The last road remained closed while the senior keeper stayed in the upper palace, Concord rooted through his thoughts and every branch he had opened.
Vella found him inside the memory court, where gray light covered the floor and frightened minds moved beneath the bark of each living root.
She entered with her medical ring raised and said, "The keeper is still himself, though the foreign core has wrapped his consent around every mind it reaches."
Eirwen stood at the court entrance and asked, "Can you separate the people from the core without separating the keeper from his own choice?"
Vella studied the gray roots and replied, "I can separate coerced minds from the authority pressing against them, though the keeper must release the core himself."
The senior keeper stood beneath the central root with gray light linking his skull to the branches and said, "I chose, because Concord is the only voice that can stop fear becoming private war."
