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Chapter 105 – The Cracks in the Dawn

Author: JDHWS
last update Last Updated: 2025-11-20 09:19:56

The light that broke over Garden Metro was supposed to mean peace. The war was done, the tunnels cleared, the fires extinguished. The people had a council that spoke their names aloud instead of hiding them in ledgers. The Charter of Dawn hung framed in the new forum, signed in public, witnessed by hundreds.

And yet, Elara had never seen so many frightened faces.

Peace, she was learning, was harder to govern than war.

The city had grown louder, not quieter. The markets were bustling again, but beneath the hum of trade was unease. Each district had its own complaints—taxes, distribution, shortages. Every promise she’d made during the fight had turned into a demand.

Lena handled most of the petitions now. She sorted through stacks of requests that never stopped growing: requests for housing, for medicine, for compensation for the dead.

“This is what we fought for,” Lena said one night as she pushed another stack across the table. “But it’s too much. The system isn’t ready. The charter i
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