The signing of the joint access warrant took place at the clerk’s table before the entire assembly. The sheepskin thick parchment was spread out between Varo Nenn and the academy registrar, its text written in large, dark characters that left no room for office evasion.
Councilor Vesk signed first, her iron quill scratching firmly across the skin. Korr Var signed second, adding his official title as Master of Municipal Works. Then the thick parchment was turned toward Master Davin Sorell.
Sorell took the quill. His hand was steady, but his face was gray as river ice. He looked at Pella Rook with an expression of cold, burning venom that needed no words. He dipped the quill into the black ink, paused for three heartbeats. Then he wrote his signed name across the bottom of the page.
‘I sign under protest,’ Sorell said. His voice dropped into a harsh whisper that only those at the table could hear. ‘You have given a frightened mob the keys to an elemental fire. When the Gray Rush breaches the lower piers tomorrow night, remember that it was your check that broke the city’s shield.’
‘If the shield breaks. That was because a mechanic measured its thickness with brass measuring tongs, Master Sorell,’ Pella replied quietly, meeting his gaze without flinching, ‘then it was never a shield. It was only a headsman’s block waiting for the axe to fall.’
