FAZER LOGINThe lead car had already flicked on its right turn signal, ready to merge onto the southbound highway. Darcy sat in the passenger seat, the window half down, the dry cold wind hitting her face straight on.To the left at the fork was the dirt road that ran behind the old Thorne estate.She had planned to leave the moment the signatures were done. Not waste another second.The gray-white main house, the moldy attic, the long table Garrick had sat at for half his life. Just looking
The Council clerks' office needed to redraft and print the formal memoranda and cross-check the old files in the archives. That would take at least two hours.When Darcy stepped out the side door of the council hall, the snow outside had stopped.Cold air filled her lungs, clearing away the stale smell of limestone and old sheepskin that clung to the hall.Asher didn't bring Hyde along. He left the guards waiting by the cars.
At seven thirty in the morning, breakfast was already laid out on the long table in the suite's outer room.A plate of thick-cut bacon fried crisp at the edges, two soft-yolked eggs, and a small pot of hot oatmeal kept warm over a charcoal burner.Asher had already changed into a black shirt. His tie hung loose over the back of the chair.He was reading through the morning perimeter report Hyde had just brought in, a cup of black coffee in his other hand. When he heard the inner door open, he rapped two knuckles against the edge of the wooden table."Sit down. Finish what's on your plate."Darcy had just pulled on a gray wool
“They’re here to see Morana.”The clerk kept his voice as low as possible. A thin layer of cold sweat broke out at his temple.On the platform, the Speaker glanced at the list on the tablet. His face went rigid. He didn’t shout. Instead, he flipped the tablet face down on the table and waved Colin over from the side.“Send two patrol cars to Bend Three. Seal the road. Keep them all at the old waystation at the foot of the mountain. Without an Executive Council pass, not a single car reaches the plaza.”Colin hurried down from the side platform.The iron gates on both sides of the hall rose slowly on their mechanical hinges. The security personnel who had been blocking the exits withdrew behind the pillars and stopped obstructing anyone.Asher pulled his gaze back and caught Darcy’s wrist, pulling her up from the hard wooden chair.He tilted his head toward Hyde and gave the signal to pull out. The steward spoke low into the mic at his collar. The engines roaring outside dropped immedi
The word had barely left the old man's mouth when the entire hall went silent.Two full seconds. Every gaze in the room snapped toward the back row.Then came the rapid rustle of turning pages and low whispers.The people in the back rows had no idea what the word meant. But at the long table up front, several older men went pale.“Shut him up! Drag him out!”Garrick shoved back his hard wooden chair. Its legs scraped against the stone floor with a harsh screech.He didn’t even look back at Darcy. His arm shot straight toward the last row, veins bulging at his temple.“That’s the exiled madman from years ago! Who let him in?!”“Order! Order in the hall!”On the high platform, the Speaker slammed his heavy gavel three times. The table thundered.He waved toward the side doors. “Security. Remove the disruptor. Take him down and hold him for review on charges of disrupting proceedings.”Two heavily armed guards with council enforcement badges strode out from the side doors. Their palms r
On the last few kilometers of the mountain road leading to the council hall, the two modified pickup trucks ahead, both carrying Northern plates, suddenly pulled to the side and hit the brakes.The dozen cars behind them slowed. Snow chains ground against the ice with a harsh scrape.A clear lane opened all the way up the mountain.The Kingston snowplow at the front didn't honk. It rolled forward at a steady speed, crushing the snow.Darcy leaned back in the rear seat of the main car, watching through the armored window. A window in one of the cars ahead slid halfway down. Several men in thick bearskin coats rested their hands on their steering wheels, cigarettes clamped between their teeth, their eyes following the Kingston SUV as it passed. They watched until the car was gone.The entire road had gone quiet. No horns. No one overtook.Eight years ago, on the morning the Thornes threw her out of the North, she had ridden in a battered supply truck. The border patrol had held her at t







