The rooms in the queen's quarters were smaller than most of the other rooms in the palace, which Elka had always found at odds with the woman who occupied it. Nheera was not the kind of woman who shrank herself to fit a space. She filled whatever room she walked into, regardless of who else was in it.
She sat near the tall window when they arrived, still wearing the same deep crimson gown from that morning, her blonde hair unbound and spilling over her shoulders. At the sound of Jayran's footsteps, she looked up. Whatever she saw in his face made her set her tea down without a word, the porcelain cup clicking softly against the saucer.
Hairan was already there, leaning against the far wall with his arms folded across his chest. He would rather be anywhere else than there and the look on his face said it all. But he hadn't been offered a chance to opt out of coming when this meeting was arranged, which meant he had no other choice than to suffer through it.
