Lucien stood atop the Stillness Palace and looked out over the territory that was nearing completion.
From that height, Lootwell no longer resembled a project.
It resembled a future that had already begun insisting on itself.
Below the floating palace, at the exact center of the capital, lay the Sovereign Circle.
It was the still point around which the wider territory turned. It was vast, elevated, and deliberate.
It held the ruling halls, treasury vaults, archives, command structures, and administrative districts through which Lucien would govern everything that fell under Lootwell's growing shadow.
It was not merely a government quarter.
It was an anchor.
From there, the city unfolded outward in widening layers of purpose.
Closest to the Sovereign Circle stood the High City. It had been built for practitioners first and ornament second.
