[The Imperial Capital]
The throne room of the Grand Imperial Palace was utterly, terrifyingly silent.
It was a massive hall of polished cedar and blinding gold leaf, decorated with sweeping banners of the sun crest. Usually, the room was filled with the whispers of a hundred scheming nobles.
Today, it was empty, save for three people.
Crown Prince Ryu knelt on the hard wooden floor at the base of the throne. He was shaking violently. His expensive silk robes were torn and stained with soot. His right arm, heavily bandaged from where the black iron chains of the Forbidden Edict had eaten his flesh, was held tightly against his chest in a sling.
Standing a few paces away, leaning casually against a painted pillar, was Second Prince Jin. He looked perfectly pristine in his pale green robes, though a fresh, ugly bruise bloomed along his jawline from where Kitsune's iron fan had struck his assassin. Jin's fox-like smile was completely gone, replaced by a dark, simmering rage.
