Chapter 118: Lie He Doesn’t Misread

The rescued man chose the chair nearest the door.

When his people had pulled the man out of the yard, dehydration had left him barely able to sit upright. This morning he had walked into the west records room under his own power. His face was still drawn, but his hands held the water cup without shaking.

The closed door behind him wasn’t locked.

’Good.’

Severin sat at the far end of the table. Nyra had taken the seat to his left. She shifted her weight as she settled, small enough that anyone not watching her would have missed it, then went still and looked at the man.

Alicia stood to Severin’s right with her fingers resting on the back of an unused chair.

Only the old rescue notes lay open on the table.

Severin tapped the edge of the page.

"Start from when you heard the cart."

The man swallowed. "I didn’t see much of it. Canvas over the sides. Driver kept the horses moving."

"You saw people put inside."

"I saw them moving people, yes." His thumb rubbed the cup’s rim. "They kept us apart whenever they could. Different rooms. Different sheds. Half the time you didn’t know who was still there until you heard somebody cough through a wall."

Nyra’s eyes stayed on him.

Severin said, "And the cart?"

"I don’t know where it went. They took it out before everything broke loose." The man’s gaze dropped to the water. "I didn’t know anyone they put in it."

’There.’

The Copy carried familiar instincts that weren’t his. Knowing its shape wasn’t the same as having used it.

’25%.’

He let the Skill take hold.

Nothing in the room changed.

A slight pull touched his Core Essence and vanished almost immediately as the deeper Reserve filled the loss from within.

The man’s answer remained exactly what it had been, except the denial about knowing anyone on the cart no longer sat cleanly with the rest.

’Deliberate.’

No face appeared in Severin’s mind. No name. No hidden reason followed the lie.

The man looked up at Severin’s silence and went pale.

"I told you what I know."

Severin didn’t answer him yet.

He looked left. "Nyra."

Her gaze flicked to him, then back to the witness. "Which part?"

"He knew someone on the cart. He lied about that."

The man’s grip tightened around the cup. "I wasn’t selling anyone out."

"I didn’t say you were."

That shut him up.

Nyra leaned slightly toward the table. Her shoulder came nearer to Severin’s without touching him.

Alicia’s fingers tightened around the chair back, then loosened.

Nyra didn’t look at her.

"A name in the wrong book can become a leash," Nyra said. "Family, old work, debts... whatever gives someone leverage."

The man stared at her.

Nyra gave him a thin look. "Records travel."

She tipped her chin toward Severin. "Fear and guilt can look the same from here. The lie won’t tell you which."

’Exactly.’

Severin turned back to the man.

"Who gets hurt if I write down that you knew someone on that cart?"

The man’s eyes snapped toward the closed door. His cup touched the table with a soft click.

"Don’t."

"Then answer."

His jaw worked.

"There was a woman."

Severin waited.

The man looked at Nyra instead, perhaps because she was easier to look at. She wasn’t.

"I knew her before they took me," he said. "Not from that place. Before."

"Name?" Severin asked.

The refusal was immediate. "No."

Alicia shifted her gaze to him.

Severin didn’t raise his voice. "Keep the name for now. Tell me why you’re protecting it."

The man breathed through his nose and stared into the cup.

"If her name gets written beside mine, somebody can use it. Maybe not you. Maybe the next bastard who gets the page. Maybe the people who lost that yard and want to know who matters to who."

Fear roughened his voice.

That didn’t make the explanation true.

"Give Nyra enough to find her without the name," he said.

The man’s head came up.

"And you won’t write the connection?"

"If I agree to that, I keep my word."

A long breath left him.

"Dark hair. Cut around here." He touched the line of his jaw. "There’s an old burn around her right wrist. Pale, almost white at the edge. Front tooth’s chipped. You can see it when she talks."

Nyra listened without interrupting.

"When did you know her?" she asked.

"Before this."

"That’s useless."

His eyes narrowed, then dropped. "We worked near the same freight yards for a while. Different crews. Same hiring corner."

"Better," Nyra said.

Severin asked, "Did she know you were taken?"

"I don’t know."

"Did you speak to her after you were captured?"

"No. Saw her from a distance. That’s all."

"And where did the cart go?"

The man shook his head. "I swear, I don’t know. I never saw the road after the gate."

Severin watched him for a moment, then closed the rescue notes.

The man flinched at the sound.

"We’re done."

He blinked. "That’s it?"

"For now."

His gaze went to the door again.

Severin said nothing else.

The man stood. The chair legs scraped lightly over the floorboards. He hesitated with the cup still in his hand, noticed it, set it down, then walked to the door.

He opened it, looked back at Severin as if expecting the decision to change, and left.

The latch settled behind him.

Nyra exhaled through her nose. "That went better than it could have."

"Because I asked you."

Her mouth twitched. "Yes."

Alicia glanced between them, then returned her attention to Severin.

He opened the rescue notes again, but not to add the man’s confession.

"Find the woman."

Nyra’s humor disappeared.

"Using the description and the freight-yard connection."

"Yes. Keep his connection to her out of the shared house books until we know where it leads."

She considered that, then nodded. "Fine. I’ll start with the description."

Severin held her gaze.

She pushed her chair back and stood.

"Go."