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“Name?”

“He would not give one.”

“What did he look like?”

“Covered face. Short. Maybe Nethri.”

Keth stood near the doorway. “There are no Nethri mechanics in lower row.” Tavi’s pupils widened. Kesta exchanged a look with Dreven as the implication settled between them: a disguised outsider had deliberately sent a child into a compromised machine. The sabotage was also a test, perhaps an attempt to silence the person most likely to recognize the condenser’s failure. Dreven turned toward Keth. “Seal the lower galleries. Search every market wagon still inside the wall.”

“The caravans left at sunset.”

“Then search the camp.”

Keth hesitated. “Every dwelling?”

“Every dwelling.”

Kesta stepped into Dreven’s path. “No.” His expression went flat. “Someone tried to destroy our water and kill Tavi.”

“So you will tear apart every home before dawn?”

“I will find the saboteur.”

“You will create panic and destroy evidence.”

“I cannot wait.”

“You can search intelligently.” Kesta held up the sample pouch. “This organism leaves residue. It needs controlled storage until applied. Cold, probably dark. Search supply lockers, abandoned rooms, and anyone who bought sealant at market. Question people before you frighten them into lying.”

Keth said, “That takes time.”

“It also produces answers.”

Dreven looked toward Tavi, small beneath the blanket. Kesta knew what he saw: the person he had almost failed, transformed instantly into permission for force.

“This is the moment,” she said quietly.

His gaze returned to her.

“The moment for what?”

“To decide whether fear gives you authority over everyone.”

His jaw clenched. Outside, the water bells continued their relentless toll. Dreven said to Keth, “Targeted search. No private dwelling without cause or council witness.” Keth’s mouth tightened. “And if the saboteur escapes?”

“Then the failure is mine.”

That answer cost him. Kesta saw it. The targeted search did not satisfy everyone. By second bell, a crowd had gathered outside the condenser district. Pela tried to keep ration lines moving while rumors multiplied: Red Basin infiltrators, human sabotage, council theft, an imperial plague. A man Kesta recognized from the cistern line pointed at her band.

“The machine failed after she arrived.”

Another voice answered, “The machine was failing before.”

“She brought Rath.”

“Rath came for water.”

“He came for her.”