Ash opened the door.
The man standing outside looked exactly like what he had expected: an official.
Gray hair cut short and neat. A deep violet robe with fine silver stitching running down the sleeves and across the shoulders. A thin datapad held loosely in one hand. His face was calm, exact, and faintly tired, the kind of face that spent most of its days reading reports and invoices. He was tall, but he did not look intimidating. He looked like he had come to discuss an unpaid dorm fee.
Distribution Office, Ash thought, recognizing the violet from the academy handbook. Okay. This is about this morning. Definitely about this morning.
He kept his face as blank as he could. Rylan always said he was terrible at hiding things, so he tried extra hard.
The man glanced at the datapad, then at Ash's face, then back at the datapad again.
"Ash Apeiron."
"Yes, sir."
