Chapter 149

AFTER THE MEETING WE WALKED to the training rooms. I felt drained, overwhelmed at the importance of everything that until now, hadn't seemed quite so real. Rashid asked us all to step into the Lieutenants' office, and Ignatius pulled a seat out at the table for me. I felt Alek's annoyance and winked at him when we sat, hoping to lighten the mood.

The air seemed tense. Yakov paced behind Elena's seat as I shrugged out of the robe and laid it on the table. Confused, I asked, 'Is something wrong? I thought it went well, they all agreed.'

Everyone looked to Elena, who regarded me with an almost cold expression, eyes flat. 'It went well. We didn't expect all the allies to uphold the treaty, but they did.' She paused then stared higher, over our heads as she said, 'We brought you in here to discuss-'