Elara's POV
The council chamber was already full when I arrived. The usual faces. Petrov at his usual place, shuffling papers, not looking at me. Corvus near the wall, his arms crossed, his face still. The clerks at their table, pens ready.
I took my seat at the head of the table. Arranged my hands in front of me. Kept my face still.
I had been told he was coming. I had prepared. I had told myself I was prepared.
Then the door opened.
He walked in without announcement. Without ceremony. No guard called his name. No servant announced his arrival. He simply walked in, the way a man walks into a room that has always been his.
Malakor.
He took his seat two places to the left of centre. Folded his hands on the table. And looked at me with the particular patience of a man who had been sitting in this room since before I was born and intended to be sitting in it long after I was gone.
The room went quiet.
