As soon as the officers appeared, the Great Hall instantly fell silent.
The freemen from various counties either sat up straight with respect on their faces or hunched their shoulders like cicadas struck by frost. In any case, they all closed their mouths and silently watched the officers stream in through the main doors.
The officers entering the Great Hall did not head towards the seats reserved for them but instead stood along both sides of the aisle, forming two walls of people.
First came the junior officers with green sashes.
Then the mid-ranking officers with blue sashes.
Finally, faces that unintentionally made many freemen's hearts tighten—a young-looking Winters Montagne alongside Gaisa Adonis, Skur Meklen, and Magash Colvin—entered the Great Hall and stood solemnly under the skylight in the dome, at the end of the human wall.
Some freemen were still curious, wondering why the officers did not take their seats.
