The queen tapped her finger lightly on the table.
In the next instant, all the pressure vanished.
Ben frowned.
It did not feel like she had pulled back her power.
It felt like it had never existed at all.
There was no lingering trace.
It was simply gone.
That level of control unsettled him.
If she had just crushed him with force, he could have measured it and judged the gap.
This, however, made her strength impossible to read.
"Since you are a human," she said calmly, folding her hands, "that changes things."
Her voice softened, but the sharp edge stayed.
"Let us start over.
You may call me Isabella.
I believe we might be able to cooperate, depending on what your goal is.
But first, answer me this.
Are you a Traveler, or are you connected to them?"
'Them?' Ben thought. 'The Crusaders?
The Templars?'
He did not say it out loud.
The way Isabella asked made it clear she was probing.
She was trying to lure him into exposing what he knew.
