Prologue
He knew immediately that something was wrong.
The candle on the desk had burned down completely, the wax rim cold and hard like congealed blood. Morning had already reached the room, but the light seemed pale, as if it had hesitated to enter. His master still sat upright in the heavy chair, his gaze fixed on an open book. The quill lay neatly beside it. No sign of struggle. No disorder.
The servant approached, his own breathing too loud in the silence. He spoke his master’s name, once, then louder. No answer. When he touched the shoulder, it was cold.
--
Before noon, one seat remained empty in the council chamber.
A chair of dark wood, no coat of arms, no name, simple like the others, yet it drew all eyes. Four powerful people sat in a semicircle around it, far enough apart to avoid closeness, close enough to hear every word. The windows were closed, even though the day was warm.
Tension crackled in the room, dense and invisible. Insights and possibilities. They knew what that empty seat meant: until it was occupied, they reigned supreme.
--
The news reached her in the afternoon.
The spy spoke quickly. She listened, her face impassive, her fingers drumming impatiently on the arm of the chair. She dismissed him without a word of thanks.
She turned to her husband, her beautiful, beautiful husband. As always, his gaze was unwavering. “Put on your armor, my love,” she said. “It’s time we reclaimed what is ours.”
He smiled broadly and warmly. “Finally.”
--
A cold room with a long table. Figures sitting in the shadows. They listed numbers, names, and rumors. Shifting fortunes with words and lives with paperwork. Change became a possibility. For them, there were no losses, only shifting risks onto others. They calculated, and the city’s future shifted. Property was now ownerless. The task was to make money.
--
Night fell. A man knelt before his goddess’s altar. His hands folded and his head bowed, he listened to her.
“A new order, my lady. I will summon your mightiest warriors and spread your glory throughout the city.”
--
Time to move before others did.
