The Lord's Treasury was a vault of steel and stone, buried deep beneath the Keep. Usually, it was a place of quiet, dusty wealth.
Today, it was a frenzy.
"Faster, you idiots! Faster!" Lord Caelum screamed, his voice echoing off the gold-stacked walls.
He was running back and forth, grabbing handfuls of jewelry and shoving them into velvet sacks. His face was slick with sweat, his fine robes stained with dust.
Around him, a dozen confused guards were struggling to load heavy wooden crates onto handcarts. Their faces were masks of disbelief.
"My Lord," a young guard ventured, struggling with a chest full of silver bars. "The city... the alarm bells... shouldn't we be on the walls? The people need us."
Caelum spun on him, eyes bulging.
"The people are meat!" he shrieked, spittle flying. "Meat to slow down the monsters! Do you think a goblin cares about your honor? Move the gold! That is an order!"
