one more figure he hadn't expected.
A woman standing slightly apart from the rest of the viewing section. Not an elder, her posture was different from the elders, who had the specific settled stillness of people who spent their lives in chairs like that. She was upright. Alert. Dark clothes with no family insignia.
External observer.
He filed her and moved on.
The presiding elder stood. Not Crane. An older man named Wexford who handled formal proceedings and had approximately no personal stake in anything, which made him the right person for this.
"Candidate assessment," Wexford announced. "Each candidate will present their contracted summons for official registration in the trial record. Full manifestation required."
Standard process. Each candidate called their summons, the elders registered the rank and count, the record was formalized.
Seth went first because of course he did.
