For the second time this night, the doors of the Great Hall opened to reveal something shocking, though at least this time, the doors didn't slam open with the force of a battering ram. Still, to many of those watching, the sight of the people entering hit them nearly as hard.
Hugo Hanrahan came first.
The slender young man with the hawk-like features and the prominent nose walked with his shoulders back and his chin lifted, though the effort it cost him to maintain that posture was visible in the tightness of his jaw and the way his hands stayed pressed flat against his thighs, as if he didn't trust them to hang freely at his sides.
