Meros's eyes narrowed. "The Guild does not recognize Church custody over technical hazards."
Seraphine's gaze flicked to him. "And the Church does not recognize the Guild's right to harvest souls under the word 'statute.'"
The lane's flicker sharpened again—systems pushing, arguing.
Orin's jaw tightened.
He pressed hard into the foundation stone.
The seam under the cart widened by a fraction.
The cart groaned.
Silex felt the movement and snapped his eyes toward Orin. His hand lifted toward his throat crest.
"Contain—"
Seraphine's voice cut in, warm and terrible. "No."
Silex's word died in his mouth like it had hit a wall.
Not because Seraphine outranked him in law.
Because sanctity did something Guild geometry didn't like:
It made certainty feel like shame.
Silex's containment lines hesitated—one heartbeat.
That heartbeat was Astra's window.
"Astra," Kael rasped, feeling her body tense, "what are you doing."
Astra finally turned her head slightly and met his eyes.
Dark. Furious. Alive.
She spoke low enough that only he could hear—heat and strategy braided together.
"Trust me," she whispered. "Consent?"
Kael's jaw flexed. His eyes searched her face like he was trying to read the plan in her pupils.
Then he nodded once, sharp and chosen. "Yes."
Astra's pulse kicked.
The word yes always did something to her now. Not soft. Not safe. But real.
She used it.
She shifted her weight—subtle, controlled—toward the cart's edge where the seam was widening under the wheel. Orin's mouth of stone yawned a little more.
Kael moved with her, still shielding, still refusing to touch her throat.
Silex's gaze snapped back, catching the motion.
His hand shot out—again toward Astra's throat seal.
Astra's stomach dropped.
Kael reacted instantly, body moving like a weapon trained to intercept.
He caught Silex's wrist mid-reach and twisted, hard. The binding geometry flared on Kael's shoulder again—pain that made his breath hiss through his teeth.
He didn't let go.
Astra's chest tightened with heat and horror.
Seraphine watched the struggle with cool interest, smile faint.
Meros's voice sharpened. "Warden-Crafter—do not damage collateral. We need him coherent."
Need him coherent.
Astra felt cold rage spread under her ribs.
Kael wasn't a tool.
And yet everyone spoke like he was a component.
Orin hissed, "Drop!"
The seam widened.
The cart's wounded wheel slipped further.
The vehicle lurched hard, tilting toward the mouth.
Lanternlight flared.
People screamed and scattered.
Juno threw another disk—low, fast—dirtying the Guild grid again, making the lattice lines stutter.
Astra didn't run out into the lane.
She ran down.
Into the seam.
Stone swallowed her ankle, then her calf, cold and wet.
Kael moved with her, dragging his weight through the lurch as he kept Silex's wrist pinned long enough to prevent the seal touch.
Silex snarled and tried to wrench free, but Orin's seam opened wider, gravity stealing clean posture.
Meros swore—an actual swear—politeness cracking.
Seraphine's hymn warmth surged, wrapping the lane like a veil.
The Guild grid snapped, trying to stabilize.
For a heartbeat, all three authorities collided—statute, sanctity, ownership—and the system didn't know which one to obey.
Astra's interface flashed bright and merciless:
RESOLUTION PAUSED — CONFLICT THRESHOLD EXCEEDEDSYSTEM RESPONSE: HOLD
Hold.
A stall.
A hinge made of chaos.
Astra dropped fully into the seam.
Kael dropped after her.
Orin slammed the scar-sigil, forcing stone to close like a jaw.
The lane's sound died.
The white light of the audit cell vanished.
Darkness swallowed them whole.
Astra hit cold stone hard enough to knock breath out of her lungs. Pain flared up her spine. The witness seal on her throat hummed, angry at losing clean signal. Her collar pulsed, confused.
Kael landed beside her—heavy, controlled. He caught himself on one hand, breath sharp. His other arm wrapped around Astra's ribs immediately, pulling her close enough to brace her against the impact.
She tasted blood again.
Kael's voice was rough at her ear. "You alive."
Astra forced air in. "Yes."
Kael's grip tightened for a heartbeat—relief that felt like anger.
Then he loosened, like he remembered he wasn't allowed to hold too hard.
Consent lived in the details now.
Orin dropped into the dark after them, breathing hard. Juno followed, cursing softly.
Lyra was last.
Of course she was last.
She slid into the seam like a shadow that never rushed, landing lightly, hood finally up.
Astra's stomach tightened when she saw her.
Heat and resentment tangled, ugly and immediate.
Kael's gaze flicked toward Lyra—hard, warning—and then snapped back to Astra, as if he refused to let the other woman exist in Astra's space.
Astra hated how much that satisfied her.
