Hajin held the stare without answering while the cold rolled over him, and the rest of the hall waited to see which of them would move first.
Nobody had put a cup down since she offered him a place in her party two minutes ago.
"Answer me," Yenna said, with the frost creeping another handspan along the counter behind her.
The weight behind that voice shifted him onto his back foot before he had decided anything, so he let his guard come up a fraction while keeping his mouth shut.
She clicked her tongue, then pointed at the royal letter lying open on the counter as though it had crawled there by itself.
"I have seen your kind before," she said, disgust pulling at one side of her mouth, "nobles born with a little talent who decide the world belongs to them."
"A famous name buys the rules a different meaning," she said, taking a deliberate step forward as her aura brightened, "and I have watched it happen my whole career."
