Magnus Morvane sat behind his desk with his hands flat on the surface and the broadcast feed playing in his interface.
His left hand was trembling.
Grace stood to his right. Her hands were folded behind her back. She watched him with sheer disgust.
Someone knocked on his door. Then knocked again. Then a third time, frantic, knuckles hammering wood.
"Guild Leader!!"
Magnus didn't answer immediately. The feed held him, where Alice Ashborn had just spoken his name, his birth name, the name he'd been forced to take back, to an audience of millions.
'Magnus Morvane. Selena Morvane. Cassian Morvane. Calix Morvane.'
'They all tried to kill my brother.'
The knocking continued.
"Come in," Magnus said.
The door opened and a man stumbled through it.
Harlan, the guild's administrative coordinator, a mid-forties career bureaucrat who had never once entered Magnus's office without an appointment. His face was gray. He was holding a tablet in both hands like it might explode.
