Chapter 2: Edmund Takes the Oath

The confirmation came at 11:47 P.M.

Daniel heard it first as a change in the room's breathing — the collective compression of thirty people drawing air simultaneously and not releasing it — before any words were spoken. A senior aide crossed the East Room with the specific velocity of a man carrying news he has already emotionally processed and is now delivering as pure logistics. He reached Edmund at the center of the room and spoke four words, or possibly five, and Edmund received them with his hands clasped behind his back and his chin slightly elevated, as though he had asked a question some hours ago and was only now receiving the answer he had already written down.

Then Edmund looked up. Not at Daniel. At no one in particular.