Henteria Chronicles Ch. 3 - The Peacekeepers -u... ✦

"One day," Mara said behind her, "someone will make another move. They always do. But maybe next time, fewer people will be fooled."

"So we protect against both," Mara concluded. "We find the device—or what remains of it—and we make every step public. They can't sell fear if we shine a light on the mechanism."

"It's worse," Lysa said. "If the Coalition expands and becomes the only recourse, those who control the Coalition become the real rulers."

The man at the carriage lifted his chin. "Representatives," he corrected politely, placing a stamped parchment on the ledge of the nearest stall. "Peacekeepers of the Coalition of Coastal Charterholds. We come with the Authority to mediate disputes. We request audience with the Council of New Iros."

The demonstration came at night when the wind was steady. A small craft approached Lornis under cover of fog. It carried a cargo that glinted like teeth in lantern light. Men in uniform moved like ghosts and then erupted into movement—the sort of violent, precise thing that carved neighborhoods into memory. They fired on a shipping lane; a device was aimed and detonated—not a bomb that would tear whole districts, but something that caused instruments to fail and to broadcast a signal that mimicked seismic activity. Ships near Lornis stopped their engines and drifted, instruments went dark, and the rumor spread like gasoline: "They've done it. The device works."