Even in sudden movements, Marlic exuded a politeness that Lenith struggled to unify with her own knowledge of Dehkie. For all intents and purposes, this man was the enemy: a harbinger of ruination plaguing her family and the rest of Korvilene for almost two decades. All she thought about was how gentle his hand pressed to her back.

The door opened.

She walked the long hall.

Ξ

Lenith stumbled away from the Hub, scared to turn away from the structure. On this side, the five towers and Mass Core unified behind a singular, stacked stone façade. The Chimayri called it the Uniting Wall.

It was all too much to grasp.

To Sudbina’s citizens, their Hub was a unified fortress. As if the Chimayri had hidden all the framework on one side and shrugged when it came time to finish their work.

“A warning: Don’t mention Hadish, Eton Veil, or anything else about the Prior governments. Otherwise, use your intelligence and be vigilant out there,” Marlic said.

He pressed his back against the Hub’s narrow entryway. The automated door tried to shut. It bounced off his spine.

He had reclaimed the cloak, leaving Lenith in a freshly pressed pair of pants and ruffled, red shirt. He had told her “This should work for now,” as if it wasn’t the newest, nicest clothes she had ever worn.

 Crushing a warm, freshly printed slip of paper in her fist, Lenith asked “You’re not coming with me?”

“I have other matters that need tending to. You’ll find your way. Keep on the directions. Look for an officer with red stripes and a visor if you get lost. They’re called Noctam. They’re meant to help you. Have Pelinda contact me after you’ve settled in. I’ll pick you up for your first Advocate meeting, okay? Oh, and watch out for a package in your name. It’ll have an identification card and communicator.”

He gave her a short wave and then moved aside, letting the perturbed door slide shut. The paper unfolded, slapping at her wrist in the wind.

It laid out road-for-road and turn-for-turn how to arrive at her new home. Good job crushing it.

The Sudbina skyline greeted Lenith through heavy fog. Glimpses and twinkles of nightlife radiance split the gray. She walked among the insects she and her brother had feared from atop Emeray Hill.