Aryen placed the secondary texts on the council table before he sat down.
Physical documents — old, the specific texture of paper that had been stored properly in a way that preserved it rather than simply delayed its deterioration. He handled them with the practiced care of someone who had placed these documents on tables before and knew the protocol for it: two hands, flat, without ceremony.
"The record must be read in full before questions are permitted," he said.
I looked at Elder Setch on my right, who had been running her own quiet assessment since Aryen had entered the room. She gave me the slight nod that meant: *his protocol is structurally reasonable.* I settled back.
Aryen read.
The reading took forty minutes. The secondary texts were longer than the primary documentation t
