The meal ended gradually rather than all at once.
Aurelian was the first to rise, mostly because he possessed enough discipline to remember that Marian still had an examination that afternoon before Marian herself did. That prompted Marian to check the time, Selphine to remind her that complaining about an assessment would hardly make the walk toward it shorter, and Toven to begin another argument about whether a student could reasonably claim intellectual exhaustion as a medical condition.
Within a minute, the comfortable disorder around the table had turned into chairs sliding backward, coats being retrieved, unfinished cups abandoned, and several different conversations competing over where everyone intended to go next.
Elara remained seated for several seconds longer.
Her attention followed Lucavion.
