Later. The palace's social territory — the spaces between official functions where the real work happened.
Mera was present in the capacity of a Champion's fiancée, which was the capacity of someone who was there but not officially relevant. She stood with the careful posture of someone who had been trained to perform composure and was performing it now in a room where the audience was considerably more sophisticated than the audiences she'd been performing for in Einjaar.
Seravine Jaar saw her across the room.
The assessment took approximately three seconds. The queen had been reading people in this environment for long enough that it had become automatic — the way experienced craftsmen assess materials without thinking about the assessment. She took in the careful posture. The managed expression. The way Mera held herself in a room full of people who hadn't decided whether she mattered yet and was trying to influence that decision without appearing to try.
Amateur.
