Before him on the table lay a formal document, its edges decorated with the Imperial seal.
The ink was barely dry.
The words it contained had taken two full days of debate to agree upon, and even now, some of those present were not entirely satisfied with the outcome.
The declaration formally and permanently removed Angus from the Imperial family.
His name would be struck from all official genealogical records. His former titles - prince, duke, all of them - were nullified retroactively.
Any properties or holdings that had been held in his name reverted to Imperial control.
His wife Emercella and his daughter Jacqueline were similarly removed from the family record, their connection to the Imperial bloodline officially severed.
It was, in the cold language of political necessity, a clean excision.
A clean cut designed to prevent further infection.
