The invitation arrived while Tessa was crossing Eli’s name off a second work roster.
He watched the messenger step around the chair where he sat and felt an immediate, shameful relief that the new demand might be one he could still answer. He could not hold a bridge or test a junction. He could speak in a room. The distinction was real, but his hunger for usefulness made him distrust how quickly he embraced it.
Sera took the envelope and checked the seal before handing him the terms.
An emergency council would hear the reservoir findings. The session would have an official record and an audience beyond the small neighborhood meetings they had been able to arrange. Security would be provided by Aegis under Rook’s emergency authority.
Eli read the security paragraph twice.
“Of course,” Juno said when he passed it to her.
The messenger bristled. “The council controls its own proceedings.”
“Does the council control the document room?”
