TWENTY-THREE
“Are you coming, Teo?” Alfredo nudged his friend in the shoulder as he brushed past him, heading for the opened, double-door exit of the Grand Council Chamber.
Teodoro neither turned in his direction nor gave any answer.
“Teo?” Alfredo tossed back his head, flicking a wave of fair hair out of his eyes, his green-eyed gaze jumping impatiently from his friend to the door and back again.
It had been another long, tedious council session, one filled with arguments and acrimony. Like the horde of men milling hurriedly from the chamber, their heads hung low in exhaustion as they scuffled along the highly polished, spotted marble floor, Alfredo longed to be gone from the tense atmosphere hanging thick and heavy in the room. The slanted rays of evening sunlight pulsated as the dar
