The whispers started immediately.
"She can't read it?"
"Of course she can't."
"She wasn't raised as one of us."
Valdren sat perfectly still in his chair, watching her with quiet satisfaction.
Alina took a deep breathe and looked down at the paper again. The symbols were unfamiliar but some looked quite similar to modern Arcasedian. She tried to focus on the words she recognized, connecting them together to understand the meaning of the sentences.
"This appears to be part of a treaty record," she said, lifing her head up. "I recognize references to inheritance after marriage alliances… but I cannot read the whole passage. The dialect is older than the modern Arcasedian I learned."
Silence fell. Then an elderly scholar sitting in the back row cleared his throat.
"At least she could read this much."
"A future royal should not merely survive our traditions," Valdren said smoothly. "She should embody them."
After that, the questions became harder.
