The council chamber had already settled into motion by the time I entered.
Discussions had not formally begun, yet the room carried that quiet alignment that always came before it. Papers were arranged, voices lowered into controlled exchanges, and decisions were already beginning to take shape beneath the surface of conversation. It was a space that did not wait for hesitation.
I crossed the threshold without pausing.
The guard stepped aside as though my presence required no verification, and I walked in with the same certainty. A few heads turned, not in open curiosity, but in brief acknowledgment before attention returned to the table.
I chose my seat carefully, placing myself within the line of discussion rather than at its edges. The position allowed me to follow without interrupting, to observe without drawing unnecessary attention.
No one questioned it, and that, in itself, carried weight.
