The ones that weren't glaring were staring blankly, or narrowing their eyes at her in suspicion. Abrial swallowed, rubbing her knuckles together, completely perplexed.
"...What's up?" she tried hesitantly.
Someone coughed again, repeatedly, like they were choking. Another person cleared their throat loudly.
All at once, everyone returned to their grim conversations, slurping soup again and totally ignoring Abrial and Finley.
Abrial stood there for a good minute. She felt like her brain was about to explode with confusion — why the heck had they reacted like that? Did she have something on her face? And come to think of it, why was the sound of everyone's conversation coming off so grim? Back when the camp had been the Wei camp, the dining tents had always been brimming with laughter and jokes and stories. Now, it was all dark muttering and growling and whispering, like the only topic of conversation was death and destruction.
