I didn't answer. I simply looked at him. I let the silence stretch until the smile on his face began to feel like a weight he was struggling to hold up.
While he spoke, I cataloged the room. There were six men positioned at the exits.
Three at the main door, two at the window, one by the back passage. They weren't standing like guards; they were standing like hunters.
At a side table, three scribes sat with their quills poised over fresh parchment. They were ready to record every word I uttered.
I looked at the desk behind the Governor.
I could see the edges of prepared proclamations, multiple copies already drafted, waiting only for a summary of this meeting to be inserted.
Whatever I said here would be framed, twisted, and distributed to every village in the province before the moon reached its peak.
