Far across the palace, in the quiet expanse of the imperial study, Cecily did not even bother to knock.
She burst through the heavy double doors alongside the guard who had escorted her, her face flushed, her chest heaving as she stumbled into the room.
Aldric, who was standing beside the Emperor's desk with a stack of reconstruction ledgers, snapped his head up in sharp disapproval.
Soren sat behind the broad oak desk, his face carved of pale granite, his blue eyes shadowed by days of unbroken exhaustion.
He looked up at the intrusion, his brow furrowing instantly.
"What is the meaning of this?" Aldric began strictly.
Cecily fell to her knees before the desk, her hands trembling violently as she pressed them against the rug. "Your Imperial Majesty… I beg for your mercy! Forgive me, please, forgive me!"
Soren stood up slowly, the cold aura around him sharpening in an instant. "Cecily. Stand up. What has happened? Is it Eris?"
