Chapter 347 - 346: The Alliance
Location:Seven Peaks — Command Center, Verdant Spire
Date/Time:TC1854.01.23-24
Lord Kael arrived at the command center at the ninth hour with dust on his boots and a leather satchel of sealed correspondence that he set on the table with the careful precision of a man who understood the weight of what he carried.
Raven was already there. She’d been there since dawn — reviewing Naida’s updated Skulker surveillance reports, approving Lin Yue’s Moonveil talisman formulations, and eating the breakfast that Mei had left on her desk with a note that said simply: Eat. She’d eaten half of it. Progress.
Thorne stood at her right shoulder. Kairos occupied a chair against the far wall, ostensibly reviewing a jade slip on pre-Cataclysm settlement formations but actually doing very little with it. He’d positioned himself where he could see the door, the table, and Raven simultaneously, which he would have attributed to tactical awareness if anyone had asked. Nobody asked.
Marcus sat at the formation display, ready to document.
"Lord Kael." Raven’s voice was level. Professional. The temperature of a room that was functional but not warm. "You’ve been traveling."
"Twelve days." Kael took the seat across from her. He looked tired in the way that travel across a continent in transition made people tired — not just physically but the accumulation of seeing too many places struggling and not being able to fix any of them. "Four stops. I have responses from all of them."
He opened the satchel and began laying sealed documents on the table. Raven noticed his hands were steady. He’d grown into this — the diplomatic role, the political machinery. Whatever else she thought about the Imperial Heir of the Xuán dynasty, he was competent.
She could acknowledge competence. Competence was impersonal.
"Walk us through it," she said.
***