Three hours after Andrea left his office, Arion was still seated behind the same desk, the investigation folder open before him, though he had long stopped pretending he needed to read it again.
He knew the contents by now. The clean reports. The missing stabilization windows. Nero's relayed observations. Otto's signed restriction. Hendrik's pending order. Every line had the polished cruelty of something technically correct and morally rotten.
Arion disliked perfect reports more with every passing year.
The knock came just after sunset, when the light through the tall office windows had shifted from gold to bronze and the palace gardens outside were already softening into evening shadow.
"Enter," Arion said.
The door opened, and Thomas Lancaster stepped inside.
