The first thing Astra heard was the seal on her throat purring.
Not pleasure—recognition.
Like a lock clicking open because the right key had finally arrived.
The Underchain muffler Orin had triggered turned thick and bitter in the air, smearing sound and scent, but the Guild didn't need clean signal the way the Church did. The Guild carried its own certainty. Their authority didn't seep. It arrived.
The lantern flame in Orin's room bent sideways as if making room for someone important.
Astra's interface flared.
GUILD WITNESS SEAL: ACTIVESAFE SIGNAL FOUND — GUILD AUDIT TEAM ARRIVINGDEFERRAL: ENDEDAUDIT LOCK: ELEVATINGTRACE: 75.0%WARNING: BODY CONTROL RISK
Orin's face tightened. "No."
Lyra's smile was gone. "He's fast."
Kael went rigid beside Astra, eyes snapping to the door like he could bite through wood if the Guild tried to take her.
Juno's hand slid toward a wire disk, ready.
Astra didn't move.
Not because she was brave.
Because the seal wanted movement. It wanted "resistance." It wanted to justify its next step.
So Astra held posture like a blade held flat.
"Everyone," she said low, "breathe."
Orin shot her a look like she'd lost her mind.
Kael's voice came rough at her ear. "Astra—"
"I know," she murmured without looking at him. "No touch. Voice only."
Kael's jaw clenched. He didn't argue. He simply shifted closer—close enough to be felt, not close enough to become a handle.
A clean line between protection and possession.
The door didn't knock.
Stone didn't scrape.
The room simply… acknowledged a new presence.
A thin, polite hum threaded through the walls, like a quill scratching the start of a new file.
Then a voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once—cool, measured, and mildly disappointed.
"Underchain muffler. Amateur."
Orin swore under his breath.
Juno's eyes widened. "They're inside the room?"
Lyra's gaze sharpened. "Not inside. Over it."
Astra's throat burned as the seal vibrated, hungry.
Astra's interface flickered again.
OVERLAY DETECTED: GUILD AUDIT GRID (LOCAL)NOTE: WITNESS SEAL IS A BEACON NODE
A grid.
They'd draped a net over this pocket without stepping through the door. They weren't hunting with boots. They were mapping with law.
Kael's breathing went controlled and shallow. "Tell me what you see."
Astra swallowed. "A grid overlay. The seal is broadcasting inside it."
Orin's mouth twisted. "So the room is already compromised."
Lyra leaned back against the table as if this was a salon instead of a trap. "Meros brought friends. That means he expects violence."
Juno muttered, "Or he expects you to be useful."
Astra ignored her.
She focused on the one thing the seal still responded to: structured compliance.
If she couldn't erase it, she could steer it.
Astra lifted her chin, voice calm. "Auditor Hal. State the audit team composition."
A pause—brief, polite.
Then Meros's voice answered, closer than it should have been. "Two attendants. One stabilizer. One enforcement specialist."
Enforcement.
Kael's shoulders tightened.
Orin's face went murderously still. "They brought a cutter."
Lyra's eyes flicked to Astra. "Enforcement specialists don't carry blades. They carry permissions."
Astra's stomach turned.
Permissions were worse.
Because permissions didn't leave blood. They left ownership.
The door finally opened.
Not slammed. Not forced.
Opened like someone had the right.
Meros Hal stepped in with the same neat calm as before, grey robe crisp despite Underchain damp. Two attendants followed—slate in hand, eyes down, silent. A third figure came last, and the air changed with him: heavier, colder, like the room had been handed to a different kind of predator.
He wore no robe.
He wore black leather cut like a tool harness. A thin metal crest sat at his throat—Guild—but the geometry was sharper, more aggressive than Meros's.
His gaze hit Astra's collar and didn't soften.
It assessed.
Then it claimed.
Meros smiled politely. "Subject Astra Vey. You have fled. That is recorded as resistance."
Astra didn't blink. "I complied pending safe signal. Your seal declared safe signal found."
Meros's eyes warmed slightly, as if pleased she remembered the exact phrasing. "Correct. And now we are here."
Astra's collar pulsed like it wanted to sigh in relief—finally, someone official.
Astra hated it.
"Name the enforcement specialist," Astra said.
The black-leather man spoke, voice flat. "Warden-Crafter Silex."
Kael's posture tightened. "Warden."
Silex's eyes flicked to Kael. "Collateral."
Kael's voice went cold. "Try to label me again."
Silex didn't react. "Try to matter."
Heat flashed through Astra's chest—anger, and something darker that wasn't soft at all. Kael's pride was a weapon. The Guild treated it like a nuisance.
