A tactical hinge.
Astra moved.
Not running. Not flailing. One controlled step forward toward the cracked altar—enough to claim center space before either authority regained clean balance.
Kael moved with her, shoulder-to-shoulder, silent shield.
Lyra stayed back, watching, eyes glittering like she'd never paid for better entertainment.
Orin circled to the side like a man ready to open stone with his hands.
Astra stopped at the altar's edge and lifted her chin, speaking clearly—so every system would be forced to record the posture of her choice.
"I am present," Astra said. "Claimants may present."
The grid steadied again with a subtle snap—Meros recovering his clean geometry.
Seraphine's warmth flowed back into the air, smoother now, like she'd adapted.
Then the chapel's edge brightened.
A figure stepped into the chamber from the dark without opening a door.
Seraphine.
Hood down. Pale gold sigils like faint sunbursts at her throat. Eyes calm, smile gentle, the kind of gentle that could ruin you and call it salvation.
She walked as if the chapel belonged to her.
It didn't.
But she acted like it did.
"Thank you," Seraphine said softly. "Now we speak as people, not echoes."
Kael's body went rigid beside Astra. He didn't draw steel. He didn't touch Astra's collar. He simply became more present, as if his existence could be a boundary.
Seraphine's gaze slid to him, amused. "Kael Raithe. Still pretending you are not collateral."
Kael's voice was low and flat. "Still pretending you're holy."
Seraphine laughed quietly. "I don't pretend. I perform."
Astra's throat burned around the seal. "Where is the Guild."
Meros's polite voice arrived again, nearer now. "Here."
The air above the black water shimmered, and a clean projection formed—thin lines, precise. Meros's face appeared in it like a portrait drawn in light. No sweat. No breath. Perfect distance.
Astra's jaw clenched. "You didn't step in."
Meros's smile was polite. "I am present by authorized proxy."
Seraphine's eyes glittered. "Cowardly."
Meros's smile didn't change. "Prudent."
Astra felt Dorian's silk presence stir in her collar, amused.
Then the chapel's air turned colder.
Not Lumen cold.
Not Guild clean.
A third pressure slid in like velvet over steel.
And a voice—warm and intimate—spoke inside Astra's nerves, not through the chapel air.
"Hello, Astra," Dorian murmured. "Let's arbitrate properly."
Astra's blood went ice.
Kael saw her stiffen. "He's in."
Astra forced her breath steady. "Yes."
Seraphine's gaze sharpened, like she could smell silk even if she couldn't hear it. "House Veyrn is listening."
Meros's polite voice went careful. "House Veyrn has a legitimate ownership channel."
Astra's mouth twisted. "He's not here as law. He's here as hunger."
Seraphine smiled softly. "Often the same."
The witness seal on Astra's throat pulsed hard. The systems around her wanted a resolution. The collar wanted clean hierarchy. The seal wanted a handshake. Lumen wanted sanctified custody. Dorian wanted ownership that didn't look like ownership.
Astra wanted space to breathe.
Seraphine lifted her hands slightly, palms open—gentle theater. "We will arbitrate claims," she said. "First: the Guild's claim."
Meros's face in the projection tilted. "Subject Astra Vey is a technical hazard. We require custody for stabilization and containment."
Seraphine nodded. "Second: the Church's claim."
Seraphine's smile warmed. "Astra Vey is a soul in distress. We require sanctified custody for protection and purification."
Astra's stomach turned at purification.
Seraphine's gaze slid to Astra's throat seal. "Third: House Veyrn's claim."
Dorian's voice purred inside Astra's collar, delighted. "Astra Vey is my property under Dominion crest law. I require return of my asset."
Kael's jaw clenched so hard it looked painful.
Astra's fingernails dug into her palm.
Seraphine looked at Astra as if she was a child asked to choose a bedtime story. "Now," Seraphine said softly, "the subject will speak her preference."
A trap.
If Astra chose one claimant, the others would escalate. If she refused, they'd classify her as hostile and decide for her.
Astra lifted her chin and chose a different weapon: language.
"I prefer none," Astra said. "I consent to no custody."
Meros's smile turned thinner. "Denied."
Seraphine's smile softened, pitying. "You can't deny salvation, Astra."
Dorian's silk laughter curled. "You can deny, little anomaly. You just can't escape consequence."
Astra's throat burned.
She looked at Kael.
His eyes were dark and steady, the only thing in this chapel that felt real.
Astra leaned a fraction toward him and whispered, private, deliberate.
"Black water."
Kael answered instantly, rough. "Black water."
Then Astra spoke out loud again, calm and sharp.
