The wide office went completely dead still.
Ellyn and Aldwin froze with their mouths open as they watched a woman with white hair settle into the high seat of Nevareth as if she had built the room herself.
Aldwin sat back down on his seat, his arms crossing over his ribs with the lazy satisfaction of an old man watching a very good dog-fight from the safety of a wall.
Ellyn stayed on his knees in the straw, his eyes darting between the emperor's boots and the empress's sleeves, completely unbriefed on how a scholar was supposed to behave when the high throne was being occupied by a woman in her shift.
"Eris—" Soren began, stepping toward the desk.
"Why did you not tell me about the border territories?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing until the gold flecks in her pupils looked like sparks.
