By the time they reached a broken storage yard on the outer edge of the east ward, the horns from Varn Thal had changed.
What began as two warning calls became a pattern, and then a rolling set of signals moving from terrace to terrace; shutters closed over bridges that should have remained open for morning traffic, lift platforms ceased mid-route, and from the higher wards pale barrier lights began to rise along the main crossings in a tight net.
Sera watched the city with a hard expression. "That is not normal security."
"No." Istra said. "That is emergency law."
Rhel listened for a moment longer, reading the pattern of the horns. "Authority has taken the public face of it. That means the trial result reached more ears than mine. Once that happens, every side moves at once because waiting becomes the greater risk."
Lucian looked at the stacked layers of Varn Thal from his position at the edge of the yard. "Who else?"
