For a heartbeat, the chapel felt… quieter.
Not safe.
But paused.
Seraphine's warmth receded a fraction, as if she'd stepped back to watch.
Meros's clean pressure steadied, satisfied with a structure he could file.
Astra exhaled slowly.
Then Dorian's silk voice slid in, amused and sharp.
"How pretty," he murmured. "You put yourself in a man's hands to avoid mine."
Astra's throat burned. "You're recorded as a claimant."
Dorian chuckled. "I don't care what you record, little anomaly. I care what you feel."
The collar pulsed.
The seal hummed.
And the interim protocol—new ink—tightened around Astra like a net pretending to be a blanket.
Astra felt it.
Kael felt it too. His posture shifted subtly, like a man suddenly given responsibility he didn't ask for.
His hand lifted—then stopped short of her collar, as if his instincts had hit the consent gate and backed away.
Astra noticed.
Heat flared anyway.
Seraphine stepped closer to the altar, voice gentle. "Now," she said, "as arbitration steward, I will place a sanctified marker on the interim protocol."
Astra's blood went cold. "No."
Seraphine's smile didn't move. "It is not custody. It is verification."
Meros's projection brightened. "Verification is necessary."
Astra's throat burned around the seal. Verification meant handshake. Handshake meant cross-validation. Cross-validation meant a cage.
Astra spoke quickly, sharp. "Private verbal confirmation required."
Seraphine's eyes glittered. "Yes. Give it."
Astra leaned toward Kael and whispered, urgent and intimate.
"Black water."
Kael answered instantly. "Black water."
Astra nodded once.
Then she spoke into the chapel air, clear.
"My private confirmation will be given only if the verification is performed without touching my collar or seal," Astra said. "And without merging Guild and Lumen channels."
Seraphine's smile sharpened. "You are exhausting."
Astra's eyes burned. "You are hungry."
Seraphine's warmth sharpened into something colder. "Careful."
Meros's voice cut in, polite and firm. "Subject. Verification can be performed by reading the witness seal's record."
Astra's stomach dropped. "No."
Meros's smile thinned. "Yes. The seal is already Guild."
Seraphine's gaze flicked to the seal at Astra's throat, interest sharpening. "Let me see."
Kael stepped half a pace forward—subtle, controlled—blocking Seraphine's line to Astra's throat without touching Astra.
Seraphine paused, amused. "Ah. The custodian."
Kael's voice was low and flat. "No touch."
Seraphine smiled. "He speaks like he owns you."
Astra's voice cut in, sharp. "He speaks like he respects me."
Lyra's quiet laugh came from the wall. "That's a rare kink."
Kael's head snapped toward Lyra—lethal. "Quiet."
Lyra's smile sharpened. "Make me."
Astra felt jealousy flare again, hot and ugly—and she used it like fuel.
She turned her head toward Lyra, eyes cold. "You want a role? Prove you're not Dorian's echo."
Lyra's brows lifted. "How."
Astra nodded toward the black water. "Go in."
Orin hissed, "Astra—"
Lyra stared at the moat, then back at Astra, smile thinning. "That water eats signal."
"Good," Astra said. "If you're a beacon, let it drown you for a minute."
Lyra's eyes glittered—anger and interest tangled. "You're cruel."
Astra's mouth curved. "Consent?"
Lyra's smile trembled, then steadied into something sharp. "Fine."
Lyra stepped to the edge and sank one foot into the black water.
No splash. Just a quiet swallow.
Her shoulders tensed as the null channel licked her throat mark. She inhaled sharply—like someone had pressed cold fingers into her pulse.
Then Lyra stepped deeper until the water reached her calves.
Her Guild shimmer blinked—faint, then gone.
The air in the chapel changed.
Meros's projection flickered.
Seraphine's warmth hesitated.
Astra's witness seal hummed, suddenly uncertain—its "safe signal" confused by the null.
Astra's interface flashed.
NULL SURGE: HIGHGUILD PROXY STABILITY: DROPPINGLUMEN SIGNAL: SMEAREDWITNESS SEAL: TEMPORARILY DEGRADED (READ-ONLY INCONSISTENT)
Perfect.
Astra lifted her chin and spoke fast, sharp.
"Verification cannot rely on the seal's record while the chapel null is active," Astra said. "So your 'verification' attempt is invalid."
Meros's polite smile tightened. "You manipulated conditions."
Astra's smile was razor-thin. "You walked into them."
Seraphine's eyes glittered with irritation and admiration. "Clever girl."
Astra's collar pulsed at the pet name.
Astra's stabilizer vow tightened, holding her posture.
Kael's voice came low at her ear, rough and intimate. "Good."
The word warmed Astra more than it should have.
