Azrayel's silence after the word brother was answer enough.
Metheea held herself still across the desk. She had used the title as a wall again, and this time he had not tried to tear it down. He only looked at her, his face controlled, while the open antechamber waited behind Yise.
A servant passed somewhere beyond it. Soft footsteps crossed the outer room, followed by the rustle of paper and a clerk's lowered voice.
Everything remained proper.
Metheea looked down at the map before the disappointment could show on her face.
The blue silk marking the river route curved through the palace district and ended beside the public square. She touched the outer shrine with one finger.
"This is where the carriage stops?"
"Yes."
"And from there I walk?"
"With the temple women until the second marker."
Azrayel reached for one of the black stones and moved it closer to the shrine road.
His hand stopped beside hers.
