"Kill the fox!" The commander’s voice cracked open the gate as if the wall itself would answer. Swords shoved through portholes. Banners from three sects whipped the courtyard air. The crowd surged forward on ropes of anger. "Bring her out. Bring her to the dais," a sect lord shouted. "Let the Emperor see justice." "She poisoned the Pavilion herbs. She sacrificed Julia for rank," another added. Every accusation landed as a chant that wanted blood. Livia floated down the palace steps in a blood-red gown. No armor, no guards, no fear. The hem smoked with phoenix-sangs that tasted like old fire. "Put down your weapons," she said. Silence snapped in the courtyard like a broken bell. Men and women who had planned a public execution froze with raised steel. "Do you think I ask?" Livia smiled; the smile did not reach her eyes. "I live, I die. I will end this myself." An officer half-ran toward her. "Majesty—" "Majesty?" someone from the crowd spat. "You give titles to traitors." "Stop them!" Consort Karin's voice sang from a jade balcony. Her laughter cut. "She'll die for spectacle. Let the Mirror show—" "We don't need the Mirror," Livia said. "Then why float in a gown?" a captain demanded. "Because the gown is mine," she answered. "Because I wear what I choose in my last hour." A shout rolled through the crowd. "Kill the fox! Kill the fox!" "Kill the fox!" the chant repeated, harder. Livia