The morning sun had climbed past the cedar top stone ledge of the High Chamber, throwing sharp-angled slashes of light across the marble tiers. The gallery was packed now. Word had spread across the bridges that the mechanics of Lowbank were laying physical evidence before the council. The stone benches were filled with apprentice summoners, water-court guards, master carpenters, and guild aldermen in their leather aprons.
Corvin Hest took the witness stand with the measured, deliberate step of an academic who had spent fifteen years grading check papers.
He wore the dark blue woolen tunic of an academy judge. But the gold embroidery around his collar had been carefully unpicked. That left faint, threadbare impressions in the nap of the cloth. Under his arm he carried three small, eight-sided notebooks bound in black oilskin, their edges dog-eared and swollen from humidity.
Beside him, Kel Dorr stood at the base of the witness stand. He held a brass-bound wooden carrying frame that contained five sealed glass sample tubes.
Councilor Vesk leaned forward over her crescent desk. “Examiner Hest. You served as Chief Judge of the Third Test Circle for six years, and as backup land-mapper for the Hollow Crown tracking data system. You were placed under office detention by Master Sorell forty-eight hours ago. State your oath under the Twelfth City law.”
