At the veiled accusation, Sorza's self-control snapped like a bowstring. His chair screeched against the floorboards as he lurched forward, face red.
"I will not sit here and be insulted by the likes of you!" he thundered, his voice carrying through the tent like a whip crack.
Alpheo, unshaken, merely leaned the weight of his gaze upon him he didn't even blink. When he spoke, it was in a tone so even it only made Sorza's anger more conspicuous.
"Then you will be taking them standing up, I suppose…not really sure I am seeing the point here, Your Grace." he said dryly, his lips quirking into the faintest ghost of a smile.
The jab landed as surely as an arrow, and the veins in Sorza's neck corded. He looked one breath away from lunging across the benches, but before he could make a greater fool of himself, the heavy iron-capped staff of Shaza came crashing against the ground.
BANG.
The sound reverberated, startling even the envoys in the back rows into silence.
