His shoulders squared. His jaw set. His eyes swept the tent once, reading the table, the chairs, the positions, the scribe, Grace, the Chairman, and when they came back to center they said he understood exactly what this room was for and what it was going to cost him to walk out of it with what he wanted.
The scribe looked up again.
The pen in her hand had stopped without her noticing, because the person who'd walked in grinning was gone and the person standing in his place made her instincts sit up in a way she couldn't quite name.
Grace noticed it too. She'd been reaching for her clipboard, and her hand paused mid-motion for just a breath before she completed the gesture.
She'd watched a lot of powerful people walk into rooms. The shift from casual to operational was one she recognized, but it had no business being that clean on anyone, much less someone his age.
The Chairman gestured to two chairs across the table. "Please."
Kaiden sat.
Vespera didn't.
