Clara already had the ledger open before the others finished dressing. Three exit routes sat inked in her precise hand: two residual-blind channels that still tested clean, and one older path through the black-stone district that would stay viable only if the wards there had not been refreshed in the last season.
"We walk all three today," she said. "Quietly. Confirm which ones still hold and which ones have grown eyes since last night."
Eli stood at the window with her arms folded. "The gray coats will have reported. The towers will be arguing whether fourteen days is a gift or an insult. The knight cities will be doing the same. Somewhere in the middle the emperor's people will decide the name is too useful to leave walking free."
Lara finished checking the short blade and slid it home with a soft click.