"I will offer a fourth option," Astra said. "A temporary holding arrangement that prevents escalation while my trace is stabilized. No claimant gains custody. All claimants get oversight."
Meros's polite smile returned—interested. "Oversight how."
Seraphine's eyes glittered. "By whom."
Astra didn't look at Lyra. Didn't look at Orin. Didn't look at Juno.
She looked at Kael.
And felt the chapel hold its breath.
"By Kael Raithe," Astra said.
Kael went very still.
Lyra's smile sharpened like a cut.
Orin's eyebrows lifted, alarmed.
Juno's mouth fell open. "Astra—"
Meros's polite face showed a flicker of satisfaction. "Collateral oversight. Fascinating."
Seraphine's smile warmed, dangerous. "You would place yourself under a Hound."
Kael's voice came low, furious. "Astra."
Astra didn't blink. "Not under. Beside."
Dorian's silk laughter turned quiet and pleased. "Oh, this is beautiful."
Astra felt the collar pulse at Kael's name, hungry for hierarchy. Felt the seal vibrate, eager to categorize this as a "resolution."
She kept her voice steady. "Kael holds a military crest variant. He is trained to restrain without ownership. He will act as interim stabilizing anchor while claimants withdraw their immediate custody moves."
Meros's voice was polite. "You propose a leash made of a man."
Astra's mouth curved bitterly. "I propose a boundary made of someone who can say no."
Seraphine's eyes narrowed, amused. "Can he?"
Astra turned her head slightly toward Kael, close enough that only he could hear the next words. Heat threaded through her voice—consent-as-foreplay, intimate bargain with teeth.
"Consent?" Astra whispered. "Not to own me. To stand as my wall."
Kael's throat worked. His gaze held hers like a vow he didn't want to speak out loud.
Then he answered, rough and clear. "Yes."
The word hit Astra's body like warmth and danger.
Astra turned back to the chapel. "Kael consents."
Kael's jaw clenched as if he hated being used as a noun.
Astra didn't apologize.
She needed him alive, and she needed herself free enough to choose.
Seraphine's smile softened. "If Kael stands as interim custodian, he becomes responsible for your soul's outcome."
Astra's eyes narrowed. "He becomes responsible for my breathing and my posture. Nothing else."
Meros's projection flickered faintly. "The Guild will require audit access to confirm interim conditions."
Astra's throat burned around the seal. "Read-only. No refactoring."
Meros's smile tightened. "We'll see."
Dorian's silk voice purred inside her collar. "And I, Astra? What do I get."
Astra forced her voice calm. "You get nothing."
Dorian laughed softly. "Then I will take something."
Astra's interface flickered—cold warning.
OWNER CHANNEL PRESSURE: RISINGNOTE: Arbitration instability increases owner reach.
Seraphine stepped closer, warm light making her eyes look almost kind. "You are bleeding trace," Seraphine murmured. "You are tired. Let me hold your throat for you."
Astra's skin crawled. "No."
Seraphine's smile remained. "Why not."
Astra's voice went low and sharp. "Because you asked through my seal. That means you want a handshake with the Guild."
Seraphine's gaze flickered. "A handshake is peace."
Astra's mouth twisted. "A handshake is agreement. I don't agree."
Seraphine sighed, like Astra was a stubborn child. "Then we will test your fourth option."
Meros's voice brightened, too pleased. "Yes. Test."
The air above the altar rippled.
A clean contract panel unfolded in Astra's vision—this time not hovering above Kael's bench, but inside her UI like a parasite that had learned her language.
INTERIM OVERSIGHT PROTOCOLCUSTODIAN: Kael RaitheSUBJECT: Astra VeyDURATION: 72 HOURSLIMITS: READ-ONLY AUDIT ACCESS (GUILD + LUMEN)REQUIRES: SUBJECT CONSENT + CUSTODIAN CONSENT
Astra's collar pulsed in eager relief—finally, a neat structure.
The witness seal hummed, ready to record.
Astra's stomach turned.
This was still ink.
Just ink with Kael's name on it instead of Meros's or Seraphine's.
Kael's voice went low. "Don't sign anything."
Astra didn't look away from the panel. "If I don't, they'll force custody."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Then we run."
Astra's lips barely moved. "With this seal on my throat? With your shoulder tagged? They'll follow."
Kael's gaze burned, furious at being right and hating it.
Seraphine watched them with gentle interest, like watching prey circle a trap.
Lyra's voice drifted from the wall, amused. "If she signs, she chains herself to him. If she doesn't, she chains herself to them. Delicious."
Kael's eyes cut to Lyra—lethal. "Quiet."
Lyra's smile sharpened. "Make me."
Astra felt jealousy flare, hot and ugly. She hated that Lyra could needle Kael and still look entertained by his restraint.
