The session was called for mid-morning.
Not suggested. Called. With the formal language and the official seating arrangements and the specific energy of people who had been planning something long enough that the planning had become its own kind of momentum and now the momentum needed somewhere to go.
Lord Valdren had drafted the agenda himself. Three points. Structured and sequential and building toward the conclusion the way a well-constructed argument built toward a conclusion — with the appearance of logic guiding it rather than the predetermined destination that had actually been there from the beginning.
The chamber filled with the quiet efficiency of men who had agreed on something before arriving and were now simply present to make the agreement official.
Kaelis sat at the head of the table.
