One Day Later...
The council chamber stretched wide and tall. Marble columns lined the walls, each one carved with scenes of old battles, phoenixes rising from ash, kings crowned in flame.
Sunlight poured through the high windows. Dust drifted in the beams.
A long table was placed at the center. The wood was dark and polished until it gleamed. Twenty chairs surrounded it, and most of them were filled.
Nobles in their house colors. Military officers in dress uniforms. A few priests in white robes trimmed with gold. All of them sat rigid, their faces drawn tight.
At the head of the table sat the King.
King Zardic Grey, who appeared to be in his mid-fifties, though the deep lines around his eyes and mouth suggested he'd aged faster than his years.
Gray threaded through what had once been dark hair, now pulled back from a face that had seen too many difficult decisions.