Meros lifted a hand, gentle. "Let's remain civil."
Orin barked a humorless laugh. "Civil in my tunnels."
Meros's polite gaze slid to Orin. "Orin Vale. Underchain facilitator. Known for hosting hazards for coin."
Orin's smile was sharp and ugly. "And you're known for putting chains on people and calling it safety."
Meros didn't deny it. He nodded at one attendant, who angled a slate slightly.
A clean contract projection unfurled in the air—too precise, too bright for this room. Lines of text hovered, perfectly spaced.
Astra's throat burned as the seal recognized it.
Her interface stuttered as if trying to kneel.
AUDIT LOCK: RISINGEXTERNAL CLAUSE STACK: ACTIVEWARNING: AUTO-COMPLIANCE IMMINENT
Astra felt the first tug—not on her body, but on her will. The seal wanted her to agree. To accept. To become tidy.
Kael's voice cut low at her ear, deliberate, protocol-shaped. "Astra—breathe. Keep your posture."
Astra breathed.
The stabilizer vow inside her held.
Meros continued, calm. "You will submit to evaluation now. The witness seal will remain. Your trace will be partitioned under Guild protocol. Your self-write access will be supervised."
Astra's eyes stayed on Meros. "And collateral escrow."
Meros's smile thinned. "Deferred. Conditional."
Silex stepped forward half a pace. "Until the hazard is contained."
Astra's collar pulsed at the word contained like it craved it.
Kael's jaw clenched. He didn't move, but his presence flared—pure threat held in discipline.
Silex's gaze flicked to Kael again. "Collateral is destabilized. Lumen residue present. House Veyrn extraction attempt recorded."
Kael's shoulders went tight.
Astra's blood ran cold. "Recorded by the seal."
Meros nodded gently. "The seal does its job."
Lyra's voice drifted, amused and sharp. "Congratulations. You brought a mirror into a knife fight."
Astra didn't look at Lyra. Not now.
Meros raised his hand slightly. "Subject Astra Vey. Present your throat crest."
Astra's collar tightened in anticipation.
Astra's internal stabilizer held her still.
She didn't step forward.
She didn't step back.
She spoke.
"I consent to a non-invasive scan," Astra said evenly. "No refactoring. No escrow. No touch from enforcement."
Silex's mouth barely moved. "Denied."
Meros's smile stayed polite. "Subject, you are not in a position to negotiate that."
Astra's gaze stayed steady. "Then you are not in a position to call this consent."
A faint silence.
For the first time, Meros looked… slightly annoyed.
Silex's gaze sharpened like a blade finding the seam in armor. "Hazard is argumentative."
Kael's voice went low. "She's not a hazard."
Silex didn't look at Kael this time. "That depends on what she can do."
Meros lifted his hand again, as if soothing a room of children. "Astra. If you comply cleanly, the Guild can shield you. We can damp your trace. We can suppress external claimants."
"Like Dorian," Astra said.
Meros's eyes flicked, a fraction too quick. "Yes."
"And Seraphine," Astra pressed.
Meros nodded. "Yes."
Kael's jaw clenched harder. "And what do you want for that."
Meros's smile warmed. "Stability."
Lyra laughed softly. "He means ownership."
Astra finally turned her head toward Lyra, eyes cold. "Quiet."
Lyra's brows lifted, delighted. "Or what."
Kael's voice cut in, ice. "Or I make you."
Lyra's smile sharpened like she'd just been offered dessert. "In front of an auditor? How romantic."
Jealous heat snapped through Astra's gut, sharp and ugly—and she forced it down.
Not now.
She turned back to Meros. "Start the scan."
Meros's smile returned, satisfied. "Wise."
Silex stepped closer.
Astra's throat went cold.
Kael's body shifted—one subtle angle, positioning himself between Silex's hands and Astra's collar without touching her.
Silex stopped. His gaze flicked to Kael. "Obstruction."
Kael's voice was low and lethal. "Boundary."
Meros sighed softly, as if tired. "Warden-Crafter. Non-invasive. No escalation unless necessary."
Silex's eyes didn't soften. "Necessary is imminent."
Meros ignored him and nodded to an attendant.
The attendant lifted the slate. A thin cone of pale light projected toward Astra's throat.
The seal hummed, harmonizing with the scan.
Astra felt it like fingers in her nerves.
Her interface stuttered—then cleared, against her will.
GUILD READ: ACTIVE (VIA SEAL)CLASSIFICATION: INTERFACE BEARER (CONFIRMED)NOTE: SOUL-SIGNATURE MISMATCH — UI VISIBILITYRISK: HIGH