The heavy iron-bound doors of the Draconic Archducal Palace swung open with a low, resonant groan. Aiden von Leonidus—no longer masked as Pope Lucifer—stepped across the threshold, white hair flowing freely down his back, golden eyes sharp and predatory beneath the afternoon sun that slanted through the high arched windows.
The servants bowed low as he passed, whispers trailing in his wake like smoke. The house had changed under his influence: banners of deep crimson and silver now mingled with the ancient draconic blue, guards wore his personal crest discreetly on their pauldrons, and every corridor hummed with quiet, efficient power.
But none of that mattered the moment he saw her.
Akidna stood at the far end of the grand entrance hall, framed by a shaft of golden light that caught the glossy black of her hair and made it shimmer like polished obsidian.
