Laurel did not react to Ling Xuan's voice. She knew she couldn't act rashly and risk unsettling the other people in the fortress.
She kept her gaze on Vera, as if trying to read the expression on her face. She had a faint look of satisfaction under those angry eyes. Then, her eyes slowly dropped back to the table. Her fingers rested lightly against the edge of her plate as she sat there thinking, and for a brief moment, the entire dining room seemed to grow quieter around her.
After a few seconds, she lifted her head again.
"Before we continue," Laurel said gently, her voice calm but thoughtful, "there is something I would like to understand."
Her gaze moved slowly from Vera to Felicia, then across the table toward the guards standing near the door, and only after a moment did she finally ask the question that had been lingering in her mind.
"How did you and Felicia enter the inner wall?"
