Mordecai remained silent for the rest of the walk down the corridor, and his silence reflected the quality he exhibited when he was carrying information he did not yet know how to manage properly. Rex let the silence continue because it was doing useful work, and they arrived at the secondary council chamber with Mordecai in exactly the state Rex wanted him in when the conversation began.
Ready to hear the shape of the problem.
Ready to accept the scope of what needed to happen next.
Pavellia opened the chamber door, checked the interior with the brief, practiced efficiency of someone who had been in security work long enough that the check was as automatic as breathing, and stepped aside.
"Clean," she said.
Rex walked in first.
...
