The protocol room was a room I hadn't known existed.
Third floor of the residence, east wing, accessed through a door that looked like a wall panel until Seren pressed a specific section of the frame and it opened. Inside: a long table, chairs, bookshelves covering every wall, and the specific quality of a space that had been used for serious preparation and retained the atmosphere of it.
"How long has this room existed," I said.
"Since the residence was built," Kael said. "Four centuries."
"And you've used it—"
"Twice," he said. "For Noble Council interactions that required preparation." He looked around the room with the expression of someone reacquainting themselves with a space they'd visited rarely. "Neither occasion was this significant."
Seren set her notebook on the table and
