For a moment, her gaze wandered upward, to the fortress walls gleaming faintly in the torchlight, to the fortress lights that pierced the night like stars.
'A city built in the ashes and an order clinging to chaos. But order like this is only ever temporary.'
She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again, her gaze sharper than before.
The inspection was not yet over. Once the last strokes of ink dried on their arms, Ling Yu and her companions were led down a narrower corridor of the fortress by another detachment of guards. The torches burned lower here, shadows pooling in the stone cracks. The sound of boots echoed against the walls, a rhythm meant to remind newcomers of discipline.
Ling Yu walked at the head of her group, her expression serene, but her senses sharp. Every flicker of torchlight, every scrape of a soldier's boot, every side glance at her people, she noticed them all.
