The Fire Beneath the Harbour

A locked chamber. A dead inspector. Smoke rising through the sea. The tide has locked the chamber beneath Orsada's quay. Smoke is breaking through the water. And the works inspector who asked civic examiner Istren Anket to meet him has not come out. Deren Koth knew how to make enemies. He also knew when a harbour was being asked to carry more than it could bear. Now Istren must discover who wanted him silenced, while frightened crews and stranded passengers wait for a city that cannot simply stop working. Infrastructure engineer Odran Tessik understands the bronze workings beneath their feet. Istren can read the limited traces preserved in ashglass, but every reading carries a bodily cost, and no magical impression can name a murderer. Between them, they must test what the witnesses saw, what the machinery could do, and what the official records actually prove. As professional respect becomes an attraction neither expected, the inquiry reaches beyond one man's death into the bargains that keep Orsada moving. To give Deren an honest account, they will need more than a convincing story. They will need a case that survives being challenged.