Vaelira hadn't touched her food.
The sandwich sat on the plate in front of her, untouched, growing cold while the rest of the room ate and talked and existed like people who belonged here. She kept her eyes down, but her peripheral vision was doing overtime.
Alice tore a piece of crust off Kaiden's sandwich, popped it into her own mouth, then tore another piece and held it up to him with the expectation of a priestess offering sacrament. Kaiden opened his mouth. Chewed. Didn't blink. As if being hand-fed by the daughter of the Shadow Monarch was just how Tuesdays worked.
Vaelira's stomach turned.
"Alright," Kaiden said, and the room sharpened. "Meeting time."
His gaze swept the room. Landed on faces. Moved on. Then stopped on her.
Clearly, she was asked to speak up.
