The grand throne room of the central palace in Sky Reaching City was dead silent.
The high stone walls, cut from smooth white jade and dark mountain granite, kept out every whisper of wind from the upper sky.
Thin trails of clean grey smoke rose from a bronze bowl set on a carved pedestal, filling the vast chamber with the dry, bitter scent of mountain pine.
Sitting atop the raised dais on his dark dragon-bone chair, Lin Yun rested his cheek against his knuckles.
His long black hair was loose over his white silk robes, his deep blue pupils watching the empty flagstones with a lazy, distant gaze.
Swish.
Just then, the heavy velvet curtains at the far end of the hall shifted.
A young man wearing the neat grey robes stepped out into the open room.
His boots made no sound against the polished floor as he hurried down the wide central carpet.
