Mikah sat to one side of the stifling tent, as close as possible to the doorway as was socially acceptable. In a circle sat the eleven Elders—minus Hakim—that had escaped the attack, with an additional five apprentices around the edges of the room. Oh, and plus the guards. Mikah wondered which perverse man’s idea it was to hold a meeting inside an unventilated tent, with seventeen people, at high noon.
He kept his composure though, no one would ever know how sweat made the back of his legs stick to the chair. Honestly, he was lucky he even got one, a few of the other apprentices were forced to sit on the floor. Council meetings in Rhapta were held in a large, aired auditorium. This was only a fraction of the fifty Elders on the council and their apprentices, but it was quite a step down.
