Chapter 973: One Voice At The Door
The timer in the palace war room kept falling, steady and rude. One hundred eighty-one days, twenty-three hours, fifty-eight minutes. The tower’s thin hum came through the windows like a string pulled too tight.
"We go in teams," Rachel said first. "Standard stack. Lanterns sealed. We clean the base and you write."
"No," Luna said, quiet but firm. "If I cross first, the tower will mock Purelight. If we cross together, it will mirror our ’we’ back at us."
"Then I go," Seraphina said. "Scout, mark lanes, call you in."
"Or I do," Reika said. "I handle the rope. I am faster to pull you out."
I let them speak. I needed to hear the fear under their plans. Around the oval table, the holos watched without blinking. Alastor Creighton stood calm in blue light. Arden Windward already traced no-fly corridors in the air with two fingers. Lucifer Windward’s half smile hid full focus. Marcus Viserion leaned forward like he could punch a problem through a wall. Valen Ashbluff flipped a pen cap and thought in margins. Mo Zenith’s silence weighed the cost. Selene Kagu counted risk like numbers on glass.
In the room with us, Adeline Slatemark stood very straight. Quinn stood half a step behind her right shoulder, red eyes steady. Charlotte stood at the array with her sleeves rolled. Everett Springshaper rested both hands on old ledgers. Eva Lopez’s red scarf warmed the edge of the table.
"It is not a nest," I said. "It is a lock. Locks like single keys."
Cecilia did not look up from her slate. "Translate from hero to policy."
"Language trap," I said. "The inner seam is a contract. If I bring six voices, the tower will braid our wants and hand me a sentence that starts with ’We.’ If I walk alone, it must deal with one grammar at a time."
"Alone raises single-point failure," Selene said.
"Group raises surface area," Charlotte answered. "One line is easier to defend than seven lines to chase."
Rachel shook her head. "You don’t decide this without us."
"I don’t," I said. "But I will argue for it."
I put both hands on the brass rim and kept the pitch plain.
"Outer shell is theater. Inner access is contract. Purelight goes second. Law goes first. The first law must be a sentence Lust cannot twist or echo. Mythweaver writes sentences that stick. That is my work. If Lust wants a chorus, we give her a solo and make her sing in my key."
"Romantic," Lucifer said. "Also reckless."
"Accurate," Eva said.
"Support?" Arden asked. "We are not dropping you in a hole."
"Rope," Reika said with me. We both almost smiled.
"Literal tether on the threshold," Reika continued. "Pulse monitor. Anchor line to the array and to me. If his rate spikes past safe, or if the line carries a wrong tone, I pull. If the line goes slack, we do not rush in. We change the field."
"Cold ring on the approach," Seraphina said. "Two degrees. No frost. Feels like rain. People go home."
"Redeemer comb around the base," Rachel said. "Closed lanterns. We keep the ground honest. No speeches."
"City stays boring," Cecilia said. "Tea carts. Chairs. Payroll on time. ’Say less, live more’ posters at every third corner."
"Air lanes clear," Arden added. "No drones, no choppers, no spectacle."
"Lexicon by lunch," Charlotte said. "Arthur, do not speak any verb I flag."
"Budget is live," Quinn said. "Spend money on boring."
Everett tapped a diagram. "Three records of binding towers. In the two that did not end in ruin, the key was the first sentence at the seam. Not a shout. A line."
"Who said it?" Mo asked.
"A fool who learned," Everett said, "or a hero who listened."
I looked at the six women who share my life.
"I am not safer than you," I said. "I am the right shape for the first step. If I go in with any of you, the tower will use that ’we’ against us. If I go alone, it must get past me. You hold the world steady while I set the first line."
Rose’s jaw tightened. "I can redraw seams from here. If I see echo or delay, I write ’no echo’ across it and pass it to Charlotte."
Reika’s eyes held mine. "You come back when I tug."
"Yes."
Seraphina set two fingers on the brass. "If your temperature spikes, I cool the air and slow the scene. Breathe and buy time."
"Yes."
Cecilia slid an envelope across. "Authority, signed. Even gods read paper."
"Thank you."
Rachel’s hands were fists. "You send me your first line before you speak. If I raise my hand, you wait for Charlotte’s blink. You do not perform because you want to be brave."
"Agreed."
Luna did not move. "Anchor to me," she said. "Not with light. With breath. Four in, six out, one time at the threshold."
"Yes," I said.
Adeline looked around the ring. "Objections?"
"All of us," Rose said, and the other five said it with her.
The Empress let the silence cool. "Second Hero?"
"I go alone," I said. "Valeria and Erebus are with me, inside my frame and in my head, not as signatures the tower can grab. No one else crosses the seam until I call it clean."
Quinn leaned in slightly. "You carry our respect and our restraint. We stand behind you. We do not push you."
"So ordered," Adeline said. "The Second Hero enters alone. The Empire keeps the ground steady. Six months if we must. Sooner if we can."
Around the ring, holos straightened.
"Second Hero," Alastor said.
"Second Hero," Arden said.
"Second Hero," from Lucifer, amused but sincere.
"Second Hero," Marcus said.
"Second Hero," Valen said.
"Second Hero," Mo said.
"Second Hero," Selene said.
"Second Hero," Eva said, warm.
Everett squeezed Rose’s shoulder and met my eyes. Quinn’s red gaze stayed steady. Charlotte’s pen did not stop.
I exhaled. "Then I will prepare."
No one argued again. That is what real respect sounds like.
We filed out past the glass. The tower cut the sky in a straight, impolite line. The countdown kept going, polite as a knife. The city below started to act like itself on purpose. Tea carts rolled. Inspectors actually inspected. Drones drifted back from the skyline and chose quieter routes. Guards posted chairs instead of barricades. It looked boring. It was the best kind of work.
We rode the lift down to the motor court. Reika drove. Luna sat beside me and said nothing. Rachel watched the tether coil on her lap like she could will it to be kinder than rope. Seraphina tracked wind. Cecilia wrote until her slate stopped pretending it needed sleep. Rose watched the tower and then watched me and then the tower again.
I did not pretend my hands were not shaking. I put them flat on my knees and felt the shake leave a little at a time.
I would go alone. They would hold the world. At the curb, I looked back once. Six faces, one promise. We would win quietly, or not at all this time.