Leon met her gaze steadily, though internally his mind raced. She had evaded his spatial awareness completely, appeared from nowhere, and now sat on the throne with such casual authority that she might have been born to it. Yet there was no crown, no regalia, nothing to indicate she was the queen or even nobility.
"We might ask you the same question," Leon replied, his voice calm despite his heightened alertness. "This palace appears to have suffered an unusual... incident. Yet you seem unaffected."
The woman's lips curved in a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Incident. What a delightfully diplomatic way to describe it." She leaned back in the throne, her posture relaxed, but her gaze never wavered. "Yes, there was an incident. Some years ago now. As for why I'm unaffected..." She shrugged elegantly. "Perhaps I arrived after, like you. Or perhaps I'm built differently."
