Vaelor read the packet standing up.
That was how Aelara knew the situation had shifted from serious to critical he was a man who sat down to read things, who treated information as something that deserved full stillness. He stood in the middle of the ceremonial room with the pages in his hands and he read fast and his face did nothing and that nothing was the most alarming thing in the room.
Maren stood beside him reading over his shoulder. She was the only person in the world who did that without being asked and the only person he allowed to.
Aelara took the twins to the window and put herself between them and the center of the room. Not because the room was dangerous. Because she needed something to do with her body while she waited and standing between her children and a thing was the oldest instinct she had.
Caelum watched Vaelor read.
