Orin put us in a stone room with no windows and a door that sealed from both sides.
The shard sat on a slate in the middle of the table, wrapped in three layers of Descendant cloth and still humming like a bad tooth. Feng Lan refused to let anyone unwrap it until she had drawn a dead-field around the slate. Seraphina added a time-thin ring so that if the thing tried to scream again, the scream would arrive late enough to slap down.
Seris watched the work with her hands flat on her knees. The gold brand at her throat looked uglier under room light. Her two aides had been left in a side chamber with water and a watcher. That was mercy. It was also a message.
"If that thing calls again, I break it," Vale said.
"If you break it wrong, it calls louder," Feng Lan answered. "Wait."
