Yeda waited at the edge of the embassy square while six signatures held the deed open above her. The Equal Witness Clause had made every claim visible, but visibility did not turn a divine contract into a loose thread.
Each line passed through a champion, a patron mark, a promised benefit, and the Surveyor's acceptance. Cutting the gold itself would only damage the part people could see while leaving the legal route intact.
Vasa had sent her every tournament record where a sponsor signature appeared. The files showed gestures, colors, wording, enforcement hooks, and the moment a patron mark changed from advice to control.
Yeda had watched those records until she could tell one signature from another. She had not done it to fight gods. She had done it because every system that claimed a person left a seam somewhere between the promise and the pressure.
