The Remington estate sat on a hill overlooking the capital, its towers and walls deliberately positioned to project both wealth and power. The main hall was a testament to generations of prosperity: vaulted ceilings supported by carved oak beams, tapestries depicting the family's mercantile triumphs, and windows of colored glass that cast rainbow patterns across polished marble floors.
But tonight, the hall's beauty was lost on the four men gathered around Duke Remington's private study table. They sat in a room deliberately chosen for its distance from servants' quarters and its thick stone walls that muffled sound. Guards stood outside, but far enough away that voices wouldn't carry.
