"Gregor and Laisa coming through," she murmurs. "High odds they'll make a point of greeting both of us. Let's be polite."

(She gave him the quick course on modes of address, earlier: use your Majesty when speaking to either Emperor or Empress, not Sire and Madam, even though most everyone else here will be using those. It denotes a personal relationship, she explained. Gregor isn't your sire. You wouldn't call my mother Mom if you heard me call her that, would you? It's like that.)