"You hit her too hard—she's dead, you idiot!"
The hammer's head sang through my right ear and the world folded.
"Die like the worm you are!" Grant Clayton shouted, and his grin tasted like old wine.
My back met stone. My bones folded into the courtyard flagstones. Someone screamed. Someone laughed. A child in the crowd clapped like this was a show.
"She's done," a nobleman said. "Put her in the pit. No honor left."
I tasted copper. My lip split. I tried to draw breath and only ragged air came.
A brightness cut through my forehead. Words bled into my skull like a brand.
[SIGIL BINDING: SOUL LINK ESTABLISHED]
[HOST: JULIANA FIELDS]
[CONSUMABLE SPAWNED: BODY-PAWN (DURATION: 10 MIN)]
[BUFF: PHYSICAL SHELL - ACTIVE]
[FEAR METER: JIANG CLAN CROWD +2 (MURMUR)]
[FEAR METER: GRANT CLAYTON +4 (RAGE)]
"What's that?" someone near the dais asked.
"Did she cry out?" another voice mused.
I couldn't move my legs. My shoulder throbbed like it had been smashed with a rod. The sigil pulsed steady and cold, like a coin placed on my tongue.
"Get up," Grant barked, leaning close enough that his nails brushed my hair. "Pray I don't break you twice."
"I think she's finished," the steward said. "Matron, do we have a cart?"
"Stop!" Matron Zhang Wanqiu's voice cut sharp. She moved through the crowd with implacable calm. "No cart yet. Let her suffer the shame a little longer."
She stood at the front, arms
