LOGINI tell them yes.There is no authority attached to it. No expectation that they listen because I outrank them. If they want to leave, they leave. If they disagree, we talk it through or move on. Training without command feels strange at first. Lighter. Slower. More honest.I correct one of them mid-
The quiet does not arrive all at once.It seeps in.The first thing I notice is what does not happen. No alert buzzing my tablet at dawn. No layered messages waiting to be sorted by urgency. No courier requests marked immediate, no council updates phrased like favors. I wake up to light instead of o
“You are insulting this council,” Tamsin says, color rising in her face.“I am trusting it,” I counter. “Enough to believe it can survive limits.”One of the quieter councilors, a woman I barely know, speaks up. Her voice is hesitant but sincere. “These safeguards are… comprehensive.”“They are rest
I do not sleep much the night before.Not because I am afraid of the council. Fear is too simple for what this is. Fear has edges. It sharpens you, gives you something to push against. This feels different. This feels like standing in a doorway too long, knowing that whatever I choose will close som
The council asks this time.Not a summons. Not pressure disguised as protocol. An invitation delivered with careful wording and softened edges, the kind meant to signal respect while still implying inevitability.Formal meeting. Neutral ground. Optional attendance.Optional is the lie they tell them
Restlessness settles into me like a second pulse.It starts subtle. A tightness in my calves. A need to move that does not have a direction attached to it. I pace the length of the cabin after sunset, counting steps without meaning to. Window to door. Door to sink. Sink to window. I stop only when t







