**Tempus—Niklas Wagner**
The next day, their ships were readied, and all that remained was for a final head count to be done before they began their departure.
Naturally, the haughty Heirs and Elders of the Council Families were not exactly very cooperative with Ember's attempts to make sure things went smoothly. But once they realized that their High Lord hadn't yet made it to the pier just yet, they begrudgingly cooperated for the head count.
They were a mixture of men and women—most of them who glared at Ember as they murmured about the painting which had become the hottest topic in Vaskor. But given that since time immemorial, death glares have never been known to actually kill a person, Ember easily ignored their frigid stares as her eyes roamed over the parchment in her grasp.
Internally, she counted the remainder of their time while promising herself that should Khaos still not be there by the designated time, then she would very well depart without him.
