Nobody suggested turning the bells back on.
The decision survived the next hour and then the one after that. Sairren wardens remained posted along every upper approach while families were moved away from exposed bridges and into workshops, storage halls, meeting rooms, and any structure with enough solid walls to survive another assault.
The Sunken Belfry was still theirs. Martin could see that in the way the Sairren moved through it even without resonance guiding them. Wardens knew which damaged bridges could still carry weight, families knew which workshops belonged to relatives or friends, and route-keepers continued organizing people even though the bells that normally amplified their work remained silent.
Yet the city no longer behaved like home.
