Pressure did not arrive with banners.
It arrived with absence.
On the first day after the law failed, traders did not come.
On the second day, a familiar cart turned away at the ridge.
On the third, a runner collapsed near Greyfall's perimeter with bleeding feet and a message that was never delivered.
By the fourth morning, the pit still held—
but the shelves were thinner.
Severin noticed the math immediately.
"We have days," he said.
"Not weeks."
Selyne nodded, already counting in her head.
"They're not starving us," she said.
"They're isolating us."
"Yes," Severin replied.
"Starvation invites sympathy.
Isolation invites blame."
Greyfall reacted in fragments.
Some worked harder.
Some hoarded quietly.
A few began to measure the road more often than the walls.
Corin returned from the western ridge with his jaw tight.
"Road's watched," he said.
"Not blocked.
Watched."
"By whom?" Selyne asked.
Corin shook his head.
"Not soldiers.
Professionals."
That word landed.
Severin closed his eyes briefly.
"They're contractors," he said.
"Bought patience."
The system chimed—cool, unhelpful.
[ Economic Pressure Detected. ]
[ Recommendation: External Trade Route Required. ]
[ Constraint: High-Risk Path May Endanger Anchor. ]
Severin dismissed it.
"I know," he said.
Greyfall gathered before noon.
No speeches.
Just numbers.
"We ration," Severin said.
"Not food—movement."
Murmurs rose.
"We reduce exposure," he continued.
"Fewer trips.
Fewer signals.
No unnecessary travel."
A man raised a hand.
"That makes us a target."
"No," Severin replied.
"It makes us boring."
That answer calmed no one.
Selyne stepped forward.
"We will rotate work," she said.
"No one goes unseen.
No one works alone.
If you're targeted, you're not isolated."
That steadied them more than Severin's words had.
Because it was practical.
Later, by the channel, Selyne spoke quietly.
"They're testing how long before someone breaks," she said.
"And when someone does, they'll pretend it was their idea."
"Yes," Severin replied.
"That's how pressure absolves itself."
The first break came sooner than expected.
At dusk, a boy—no more than sixteen—tried to slip out.
Not running.
Just… leaving.
Severin caught him at the perimeter.
"I'm not betraying anyone," the boy said quickly.
"My sister is sick.
I heard there's medicine east."
Selyne felt the ground tilt.
Severin looked at the boy carefully.
"Who told you?" he asked.
The boy hesitated.
"A man," he said.
"Off the ridge.
He said if I brought information—
they'd help her."
That was enough.
Severin nodded once.
"You can go," he said.
Selyne's breath caught.
"But not alone," Severin continued.
"And not with information you don't understand."
He turned to Corin.
"Two people," he said.
"Unmarked.
Quiet.
Escort him halfway.
Observe."
The system pulsed sharply.
[ Warning: Exposure Risk Elevated. ]
[ Note: This Is Not Optimal. ]
Severin ignored it.
"It's necessary," he said.
Selyne studied his face.
"You're setting a precedent," she said.
"Yes," he replied.
"One that says desperation isn't a crime."
That night, Greyfall felt smaller.
Not weaker—
tighter.
The fire burned low again.
Selyne found Severin checking inventories long past midnight.
"You're not sleeping," she said.
"Neither are they," he replied.
"Pressure doesn't rest."
She leaned against the wall.
"They're pushing us toward violence," she said.
"Slowly.
So they can say we chose it."
"Yes."
"And when we don't?" she asked.
Severin looked up.
"Then they escalate."
The system chimed faintly.
[ Escalation Likely. ]
[ Recommendation: Defensive Infrastructure Initiation. ]
"Not walls," Severin said.
"Routes.
Fallbacks.
Visibility traps."
Selyne frowned.
"You're thinking like a siege architect."
He met her gaze.
"I'm thinking like someone who knows siege isn't always loud."
Outside Greyfall, unseen hands adjusted pressure points.
Inside, resolve began to harden.
The law had failed.
Now the world was testing how far pressure could go before blood justified itself.
The escort returned at dawn.
Corin's face said everything before he spoke.
"They were waiting," he said.
"Not on the road.
Around it."
Selyne's chest tightened.
"And the boy?" she asked.
"Alive," Corin replied.
"Shaken.
They made sure he understood who saved him."
Severin closed his eyes briefly.
"Message delivered," he said.
"Yes," Corin agreed.
"And received."
Greyfall changed that day.
Not visibly.
But structurally.
Severin reassigned labor.
Stone work paused.
Pathways widened.
Water access points doubled—not for capacity, but redundancy.
Selyne noticed.
"You're designing for disruption," she said.
"Yes," Severin replied.
"Because disruption is coming."
The system chimed again—more insistent.
[ Defensive Readiness Incomplete. ]
[ Suggestion: Armed Deterrence Increases Survival Probability. ]
Severin shook his head.
"No weapons yet," he said.
"That's the line they want us to cross."
"And if they cross it first?" Selyne asked.
Severin didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he handed her a folded map.
"Then you move," he said.
"Before anyone asks you to."
Her heart thudded.
"You're planning for me to leave," she said.
"I'm planning for you to choose," he replied.
"Before choice is taken from you."
She looked at the map.
Hidden paths.
Water points.
Places marked with symbols—not words.
"Equal footing," she said softly.
"Yes."
Silence stretched.
"If I go," she said,
"Greyfall fractures."
"If you stay," Severin replied,
"Greyfall becomes the excuse."
The truth hurt no matter how it was framed.
That afternoon, a body was found.
Not inside Greyfall.
Just close enough.
A man from a neighboring ruin.
No wounds.
No blood.
Just a note pressed into his palm.
TRADE CLOSED.
The message was clear.
Selyne felt the eyes turn again.
Not accusing.
Calculating.
That night, Greyfall argued openly.
"We can't fight this!"
"We don't have soldiers!"
"They'll strangle us!"
Severin let it happen.
Then he spoke.
"They want us afraid of choosing," he said.
"So they can choose for us."
Silence fell.
"We will not attack," he continued.
"And we will not surrender.
We will endure."
Someone laughed bitterly.
"And if endurance kills us?"
Severin met the man's gaze.
"Then we die having refused to become tools."
The system chimed—once.
[ No Further Guidance Available. ]
Selyne felt something settle.
Not certainty.
Commitment.
She found Severin after the fires dimmed.
"They won't stop," she said.
"No."
"And you won't bend."
"No."
She nodded.
"Then neither will I."
He looked at her sharply.
"You don't have to—"
"I know," she said.
"But if I leave now,
they learn how to move you.
And I won't give them that."
He searched her face.
"This puts you in danger."
"Yes," she replied.
"But it also makes their price visible."
Outside Greyfall, torches flickered briefly on distant ridges.
Not marching.
Watching.
Severin stood beside Selyne at the wall.
"Tomorrow," he said,
"they'll force a choice."
She met his gaze.
"Then tomorrow," she replied,
"we decide who we are when the world squeezes."
The system remained silent.
Greyfall did not sleep.
It braced.
The pressure phase was ending.
Next would come impact.
— End of Chapter 16 —