H-220: Captree, Platters on The Esplanade

Cinna watches her, allowing her the processing time.

“To clarify,” she says, “I have quite a lot of autonomy, but I’m answerable to her for my successes and my failures; and sometimes she simply directs.”

At Raina’s table a tall, thin man with close-cropped curly blonde hair – who future-Lia will learn is called Charlemayne – is seated and making introduction motions between Raina and a middle-aged man and woman, who Lia would guess are a couple.  So far Raina appears impassive but not unwelcoming.

Cinna will observer studying the activities at Raina’s table in silence for a bit, then, “this event is a meet and greet, a chance for us to introduce promising newcomers or people who’ve demonstrated capability or competence.”