Gallows's laughter stopped.
That mattered more than anything she could have said.
Ludwig dragged her slightly higher by the throat, keeping her feet off the ground now. "Which line does what?"
Kaiser pointed to the first channel, a thick line of glowing blood that sank into the floor and pulsed with a cold, steady rhythm. "That one is blocking the souls from leaving their corpses. It runs downward, toward the cells."
The lantern shook again, as if it recognized the path.
Kaiser pointed to the second, which glowed with a pale gold edge beneath the red. "That one isolates Titania from her divine patrons. It is tied to the veil around her and likely to the oath restraints."
Redd looked toward Ludwig immediately, understanding the cost of leaving that line intact.
Ludwig did not speak yet.
