{"id":18707,"date":"2025-11-12T22:28:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=18707"},"modified":"2025-11-12T22:29:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:29:28","slug":"18707","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=18707","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

He lifted a pair of field shears from the kit\u2014swift, practiced\u2014and in a single motion snipped the braid<\/b>. Hair fell like a dark ribbon onto dust.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Gasps rippled\u2014then vanished into the same rigid silence that swallowed every misstep on this ground.<\/p>\n

Alara didn\u2019t flinch. \u201cUnderstood, sir.<\/b>\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcus dropped the braid. \u201cNext time, remember what respect looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He turned to move on\u2014then froze.<\/p>\n

Chapter 3 \u2014 The Badge That Shouldn\u2019t Exist<\/b><\/h2>\n

Half-hidden within her collar, worn thin by time, was an emblem: a black hawk over a crimson sun<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He lifted a pair of field shears from the kit\u2014swift, practiced\u2014and in a single motion snipped the braid. Hair fell like a dark ribbon onto dust. Gasps rippled\u2014then vanished into the same rigid silence that swallowed every misstep on this ground. Alara didn\u2019t flinch. \u201cUnderstood, sir.\u201d Marcus dropped the braid. \u201cNext time, remember what respect…<\/p>\n

Read More “”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":237,"today_views":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18707"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18711,"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18707\/revisions\/18711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}