"The collar charter has already been submitted. The provincial bloodline review documentation exists and is complete and is ready for handoff to an appropriate authority." She paused again. "The succession framework is partially drafted. It requires additional input before submission."
The commissioner looked at her.
"You're telling me you have all of it," he said.
"I'm telling you the work survived," she said. "Which was the point."
He was quiet for a moment.
"The current authority," he said, "would like to meet with you. I can arrange that."
"I know," she said. "That's why we're here."
He looked at her.
For the first time in the conversation, something shifted in his expression — the pragmatic professional assessment giving way briefly to something more straightforward.
"You came back," he said. Simply.
"The work wasn't finished," she said.
He looked at the preliminary contract approval in his hand.
Then at the delegation in front of him.