Orin hissed, "Move. They'll reopen the seam."
They ran.
Not through clean tunnels—through old Underchain bone, slick stone and tight turns. Astra's throat burned with every breath. The witness seal stayed cold and present, humming like a bite that refused to heal.
Her interface flickered dimly in the darkness.
TRACE: 77%+GUILD WITNESS SEAL: ACTIVELUMEN CLAIM: ACTIVE (TERMS RECORDED)OWNER CHANNEL: ACTIVE (BACKGROUND)NOTE: BROADCAST RISK HIGH
Orin slammed a hand to another scar-sigil and the air thickened—muffled, gritty. They dropped into a low chamber that smelled like wet iron and old smoke.
Orin's safe pocket.
Not safe. Hidden.
He shoved the door panel closed and pressed his palm against the scar-sigil until it clicked.
Silence landed, heavy and temporary.
Astra sagged against the wall, shaking.
Kael moved in front of her immediately, body blocking the room's angles like he was still in a cart doorway.
His eyes raked over her face, then down to the seal.
"You let her in," he rasped.
Astra swallowed. "I didn't accept her custody."
Kael's jaw flexed. "You invoked her claim terms."
Astra's mouth tightened. "To stall the grid."
Kael stared at her for a beat, then exhaled hard, anger fighting gratitude.
"You can't keep doing that," he said. "You're feeding the seal."
Astra's throat burned. "I know."
Lyra leaned against the far wall, watching them with bright amusement, like this room was a theatre she'd paid for. "Gods," she murmured. "You two argue like you're married."
Kael's head snapped toward her. "Shut up."
Lyra's smile sharpened. "Make me."
Jealous heat flared in Astra, sharp and hot and completely inconvenient.
Kael's eyes flicked to Astra for half a heartbeat—checking. Grounding.
It made the heat worse.
Astra pushed off the wall and stepped closer to Kael, chosen proximity, reclaiming her space beside him. She didn't touch his crest. She didn't touch her collar. She only let her shoulder brush his arm.
Kael went still.
His breathing changed—barely.
Astra spoke low, for him. "Are you hurt."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Nothing you can fix."
Astra's eyes dropped to his shoulder. Even in the dim, she could see the faint shimmer of Guild binding residue there, like a pale bruise made of geometry.
Astra's stomach twisted.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Kael's eyes burned. "Don't."
Astra lifted her gaze. "Don't what."
Kael's voice was rough, honest in the ugliest way. "Don't apologize for surviving."
Heat curled low in Astra's belly, fierce and intimate.
She wanted to press her mouth to the corner of his jaw and bite the words into him like a vow.
She didn't.
She asked first.
"May I," Astra murmured, nodding toward his shoulder.
Kael's throat worked.
Then he nodded once. "Yes."
Astra lifted her hand and touched the fabric near his shoulder—careful, light. Not pressing into crest casing. Not trying to rewrite him. Just skin and cloth and a human check.
Kael's breath hitched anyway.
Astra felt it like electricity.
His restraint was a weapon, and it made her want to test the edge.
Lyra watched, eyes glittering.
Astra forced herself not to look at her.
"Hurts?" Astra asked.
Kael's jaw clenched. "Yes."
Astra's mouth curved faintly. "Good."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Good?"
Astra's voice went low, sensual in the way that wasn't soft—power-play, consent-as-foreplay. "It means you're still you," she murmured. "Not standardized."
Kael's gaze darkened. His voice dropped, rougher. "Don't say that word."
Astra's fingers lingered one heartbeat longer, then withdrew, deliberate.
She watched Kael watch her hand leave.
He didn't reach after it.
He wanted to.
That restraint made Astra's throat tight.
Orin coughed sharply, annoyed by intimacy in his room. "We're not done," he snapped. "The lane is compromised. The Guild will probe again. The Church will follow the hymn trail. And your Marquis—"
Dorian's silk laughter brushed Astra's nerves on cue, warmer than it had any right to be in a muffled pocket.
"You're learning to hide," he murmured. "Cute."
Astra's stomach turned.
Kael's head snapped toward her. "He's in."
Astra nodded, throat burning. "On the edge."
Lyra's smile turned thin. "Your seal made the edge wider."
Astra's jaw clenched. "I know."
Juno stepped closer, eyes hard. "What did Seraphine do up there."
Astra swallowed. "She stated her claim terms."
Orin's face tightened. "Meaning she can pursue sanctified custody now without paperwork."
Astra's interface flickered, and a line appeared that made her blood run colder than before.
LUMEN CLAIM: ACTIVE — FOLLOW-UP HEARING SCHEDULEDNODE: NULL CHAPELNOTE: SUBJECT CONSENT PENDING