Kingdom of Aldrack
The council hall was quiet—so quiet, in fact, that anyone standing beyond the heavy oak doors might have assumed it was empty.
But it was not.
The long council table was filled to the brim. Every seat was occupied, each lord and official seated in their assigned place, their aides standing just behind them like silent shadows. No one moved more than necessary; even the faint rustle of cloth seemed too loud for the tension that hung in the air.
At the head of the table sat the King of Aldrack—Valeck of the Aldrack line—with Queen Carissa at his side.
He was not a young king. His beard, once dark, was now threaded heavily with grey, lending him an air of age and experience that few in the room could rival. There was strength in his posture still, but it was tempered with the weariness of rule.
Beside him, in stark contrast, sat his queen.
