The Council Spire's lobby looked like it was built to make people feel small. Iron beams ran floor to ceiling, more than twenty meters up. The floor was polished stone - dark, reflective, every footstep audible. And in the middle, a support pillar. More than ten meters thick, a column of dark steel. People with lanyards and formal coats moved between desks and corridors, not looking at Raizen as he passed.
The Warden brought him to an elevator at the far wall. The doors opened.
"The Ruler is expecting you."
Raizen stepped in without a word. The Warden pushed an unmarked button and stepped back, not entering the elevator.
The elevator climbed fast and quiet. Floor numbers ticked upward on the panel. Suddenly, the doors opened with a soft chime onto a corridor with one set of double doors at the end - heavy wood, polished handles, no nameplate.
Raizen knocked once.
No answer.
He tried again, looking around for some kind of doorbell, not finding any.
Silence.
