「A few days later, at the Noble Council.」
The hall's domed ceiling depicted the heroic epics from the founding of the Duchy.
Sunlight streamed through the enormous stained-glass windows on either side, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow on the crimson carpet.
The great nobles of the Duchy were seated in an amphitheater-style arrangement, their positions determined by their hereditary titles and the importance of their fiefdoms.
This was the heart of power in the Duchy; the ink of every resolution passed here would decide the fates of countless people.
Velin sat alone in the second-floor gallery.
His seat, separated from the council floor below by a carved wooden railing, offered a commanding view of the entire chamber but also signified his inability to participate.
The council had not yet officially begun, and the hall echoed with the nobles' hushed conversations.
