Chapter 179: Ink and Judgment
Mercer's Row did not look like a street anymore.
It looked like a gathering.
Like the entire capital had decided, without formal agreement, that rest was optional and curiosity was not.
Mercer's Row had been transformed once more. Benches dragged out from homes, barrels overturned, mismatched chairs stolen from kitchens and storerooms—everything arranged facing upward toward the hovering glow of the scrying veil.
Above them, the competition played out like a second sky.
And below it, life held its breath.
The Tallow and Tide had become the center of that breath.
Brianna sat between Olly and Jacob like she had appointed herself moral authority of the evening.
Which, in truth, she had.
Olly stretched his legs out, leaning back in his chair with ease.
Jacob, on the other hand, leaned forward like he was about to argue with the sky itself.
Helen moved between them all.
