Chapter 19: ACT I, SCENE 8.75

ACT I, SCENE 8.75Day 29 Hours 15 Minutes Since the Ash FellCathedral — Command PostCaptain Varis Lang studies the map for a long moment before placing three deliberate charcoal marks across the city. One rests upon the Western Citadel Gates. Another upon the Northern Clocktower. The last upon the Southern Iron Sluice.“My outer patrols reached these positions before the blizzard swallowed the streets,” he says, then adds more sombrely, “None have returned.”“They carried the master keys to the city’s outer wards. Without them, these walls remain our prison.”Only then does he look up.“I asked for eyes that knew this city.”His gaze turns to Vespar.“I found them.” Captain Lang’s voice remains measured. “You’ve earned a place at this table, son of Harold. If you choose to leave the Cathedral walls, bring me news of my Watch... and if the boy still lives, bring him home.”As the final words leave the Captain’s mouth, movement catches Vespar’s attention. Kendra. She hasn’t said a word; she stands alone at the foot of the steps leading to the command post. She brushes past the watchmen guarding the steps with their halberds, her hands, wrapped in blood-speckled bandages, hanging stiffly at her sides. Her eyes never leave Vespar’s.“You said...” Her voice catches. “You said it yourself... down there.” Even though she speaks in a hushed tone beneath the Cathedral’s roar, her words reach Vespar. He sees her swallow. “You told me people—lowborn or highborn—couldn’t be trusted at a time like this.” Vespar follows her gaze. That same spark of life returns as her eyes move across the now secret-laden map, then the officers surrounding the table, and the nobles beside the Gloom-Oak fires. “...and that we need to look out for ourselves.” For the first time since the market, Kendra takes a step without Vespar leading her. “I know why you came up here.”Vespar and Kendra’s eyes remain locked for a moment. She continues, “Maybe you are right.”Vespar tracks her step backwards. “But they’re down there.”Another step.“They’re freezing while decisions are being made up here.”Her gaze breaks from Vespar and turns toward the main floor of the Cathedral, where exhausted commoners huddle shoulder to shoulder beneath thin blankets and around dwindling warmth. “I can’t just watch.”Vespar doesn’t get a chance to move from his rooted spot beside the map before he sees her turn and disappear into the crowded pews.Vespar can’t stop himself as he watches her grey hood weave through frightened refugees until she reaches the makeshift infirmary. An elderly woman struggles to keep pressure against a young labourer’s bleeding arm. Kendra kneels beside them without hesitation, quietly taking over the bandages before anyone can ask her name.Captain Lang breaks the spell. “The city is already changing. The question is whether you’ll spend your time trying to hold together what remains...” Vespar catches sight of Kendra as she moves through the lower nave, helping where she can.