatment protocol represent genuine service."
"But," Hajin said.
"But the engine's shield has weakened past the threshold where voluntary service can sustain it."
She set a thin slate on the table, and blue numbers glowed across its surface for the whole city to read.
"The decay rate has tripled since the guardian's cores were crushed at the gate," she said.
