KNOX
The interim review lasted three hours. Riley sat beside me, not behind or slightly back the way junior mates traditionally positioned themselves, but beside — shoulder to shoulder, which she'd decided on the morning of without discussion.
I noticed. The council noticed. Nobody said anything.
Vasquez presented the agenda. Territorial updates, the asylum framework proposal, the twins' development notes, the pending inquiry on Riley's parentage. Standard, efficient, moving through it with the pace of a man who'd been running these sessions for twenty years and had the particular skills of someone who managed complex personalities professionally.
Elder Chen spoke first on the asylum framework. I'd expected resistance. What I got was measured engagement — she had questions, real one
