The lower archive had become a shelter, though Concord found the gardeners before the gray voice lost its hold on the upper palace.
Twelve unranked workers stood beside the old seed vault, root dust covering their clothes while pale command marks circled their throats.
The senior keeper entered behind them and said, "The palace needs a living channel, and these gardeners know how to carry root memory without breaking it."
Didi stepped between him and the workers as Crowned Frost gathered beneath her feet, then replied, "You call people channels because the word makes their bodies sound like tools."
The keeper raised one hand, and marks around the gardeners' throats tightened until several workers lowered their eyes toward the stone floor.
He said, "They accepted service to the Court, and Concord asks them to continue until the palace reaches one answer."
