The murmurs in the Hall of Balance dimmed to an uneasy hush. The council had withdrawn into quiet deliberation, voices low, gestures sharp, weighing the fate of two great houses. Then the great doors swung inward.
She entered as though the place belonged to her.
Lady Mowenna Winterbourne...Dowager Queen of Aiseryn.....glided forward with a bearing that silenced the hall without a single word.
The click of her boots against marble was steady, deliberate, each step steeped in the authority of someone who had long ruled in more than name.
Her gown was the deep blue of winter seas, the heavy silks trimmed with white fox fur, and her silver hair....neatly coiled....caught the torchlight like fresh frost.
She did not pause to bow or exchange pleasantries; she crossed directly to where her son sat and sat herself beside him. Her gloved hands rested in her lap, every movement measured.
Her pale eyes swept the chamber and settled on the Flameborne delegation. On Aurelia.
