Beatrice POV
That assumption had expired.
What mattered now wasn't how much truth was visible.
It was who could survive saying it twice.
The disappearance of another witness wasn't a warning meant to stop me.
It was a diagnostic.
They were measuring whether pressure redirected or intensified.
Whether the system absorbed stress… or cracked.
And they were watching me to see which outcome I'd choose.
They were isolating corroboration.
Classic containment. Not brute force. Not retaliation. Risk reduction.
"How close were they?" I asked.
Lucian didn't answer immediately.
"Close enough that they mattered," he said finally.
That was confirmation.
I felt it settle then - the new reality.
Being right was no longer the danger.
Being repeatable was.
I opened my eyes and looked out over the valley again. Lights. Movement. Order trying desperately to remember which direction it was supposed to flow.
"This is the part," I said softly, "where witnesses stop being tolerated."