Then Dorian's silk voice slid in, amused.
"You used the pretty broker as a sink," he murmured. "How efficient."
Lyra's eyes snapped toward Astra from the water, sharp and furious. "I heard that."
Astra didn't apologize. She kept her gaze on Seraphine and Meros.
"Now," Astra said, "you either accept interim oversight without sanctified marker, or you escalate and break your own 'peace.'"
Seraphine's smile sharpened. "You think you can shame me with law."
Astra's eyes burned. "I think you can't afford to look like you're cooperating with the Guild too openly."
Meros's projection flickered. "And you assume the Guild cares about appearances."
Astra smiled faintly. "You care about files. Files are appearances."
Silence.
It was a tactical win—small, sharp, bought with Lyra's discomfort and Astra's nerve.
But it wasn't a victory.
It was a pause.
Seraphine exhaled slowly. "Very well," she said. "No sanctified marker—today."
Meros's smile thinned. "The Guild will accept—temporarily."
Astra's throat burned. Temporarily always meant later with teeth.
Lyra stepped out of the black water, shivering once. Her smile was gone. Her eyes were bright and angry.
"You owe me," Lyra whispered.
Astra's mouth curved, cold. "Get in line."
Lyra's gaze flicked to Kael, then back to Astra, jealousy flashing and sharpening into something predatory-soft. "I will."
Kael's jaw clenched, murderous.
Astra felt heat flare—jealous, hungry, dangerous—and forced it down before it made her stupid.
Seraphine looked at Astra like she was reading a prayer in reverse. "Seventy-two hours," Seraphine said softly. "Then we arbitrate again—properly."
Meros's projection nodded. "The Guild will be watching."
Dorian's silk laughter curled through Astra's collar. "And I will be waiting."
Astra's interface flickered again—cold warning.
INTERIM OVERSIGHT: ACTIVENOTE: Custodian channel may become "dominant" under stress.
Dominant.
A word the collar loved.
Astra's throat went tight.
Kael looked at her, reading the flicker in her eyes. His voice dropped low, rough and intimate.
"What did it say."
Astra swallowed. "It wants you to become… dominant channel under stress."
Kael's jaw clenched. "No."
Astra's mouth curved, sharp. "Not without consent."
Kael's gaze burned. "Not at all."
Astra leaned in, close enough that her breath warmed his mouth, and spoke with heat threaded through strategy.
"If it tries," Astra whispered, "you resist. Voice only. And you ask."
Kael's throat worked. "Astra—"
Astra's eyes held his. "Consent is our knife."
Kael stared at her for a beat, then nodded once. "Agreed."
Seraphine watched them with faint amusement. "You make vows like lovers."
Astra didn't look away. "We make vows like survivors."
Meros's projection dimmed slightly, withdrawing. "Interim oversight acknowledged."
Seraphine's warmth receded toward the chapel edge, hymn fading into the stone.
The pressure lightened—barely.
But the Null Chapel never let anyone leave clean.
As Seraphine's presence withdrew, the witness seal on Astra's throat vibrated hard—like it had been waiting for the moment the chapel's authorities loosened.
Astra's interface flashed a new panel, sudden and cruel.
SYSTEM NOTICE: Interim oversight activated a dormant clause.CLAUSE NAME: Leash ReciprocityEFFECT: Custodian receives temporary "Override Request" prompt during subject distress.NOTE: Subject's consent gate may be bypassed if subject is unconscious.
Astra's blood went ice.
Kael saw her face change. "Astra. What."
Astra swallowed, throat burning. "If I go unconscious… it can bypass consent."
Kael's jaw clenched, fury tight. "Then don't go unconscious."
Astra laughed once, harsh. "I'll put that on a banner."
Lyra's quiet voice came from behind, amused and sharp. "So the collar built a contingency. Cute."
Orin swore. "This is what I meant. Ink always has a knife hidden."
Astra's pain flared under her skin, trace buzzing hot in her veins. The witness seal hummed, eager, as if pleased to have found a new loophole to exploit.
And in the quiet after Seraphine's retreat, Dorian's silk voice slid close again, intimate as breath at the throat.
"Seventy-two hours," he murmured. "Long enough to make you faint, little anomaly."
Astra's spine went rigid.
Kael's hand tightened around her wrist—not owning, grounding—then loosened again like he caught himself, like he refused to be anything but chosen.
Astra met Kael's eyes and whispered, low and fierce:
"Black water."
Kael answered, rough and steady. "Black water."
Then Astra looked into the dim chapel and realized the real threat wasn't Seraphine's warmth or Meros's clean geometry.
It was the new clause waiting patiently inside her collar—
and the fact it only needed her to fall.