Chapter 47. Reckoning at Midnight

At midnight, Ledger waited to be judged The Council chamber waited, quiet but charged, like a coiled circuit primed to ignite.

Outside its closed doors, Harper stood unmoving beneath the cold arc lights. The ribbon coiled loosely around her wrist was not mere ornament now. It was defiance. It was testimony. It was hers.

Knox stood beside her, his breath measured, his silhouette a steady frame in the fluorescent wash. One hand rested lightly at the small of her back, a gesture so practiced it required no words. I’m here. You’re not walking in alone.

Then the chamber doors opened with a pneumatic sigh, and the world shifted.

Inside, everything was perfectly staged. Cool-toned light bathed the marble floor in sterile blue. Council members already filled their seats, postures tight, expressions unreadable. Lilah sat tall and stone-faced, arms folded like blades. Arthur leaned into shadow, half-obscured by the chrome beams. Jude and Bryce whispered in low tones ne