Astra forced her attention back to the panel and the problem.
Consent.
If she consented, she needed it to be hers, not coerced.
Language was her blade.
Astra lifted her chin and spoke to the chapel, clear and controlled.
"I will consent," Astra said, "with a clause."
Meros's polite smile returned. "A clause."
Seraphine's eyes glittered. "Of course."
Astra's throat burned. "No cross-validation handshake between Guild and Lumen without my private verbal confirmation."
Meros sighed politely. "You already wrote that."
Astra nodded. "It remains."
Seraphine smiled faintly. "And your new clause."
Astra turned to Kael, close enough that her voice was private again. Heat threaded through her words—intense, strategic, chosen.
"Black water," Astra whispered.
Kael answered instantly, rough. "Black water."
Astra exhaled slowly.
Then she spoke her clause out loud, forcing the system to record the shape of it.
"Clause: Custodian cannot touch my collar or seal without my explicit consent," Astra said. "And my consent must be spoken, not assumed."
Kael's breath hitched—anger and relief tangling.
Seraphine's smile sharpened. "You make even your rescuer ask permission."
Astra's eyes burned. "He's not my rescuer. He's my ally. Allies ask."
Meros's voice was polite and cold. "The Guild accepts that limitation for seventy-two hours."
Seraphine's eyes narrowed. "The Church accepts—for seventy-two hours."
Dorian's silk voice purred inside Astra's collar, amused. "And I accept nothing."
Astra's interface flickered violently.
OWNER CHANNEL: CONFLICTINGNOTE: Owner claim does not recognize interim protocol.
Astra's stomach dropped.
If Dorian didn't recognize it, he could still pull through owner pressure even while Guild and Church pretended to "pause."
Astra clenched her jaw.
"Then we add one more clause," Astra said.
Meros's smile thinned. "You are pushing."
Astra's voice went flat. "So are you."
Seraphine tilted her head, interested. "What clause."
Astra looked at Kael, close enough to feel his heat. She didn't touch him yet. She asked first, because consent had become their shared weapon.
"Consent?" Astra whispered. "To be loud in front of them."
Kael's jaw flexed. Then he nodded once. "Yes."
Astra turned back to the chapel and spoke like she was laying a blade on a table.
"Clause: During interim oversight, any owner-channel pressure attempt is treated as hostile external interference," Astra said. "And triggers Delay Loop punishment—on me."
Orin swore softly. "Astra—"
Juno's eyes widened. "You'll take pain for Dorian's moves?"
Astra didn't blink. "Yes."
Seraphine's smile softened. "Martyrdom is holy."
Astra's eyes went cold. "It's not martyrdom. It's leverage. If Dorian pulls, I suffer, and everyone sees he violated arbitration."
Meros's polite smile sharpened. "Interesting."
Dorian's silk laughter curled through Astra's collar, warm and hungry. "You would hurt yourself to shame me."
Astra's jaw clenched. "I would hurt myself to survive you."
Kael's grip on Astra's wrist tightened for a heartbeat, then loosened again—rage at the cost, respect for the choice.
Seraphine's eyes glittered with something that looked like admiration and was probably appetite. "Very well," Seraphine said softly. "Add it."
Meros's projection flickered. "Add it."
The panel in Astra's UI updated.
CLAUSE ADDED: Owner-channel pressure → Delay Loop (Subject) + Record as violation.
Astra's collar pulsed, thrilled by the neat conditional.
Astra hated that it loved being used.
The panel pulsed.
CONSENT REQUIRED: SUBJECT + CUSTODIAN
Astra's throat burned.
She looked at Kael.
His eyes were dark and steady and furious at the world. He didn't look like a man who wanted to own anyone. He looked like a man who'd spent his life being used as a weapon and was sick of it.
Astra stepped closer, close enough that her mouth was near his ear. Heat rose—sharp and intimate.
"If you accept this," Astra whispered, "you don't get to pretend you don't want me."
Kael's breath hitched.
His voice came rough, low. "Now isn't—"
Astra's fingers brushed his forearm—light, chosen, brief. "Consent," she murmured. "Always."
Kael swallowed hard. "Yes," he said. "I accept."
The word landed like a hook in Astra's chest.
She didn't let it drag her under.
She faced the panel and spoke clearly, making it a recorded choice, not a silent surrender.
"I consent," Astra said.
The panel flashed.
INTERIM OVERSIGHT: ACTIVE (72 HOURS)CUSTODIAN: KAEL RAITHESUBJECT: ASTRA VEYLIMITS: CONSENT GATEDAUDIT ACCESS: READ-ONLY (PENDING CLAIMANT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT)