Standing behind her, Arya pressed her lips together as she watched the unusually emotional behavior of her Empress. The confrontation between Valoria and Vivian had also left a significant impact on her own thoughts.
As the Grand Admiral of the Imperial Forces, Arya rarely paid much attention to the Empire's internal affairs. Because of that, she had never been fully aware that incidents like those Vivian mentioned had occurred. Yet from the way Vivian had spoken, and knowing her as well as she did, Arya could tell there had not been even a shred of falsehood in her words...
And yet the Empress she knew, an Empress who ordinarily possessed absolutely no tolerance for such matters, had reacted strangely. No... more than strange. Arya felt that Valoria had not merely disagreed with Vivian, but had almost instinctively rejected everything she said outright.
Something about that did not sit right with her.
