Julian did not wait for permission.
Two days after the last session in the private chamber, he arrived at Elara's doors with two additional beastmen in tow—younger than Mahir and Ken, broader in the shoulder, their wolf ears already flattened in uncertainty and their tails held low. They wore only the thin dark trousers of the lower Vanguard ranks. Julian had selected them himself from the training yards, offered them no explanation beyond a quiet order to follow, and brought them straight through the East Wing.
Elara looked up from the ledger on her desk when the door opened. Her glass-bead eyes moved from Julian to the two unfamiliar beastmen, then back again. Her expression did not change, but the pause before she spoke was longer than usual.
"Have you gone nuts?"
