There was always a ledger. It began as a pencil book with names and dates, then went digital, then split itself into so many partial copies that each version could tell only part of the story. In the ledger he wrote the things other people avoided: what was traded, who had been asked to forget, what the aftertaste of a choice meant for a life. Choices in these trades were not framed as good or bad; they were cost and yield, margins and hidden taxes. The ledger was his conscience transposed into columns.
Tern’s legs moved. One step. Two. The pole beneath his left boot groaned. He did not look back. MudBlood Prologue -v0.68.8- By ThatGuyLodos
Here is a short essay analyzing the core elements of the prologue: The Foundations of Conflict: An Analysis of the The prologue of There was always a ledger