In the city of Westmark, order is everything. The Registry promises stability to those who seek employmentwithin its system. Permanent placement. Protection. A householdthat will take responsibility for their future. Elin Fenn believed the promise. Now bound by an iron bandbearing the mark of Magistrate Marcus Vey, she lives within thewalls of Blackthorn Manor a house where discipline is prized,hierarchy is unquestioned, and usefulness is expected withouthesitation. Some tasks are visible. Others are not. When Daniel Corvin arrives in Westmark to establish his placeamong the city s respectable families, he finds a society thatprides itself on civility and structure. At first glance, everythingappears orderly. Efficient. Proper. But the more he observes, the more the quiet rhythms of the citybegin to reveal something else. Something the people ofWestmark no longer question. In Westmark, every household carries itsstanding. And someone always carriesthe weight.
