Bramwell's POV
The investigative authority expansion passed at the autumn session.
Nine to seven. Lyssa, present for the first time as an oversight body member, voted yes and said three sentences in its favor that were more precise and damaging to the opposition's argument than anything I'd managed in three attempts.
Lenora, in the observer seats, did not visibly react to the vote. But her hand, which had been resting on her knee, closed around the rope charm at her wrist.
I noticed.
Afterward, she came to stand beside me.
"Nine to seven," I said.
"Better than six to ten," she said.
"Significantly."
"Lyssa."
"Yes." I looked at her. "You want to know if I'm bothered by her being more effective than me in that room."
She raised her eyebrows slightly. The look she used when she was
