Chapter 695: The Hall Where War Was Decided
The vision shifted.
One moment Sophia was standing in the ritual chamber, watching her mother and Selith discuss blood and beasts and the destruction of everything she had come to love. The next, the stone walls dissolved, the torchlight swallowed itself, and she was somewhere else entirely.
A hall.
Long and cold and carved from pale stone that seemed to drink the light rather than reflect it. High windows lined the walls, their glass dark, showing nothing but the gray wash of an overcast sky. A massive table dominated the center of the room, its surface dark wood scarred by age and perhaps by violence.
Around it sat men and women.
Some wore armor. Others wore fine clothing, the kind that spoke of wealth and status rather than practicality. Their faces were unfamiliar to Sophia, but she recognized the weight in their expressions—the arrogance, the impatience, the barely concealed hunger for something more.
