Kael's POV
The quarterly council briefing ran two hours on a good day and three on a day when Councillor Maren had prepared slides which, judging from the huge stack on her hands, she had today, which also meant I had already adjusted my afternoon schedule before I walked into the room.
The meeting chamber was the usual configuration… long table, twelve seats, the particular quality of light that came through windows positioned too high to see out of. I had always suspected this was a deliberate action.
The council's meeting rooms were designed to feel removed from the city they governed, which produced in certain councillors, a useful sense of authority and in me a mild, persistent irritation I had learned to run in the background without letting it affect my facial expressions.
