The Hidden Hybrid’s Redemption
The grand double doors of the royal rotunda didn't just open; they exploded inward under the weight of Killian’s boot, sending fragments of gilded ivory and polished marble skittering across the reflective obsidian floor. The throne room was vast, an echoing chamber of white stone and high stained-glass windows that filtered the bruised morning light into long, bleeding streaks of crimson and violet across the long carpet. At the far end of the hall, raised on a high dais of solid black granite, sat the High King. He looked older than he had from the ramparts, his golden crown tilted slightly on his brow, his knuckles white where they gripped the armrests of his stolen seat.