Cassian and Kamal arrived the next morning with enough material to make Liam suspect retaliation.
He was halfway through breakfast when they entered the private sitting room overlooking Deira. Kamal carried two slim document cases beneath one arm, immaculate in a black Nurian suit with a long sleeveless overcoat. Cassian followed with his cane and the suspicious satisfaction of a man who had clearly spent considerable time preparing for this.
A woman Liam had never met entered behind them.
She appeared to be around sixty, with silver threaded through dark hair arranged neatly at her nape. Her charcoal suit carried the narrow gold insignia of the senior imperial household, and she held a projection unit against one hip.
Liam looked past them toward the doors.
Then again.
"Where is Rubis?"
Kamal set the cases on the table. "Working."
"That sounded judgmental."
