The massive, vaulted grand hall slowly emptied until only the gentle, soothing hum of the encapsulated starlight lanterns remained, casting long, elegant shadows across the polished, pale Sylfen wood floor while Kai kept his arm securely wrapped around Yena's waist.
Kaelen and Zara stepped down from the lower tiers of the obsidian dais, their heavy star-iron boots and void-bone scimitars echoing softly in the vast, quiet space, and they both wore expressions of deep, profound satisfaction as they looked toward their sovereign king.
"You have completely dismantled the concept of fear within these walls, Sovereign, and you replaced it with a foundation of absolute accountability," Kaelen rumbled in a slow, deeply respectful tone, resting his heavy gauntlets over the polished handle of his dark-matter halberd.
