The silence stretched until Leroy's voice broke it. Calm, clear, and unshaken. And everyone listened, because not even the Emperor or the dowager stopped him. Everyone understood that this old man standing there could receive what he asked in the halls of the emperor.
"Since no one else dares to say it, I will." Leroy stepped forward, his mask glinting under the light, his posture rigid with control. "From the beginning. The Emperor himself entrusted me with the investigation into the incident during the tribute ceremony: the incident that took the life of the Queen of Corvalith."
The chamber stirred, but Leroy pressed on, his words measured.
