The first crack came before sunrise.
Sable had barely slept. Every time she moved, her back burned where old wounds had been reopened and never properly allowed to heal. The cold bath from two nights ago had settled deep into her joints, and her shoulder throbbed with a dull, grinding ache that refused to fade. Pain had become constant enough to be background noise, but that morning it carried a sharper edge, as if her body had sensed what her mind had not yet seen.
The knock came before the bell.
Three strikes against her door that carried command rather than request.
She stood slowly, jaw tight, and opened it.
Four warriors waited outside.
"Assembly," one said.
"Now."
No explanation or courtesy.
