The complaint arrived in clean copies, which was how clans liked a knife to look.
By midday three independent captains had brought Sable the same sealed demand in three different inks. Refuse the carrier harbor. Treat the circle as stolen law. Close markets to Bone City hulls that ran the triangle route. In return, Phoenix offered "clemency" to cities that complied before the next counting day.
Mei laid the copies side by side.
"They could not listen. Now they want us to do the isolating for them."
Lian's finger stopped on a name at the bottom of the third copy. A small port west of the grey belt. *Red Hook.* Not a power. A place that sold water and repairs and had always folded when a house voice got loud.
"They will fold," she said. "If Red Hook folds in public, two other hooks fold after it to stay in the same business."
Sable looked at me.
"If you go there as a banner, you prove their letter. If you do nothing, the letter becomes weather."
Elizabeth answered first.
