Before the Iron Chapel

The bell from the iron chapel rang once before dawn, though every man in Emerald Harbour knew the chapel had no bell. It had not had one since the old raid, when fire took the roof, sea-wind took the ashes, and Lord Bradan's men swore the saints themselves had gone silent rather than bless the blood that soaked the flagstones. Fergus MacAlpin heard that single impossible note while standing ankle-deep in the tidal mud with a stolen child under his cloak and his own clan's oath-stone warm against his breast.