The room felt quieter after the Osborn clan left. Aria noticed it the way she noticed most things—without drawing attention to the fact that she was noticing at all. The door had closed behind them, and the particular energy that filled a room during a formal meeting had begun to settle.
Elder Delvin sat with his hands folded on the table, reviewing something in his own thoughts. Varis stood near the wall to her right, still and silent in the way he always was — present without occupying space unnecessarily.
Aria remained seated. She was not in a hurry. She rarely was.
Her mind, however, had already moved back to something it had snagged on earlier and not fully released.
Robert Osborn.
