front of the tapestr

ross the woven surface with the focused attention of someone reading rath

d at the co

absorbed everything, without returning any of it. He had moved through

moment longer tha

veryone who passed it because it looked like every other piece of historical weavin

as a

useful information should be visible without being obvious. Ravn knew every thread of it. He had stood in this exact

rising the l

into the

a moment neither spoke. Up close she was smaller than

registe

ward deference. A clean direct attention that landed on him with the specificity of someo

lf wen

en. "You're in the r

. Then at the tap

see a sign

someone who had decided before opening their mouth exactly wha

restriction is in your

reread

rather than being slammed. He found he had no adequate response

the permi

cour

ed to p

ached him and his wolf surged with a force that stopped every thought in his body simultaneously. He turned it into stillness. He

n't loo

map she had been studying. His jaw was tight. His wolf was doing something warm and relentles

't mappi

, the courtyard layout, the gate rotations. She had been standing in front of a rendering of the lower levels. The acc

building

lete picture of what sh

w texts. The treaty documentation. A tribute who arrived and immedi

urious mind across the council ta

nd walked bac

arrived an hour later. He

the lower level tapestry map. Duration: eleven minutes

act with

the rep

ding in his study with Thessaly's report in his hand and her unsparing language looking back at him, he found the argument had

minutes she spent in front of that tapestry, the steadiness in her eyes when she turned and found him the

eed to be conside

eing careful was g