Ember stood completely still before the Queen while the temperature in the room dropped to a dangerously low level that had her shivering despite the layers of clothes she wore.
She wasn't quite following, but it would seem from the terse atmosphere in the room that the Queen believed there was a spy amongst them. Although the reason for the conjecture and whom it could possibly be totally eluded her.
The silence in the room grew tighter, and it seemed no one dared to breathe for fear of doing it wrongly. Meanwhile Ember looked between Commander Asborne and Syria—but their expressions betrayed nothing.
The Queen examined her fingers in the low candlelight seated by her, her expression a mask of indifference that almost bordered on cruelty. Then she raised her head. "Asborne," she said in a stern voice, "I suppose we must cut a few tongues loose in order to have an answer."
