Aurelian left the briefing room with Astra and Rhoswen behind him, while the rest of the Arcturus family delegation continued to spread through the station in smaller groups.
The main work for the day was finished, but the discussion had not truly ended. It had only moved into quieter rooms, private channels, and secure messages traveling back toward the family's capital.
The elders would return with Cassian to decide the exact personnel lists, the first supply batches, the claim documents for the dead systems, and which branches of the Arcturus family would be allowed to place people here first.
That last part would not be simple.
The Crownward March was no longer just Aurelian's private frontier project in their eyes. It had become a serious path for future growth, and once a powerful family saw a future in a region, the question was not whether people would want to come.
