"Shen," Elara said.
He looked at her. Carefully.
"The perimeter assessment you did last week on the east corridor," she said. "The one where you identified the sight-line gap between the second and third guard posts."
"Yes, Your Highness," he said. Cautious.
"I implemented it this morning," she said. "The repositioning. It closes the gap." She paused. "It was a good assessment."
Shen's ears moved. Both of them. The involuntary kind, not the professional kind.
"I—" He stopped. "Thank you, Your Highness."
"You should be writing those up formally," she said. "Every tactical observation you make during rotation. There's a framework assessment process that hasn't been updated in six years. I want it updated. You're going to help with that."
He looked at her with the expression of someone receiving information that didn't fit into any category he currently had available.
"Yes, Your Highness," he said.
Mahir was looking at his plate. The corner of his mouth had done the thing.
