At the garden fountain, Loccy lowered the child beside the sheltered basin, keeping the blanket within reach of her fingers. Vella checked the waiting guard's position behind the basin, then stepped aside as the child settled there, gripping the fabric.
"I'll stay," the guard said, planting his shield beside her blanket, "and she keeps that."
Hajin checked the draining twelve-second buffer before leaving, keeping her guarded refuge linked through Sanctuary.
'A shield, a blanket and twelve seconds, which already beats everything this city gave her.'
The citadel bells struck again as Hajin pushed past the eastern quarter's abandoned water trough with grit beneath his soles. Each toll sent another strip of script creeping beneath the bolted doors of occupied homes before their frightened occupants answered.
He caught the trough's rim as the Sanctuary backlash hooked beneath his ribs and yanked.
[ Court classification: Stolen property | Target: Unregistered horned child ]
