The healing chamber smelled like burnt herbs and old blood. Stone walls pressed in close, lit by a single lantern that flickered every time the floor shook from another distant Sky Dungeon tremor.

Catherine sat on the edge of a cot, her back straight even though her ribs still ached from the night before. Flora stood two paces away, arms crossed, the fresh bandage on her shoulder already spotting red.

"You look like shit," Flora said.

Catherine didn’t smile. "So do you. Sit down."

"I’m fine."

"You’re not fine. That thing nearly took your arm off last night." Catherine’s voice stayed flat, but her hands tightened on the cot’s edge.

"I watched Aiden drag you into that circle. I watched you scream while the fracture spread across your collarbone. And I did nothing."

Flora’s eyes narrowed. "You did plenty. You’re the one who told me to kneel when he called us forward. You said this was our way out of the old life. You said the harem was power."

Catherine looked at the floor. The stone was cracked in the exact shape of the mark on her own chest. "I was wrong."

The words dropped between them like a blade. Flora took a half-step back, like she’d been hit.

"Wrong?" Flora repeated. "You spent years telling me ambition was the only thing that mattered. You sold me to this place the same way you sold yourself. Now you regret it?"

"I regret dragging you in after me." Catherine stood up slowly. Pain shot through her side, but she ignored it.

"Aiden has a new assignment for you tomorrow. He wants you on the outer wall when the next wave comes. I’m not telling him you’re cleared for it."

Flora stared. "You’re lying to him?"

"I’m protecting you." Catherine’s voice cracked for the first time. "That’s new for me. Deal with it."

Before Flora could answer, the door opened. Isolde slipped inside, quiet as always, her dark cloak brushing the floor. The fracture on her neck glowed faintly, the lines shifting like they were alive.

"Bad timing?" Isolde asked.

Catherine didn’t look at her. "What do you want?"

"Just checking on the pair that everyone’s watching." Isolde leaned against the wall. "The Church elders are already whispering about how the fractures on the younger ones are spreading faster.

Flora’s mark especially. They say it means Aiden’s power is unstable. They say maybe the daughters are the weak point."

Flora’s jaw tightened. "I’m not weak."

"Didn’t say you were." Isolde shrugged. "But if your mother here decides to keep you off the wall tomorrow, that’s her choice. Could buy you time.

Could also get her killed if Aiden finds out." She smiled, small and sharp. "Just a thought."

She left before either of them could reply.

Across the hall in the smaller side chamber, Sabrina stood over her daughter with a wet cloth. Luna sat on a stool, shirt pulled down to show the long gash across her ribs. The fracture there pulsed black at the edges.

"Hold still," Sabrina said.

Luna winced as the cloth touched raw skin. "You’re shaking."

"I’m not."

"You are." Luna looked up. "You never shake. Not even when you slit that priest’s throat last month for calling Aiden a false god. What changed?"

Sabrina kept wiping blood away. Her face stayed hard, but her eyes kept flicking back to the wound. "Last night you almost died in front of me.

That thing from the Sky Dungeon came through the gap and went straight for you. I saw its claws open up your side and I couldn’t reach you fast enough. For three seconds I thought you were gone."

Luna stayed quiet a moment. "You’ve told me a hundred times that fear gets people killed."

"I know what I’ve told you." Sabrina dropped the cloth into the basin. Water turned pink. "Doesn’t change the fact that if you die, nothing else matters. Not the harem. Not Aiden. Not the Church. Just you."

Luna’s mouth opened, then closed. She had never heard her mother say anything close to that.

The door clicked open again. Isolde stepped in, same quiet steps.

"Mother-daughter bonding?" she asked lightly.

Sabrina straightened. "What do you want, Isolde?"

"Same thing I told the others. The fractures are reacting stronger every time the monsters push through. Bela and Calipso are already arguing in the chapel about what it means for the Church split.

Calipso thinks the chaos is useful. Bela’s still loyal." Isolde glanced at Luna. "But if you want your girl safe, there are other paths. Paths that don’t end with her bleeding out on a wall while Aiden watches."

Sabrina’s eyes narrowed. "You’re playing both sides again."

"I’m offering options," Isolde said. "Options your daughter might need when the next attack hits during the public blessing tomorrow." She slipped out before Sabrina could curse at her.

In the chapel annex, Bela paced while Calipso sat on a bench, fingers tracing the fracture on her forearm.

"The Church is cracking down the middle," Calipso said. "Half the priests think Aiden’s fractures are holy proof. The other half think they’re corruption. Every time a monster breaks through the Sky Dungeon barrier, more of them switch sides."

Bela stopped pacing. "And you see opportunity in that?"

Calipso smiled. "I see a ladder. If the old order falls, someone has to climb. We’re already inside Aiden’s circle. We could steer what comes next."

