[KAEL — POV]
He did not sleep for three hours. He slept for ninety minutes, which was better than nothing, and was awakened by Riven arriving at Halset's with coffee he'd bought from somewhere and a look on his face that said several things have happened while you were unconscious.
"Damaris," Kael said, sitting up.
"Damaris has requested an emergency recess of her council duties pending—and this is the precise language her representative used—review of recent intelligence irregularities." Riven set the coffee on the table. He sat on the end of the bed, which was a familiarity Kael let pass because Riven had been taking familiarities for three centuries and wasn't going to stop. "She's not running. She's turtling. Invoking process to slow the investigation."
"Which gives her time to wor
