Chapter 443 - CH 443 — The Scent of Weakness

Morning arrived over Regina beneath a pale autumn sky where cool mist drifted through the palace courtyards before dissolving beneath the first warmth of the rising sun, while the Elder Council Hall gradually awakened to the quiet rhythm of attendants arranging ceremonial records, lighting tall bronze candelabras, and opening the great arched windows through which fresh mountain air carried the distant fragrance of rain-soaked cedar, allowing the ancient chamber to appear serene despite the invisible tension resting upon every stone shaped by generations of difficult decisions.