The door to the council chamber was heavy oak bound with iron. It had been built to withstand a siege. It did not open easily. The fact that it had opened at all, that someone had entered without announcement, without permission, sent a shockwave of attention across the room.
The two figures who stood in the doorway seemed to draw everyone's attention in the room.
Lucious Vaeroth. Patriarch of House Vaeroth. The older brother of Alpha Jade and Elder Benjamin. Dangerous yet controlled. He never needed to raise his voice to be heard. Whenever he entered a room, he claimed it as if he had always belonged there.
He was old, older than any man in the room. And he carried his age like a weapon. Often. Silver threaded through his brown hair, enhancing rather than diminishing his presence. His clothes were expensive and perfectly tailored, and his watch was often seen as a signature of his wealth. He was a man who carried generations of power on his shoulders.
