SELENE
The room did not stay quiet this time, the noise came up fast, actual sound now, not suppressed reactions but real ones. I heard at least three people say his name. I heard someone behind me say mine but I kept my eyes on Kael and waited.
He looked at me for a long moment, his head tilted just slightly, like he was checking whether I was serious, like he was looking for the part of my face that would tell him this was a mistake or a miscalculation.
He didn't find it, he stood up and walked down the row and into the aisle and came toward the platform without rushing, his eyes on mine the whole way.
When he stopped beside me he was close enough that I could feel the warmth coming off him. He looked at me one more time, something quiet and searching in his expression. "Accepted,"