Bela shook her head. "You sound like Isolde."

"She stopped by earlier," Calipso said. "Told me the same thing. Said the mothers are starting to choose their daughters over the cause. Said it might be the crack that brings the whole thing down."

Bela didn’t answer. She just looked at the fracture on her own wrist and wondered how much longer she could pretend it didn’t scare her.

The next morning the cathedral district square was packed. Citizens stood shoulder to shoulder behind rope lines. Nobles and senior clergy filled the raised platform.

Aiden stood at the front in black robes, the fractures across his face and hands glowing faintly under the gray sky.

The harem women lined up behind him—Catherine, Flora, Sabrina, Luna, Bela, Calipso, Isolde—all in formal armor, weapons ready.

Aiden raised his hands. "The Sky Dungeon tests us again. Today we bless these walls and remind the monsters that this city belongs to us."

The crowd cheered, but it sounded thinner than usual.

Catherine stood next to Flora. She leaned over and spoke low. "Stay behind me. If anything comes, you run for the inner gate."

Flora’s eyes widened. "You’re defying him right here?"

"I’m your mother." Catherine’s voice was steel. "That’s the only order that matters now."

Sabrina stood two spots down, shoulder brushing Luna’s. "If it gets bad, you drop back. I’ll take the front."

Luna stared at her. "You never drop back."

"Today I do."

Isolde stood at the end of the line, watching everyone. Her mouth curved in the smallest smile.

The blessing started. Aiden’s voice rolled over the square, power crackling along his fractures. The women echoed the words, their own marks flaring in response. For thirty seconds everything held.

Then the sky tore open.

A rift split above the outer wall, black and jagged. Three Sky Dungeon beasts dropped through—winged, scaled things the size of horses with too many teeth.

They hit the wall and scrambled down, claws gouging stone. Screams erupted from the crowd.

Aiden shouted, "Hold the line!"

The harem moved.

Catherine saw the lead beast angle straight toward Flora. She stepped in front, shield up. The creature slammed into her.

Pain exploded across her chest as its claws raked her armor. Her fracture flared white-hot. She drove her sword up under its jaw. Hot blood sprayed. The beast thrashed once and died.

Flora was already moving to her side. "Mother—"

"Stay back," Catherine snapped. Blood ran down her arm. She didn’t care.

Ten feet away, another beast lunged at Luna. Sabrina was already in motion. She threw herself between them, took the hit across her back, and rammed her dagger into the thing’s eye.

The beast screamed and fell, taking Sabrina with it. Luna dropped to her knees beside her mother.

"You idiot," Luna whispered, hands pressing the wound.

Sabrina coughed blood and grinned. "Told you I’d take the front."

On the platform the nobles started shouting.

One fat lord in green velvet pointed at Aiden. "Look at him! His power fractures every time the monsters come. He’s weakening us!"

A senior priest stepped forward. "The marks on the women are spreading. This is not blessing. This is curse!"

The crowd rippled. Some cheered the priest. Others shoved forward, demanding protection.

Isolde moved through the chaos like smoke. She caught the arm of a junior guard, whispered something. The guard nodded and slipped away toward the inner gate. She passed another noble, murmured,

"The mothers are choosing their daughters now. The harem is breaking." The noble’s eyes widened. He started spreading the rumor before she’d taken three more steps.

Bela and Calipso fought back-to-back near the steps. Bela’s sword work was clean, Calipso’s brutal. Between kills Calipso shouted over the noise, "See? The Church is watching. This is our moment if we want it."

Bela didn’t answer. She just kept swinging.

The rift above widened. A fourth beast—bigger, blacker, with wings that blocked the sun—crashed down onto the outer wall. Stone cracked.

The creature roared, a sound that rattled teeth. It looked straight at the cathedral district and started climbing down, heading for the square.

Aiden stepped to the edge of the platform. Power gathered around him, fractures glowing brighter than they ever had. He thrust both hands forward.

A black wave of energy slammed into the massive monster, knocking it sideways. The beast recovered, shook its head, and kept coming.

The crowd saw Aiden’s knees buckle. Saw fresh cracks spider across his neck and jaw. Saw the harem women glance at each other with something that wasn’t loyalty anymore.

Catherine grabbed Flora’s wrist and pulled her toward the inner steps.

Sabrina leaned on Luna, both of them limping the same way.

Isolde stood alone for a second, watching the massive monster roar again. Her smile was gone now, replaced by something cold and certain.

The beast took another step toward the cathedral. Its claws dug into the outer wall, sending chunks of masonry tumbling into the square.

Aiden tried to raise his hands again. The fractures on his arms split wider. Blood ran.

The crowd screamed.

And the monster kept coming.